The Navy's People

Since the end of the 1991 Persian Gulf War, Navy active duty end strength has been cut by almost 184,000 officer and enlisted personnel - a 32% reduction through FY 1997. [use "back" key to return here] shows this and other force structure trends.) By the end of FY 2003, the drawdown will largely be complete, including implementation of the Quadrennial Defense Review's recommendation for reductions of another 18,000 active-duty personnel. (The Navy's civilian work force has similarly been restructured, and the QDR called for additional cuts of 8,400 civilian jobs.) Only 15% of the total end strength reduction between FY 1992 and FY 2003 will have come from funded force-shaping tools such as the exit bonus program .

Voluntary Separation Incentive (VSI) and Selective Separation Bonus (SSB) - and the Temporary Early Retirement Authorization (TERA). Another 2% will have come from the Selective Early Retirement (SER) of officers and enlisted with more than 20 years of service. Because the Navy stood fast in its commitment to avoid an involuntary Reduction in Force (RIF), this means that the vast majority of the drawdown was accomplished through typical personnel behavior such as regular retirements, end of contractual obligations, and attrition-related losses.

Despite the drawdown, the Navy is indeed hiring. The Navy's transition to a steady-state force with the desired skill and experience mix in the active-duty component has been a significant challenge. Maintaining a stable end strength target, fine-tuning force profiles, and improving retention will require increased officer and enlisted retention incentives (such as special pays and bonuses) and training support for higher officer and enlisted accession requirements. Large groups of both officer and enlisted personnel will reach retirement eligibility during the next several years. Additionally, smaller accession-groups will be reaching their first career decision point. A stable end strength target in FY 2003 and beyond means that every single loss, either planned or unplanned, will have to be replaced by an offsetting gain to the active duty force.

As a result of this significant reduction of Navy people, the Naval Reserve has taken on more important roles in support of the Total Force concept. Increasingly used as a force multiplier to accomplish important missions, today's reservists are more accessible, better trained, and no longer simply a "force-in-waiting" to be called upon in the event of war. In support of the Navy's …From the Sea and Forward…From the Sea strategic concepts, they perform a broad array of combat and contingency missions, as well as peacetime support of regular forces for counter-drug operations, humanitarian and disaster relief, and other operational tasks. To this end, Naval Reserve contributory support to the active Fleet has more than doubled since 1991, to some 2.1 million work-days of direct mission support during FY 1997, a trend that is likely to continue.