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The regular military compensation (RMC) percentile for 2016 was above the 70th percentile

• In 2016, the overall RMC percentile was at the 84th percentile for enlisted personnel and the 77th percentile for officers.
• RMC for enlisted members was at the 87th percentile on average for those with some college and the 85th percentile for those with associate degrees.
• For officers, RMC was at the 86th percentile for those with bachelor's degrees and around the 70th percentile for those with master's degrees or higher.

The RMC percentile was about the same in 2016 as in 2009

• The overall RMC percentiles in 2009 for enlisted personnel and officers are virtually the same as for 2016.
• RMC increased steadily relative to civilian wages from 2000 to 2010 and leveled off afterward. Civilian wages adjusted for inflation trended down from 2000 to 2013, although they have tended to increase since 2013.

Recruit quality rose in three services as the RMC/wage ratio increased

• Recruit quality is positively associated with the RMC/wage ratio for the Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force but not the Army.

In the all-volunteer military, pay is one of the most important policy tools for recruiting and retaining personnel. Military pay must be high enough to attract and retain the personnel needed to meet manning requirements, and one measure of pay adequacy is how it compares to the pay of civilians with similar characteristics.

In 2002, the Ninth Quadrennial Review of Military Compensation recommended that regular military compensation (RMC) for enlisted personnel be at around the 70th percentile of the earnings of civilian workers with some college and, for officers, at around the 70th percentile of earnings of civilians with four or more years of college.

RAND researchers found RMC for enlisted members and officers in 2016 to be at the 84th and 77th percentiles, respectively, averaged over all education levels. RMC was at the 87th percentile for enlisted members with some college and at the 85th for those with associate's degrees. For officers, RMC was at the 86th percentile for those with bachelor's degrees and around the 70th for those with master's degrees or higher. Controlling for the change in education levels among service members, the researchers also found the same overall percentiles for 2009.

RMC has risen faster than civilian pay since 1999. The researchers found that, as this occurred, three military services (but not the Army) increased the quality of their recruits. The authors recommend further research into services' recruit-quality requirements and question whether broad increases in pay are cost-effective for increasing quality.

• Chapter One

  Introduction

• Chapter Two

  Military and Civilian Pay Comparisons and Regular Military Compensation Percentiles

• Chapter Three

  Recruit Quality and Military and Civilian Pay

• Chapter Four

  Closing Thoughts

• Appendix A

  Regular Military Compensation Percentile and Regular Military Compensation/Wage Ratio

• Appendix B

  Recruiting Rates for Armed Forces Qualification Test Categories I Through IIIB and Regression Estimates

• Appendix C

  Why Not Compare Basic Pay to the Employment Cost Index?

• Appendix D

  A Two-Goal Model of Recruitment Resource Allocation