The All-Volunteer Army: Fifteen Years Later

Abstract

This paper describes the changing recruitin environment during the 15 years since the inception of the All-Volunteer Force. It describes the origins of the "dual market" strategy, which'segmented the recruiting market, and focuses on the systematic development of one of the most important recruiting policy initiatives in the 1980s—the Army College Fund. The impact of the ACF is estimated, providing empirical evidence of how significant a policy tool this was in accessing high quality enlistees into the U.S. Army.