Redesign of the Navy's Enlisted Personnel Distribution Process

Past studies show that significant positive results can be reaped if a 2-sided matching algorithm is used in the Navy enlisted distribution process. This includes ensuring that commands get the quality of sailors that they demand while satisfying sailors' preferences of their next billet, and thereby improving their motivation and propensity to reenlist. Past studies have also examined the current process in the Navy and detailed its shortcomings. Other research has also detailed the possible uses of optimization technology, smart agent technology, employee-to-job matching algorithms, incentive driven assignments and other technologies to improve on employee-job assignments in large hierarchical internal labor markets, like those found in the military. It is also noted that there are constraints within the military that can pose challenges to the direct application of these technologies to improve the process. These constraints can be structural, behavioral, political, and cultural. To improve the current process, both the available technologies and constraints need to be reexamined holistically and the technologies and current personnel policies modified to meet these needs. This study looks at these issues and proposes an alternative design of the Navy enlisted distribution process that will yield quantum gains for the Navy and its sailors. It details the key operational and user specifications required of a prototype Navy enlisted distribution decision support system.Naval Postgraduate School Monterey CA is the author of 'Redesign of the Navy's Enlisted Personnel Distribution Process', published 2002 under ISBN 9781423510840 and ISBN 1423510844.