Senior leaders often broadly appreciate the relevance of behavioral and social science research but are not able to readily compare the value of screening tests, interventions, or other factors analyzed in this literature with the benefits of operational programs or of tools to address different sets of outcomes. The research summarized in this report translates changes in outcomes often reported in behavioral and social science research results into potential cost avoidance estimates and other benefits that senior leaders value.

The authors summarize and evaluate a collection of studies addressing specific outcomes in the behavioral and social science literature of interest to military personnel managers: initial training attrition; later first-term attrition; reenlistment; job qualification; recruit market expansion; training effectiveness; recruiting resource costs and productivity; legal incidents; injuries; suicide; and health care costs, utilization, and outcomes. The factors investigated included personality tests and screeners, additional screeners, incentives, compensation, recruiting resource allocation, deployments, telemedicine, distance learning versus classroom training, and other programs and interventions.