Table Of ContentMODERN VOLUNTEER ARMY
The Modern Volunteer Army Program:
The Benning Experiment, 1970-1972
THE DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY
MODERN VOLUNTEER ARMY
THE MODERN VOLUNTEER
ARMY PROGRAM:
THE BENNING EXPERIMENT,
1970-1972
by
Brigadier General Willard Latham
DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY
WASHINGTON, D.C. 2010
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 73-600334
First Printed 1974-CMH Pub 90-2
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents,
U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.
Foreword
The expiration of authority to draft young men for military service
in mid-1973 placed the United States Army on a volunteer footing for
the first time since 1948. In preparation for this challenge, the Army
had initiated the Modern Volunteer Army Program two and a half years
earlier to attract and increase the enlistment of able men and women,
raise the quality of Army life, and improve professionalism throughout
the rank and file. An important part of the program was Project VOLAR,
a field experiment conducted at selected Army installations from 1970
to 1972 to develop methods and procedures for achieving the program's
objectives. The methods and procedures that survived this extensive
testing and critical evaluation are now being applied Army-wide with
significant benefit as the Army makes its transition to a volunteer force.
In the continuing task of maintaining and improving a thoroughly
professional, highly motivated volunteer force, the Army stands to profit
from knowledge of the VOLAR experiment, its failures as well as its
successes. To record the experience, the Army has prepared a series of
monographs, each an objective and comprehensive account of a particu
lar phase of the experiment, and each prepared by a senior officer who
played an important VOLAR role. These studies should contribute to the
historical record of the Army and provide the American public with a
performance report on an institution it has so long and so well supported.
Brigadier General Willard Latham is eminently qualified to write
the account of the VOLAR service school experiment at Fort Benning,
Georgia. Stationed there from 1 January 1971 to 30 June 1972, he first
commanded the 197th Infantry Brigade, and later served as Chief of
Staff and Deputy Commander of the U.S. Army Infantry Center. Under
his command, the 197th Infantry Brigade carried out an intensive per
sonnel procurement program with such success that it became the first
Regular Army brigade in recent history to be fully manned by volunteers.
In earlier assignments, General Latham during the Korean War served
as a platoon leader in the 8th Cavalry Regiment of the 1st Cavalry Divi
sion. He also has been a company commander in the 31st Infantry
Division and 2d Armored Division, and has commanded battalions of
the Berlin Brigade, the 1s t Infantry Division, and the 9th Infantry Divi
sion in Vietnam. At present, General Latham is the Assistant Division
Commander of the 3d Infantry Division in Germany.
VERNE L. BOWERS
Washington, D.C.
Major General, USA
20 December 1973
The Adjutant General
Ul
Preface
This is the story of the U.S. Army Infantry Center's participation
in Project VOLAR, the field experiment undertaken at selected Army
posts between January 1, 1971, and June 30, 1972, to develop, test,
evaluate, and refine new concepts and initiatives in support of Modern
Volunteer Army (MVA ) Program goals of reduced reliance upon the
draft, increased professionalism, enhancement of Army life, and the
development of a modern personnel accession system.
Unfortunately, the experiment to create an environment conducive
to raising a volunteer Army was misunderstood; in the minds of many,
the term "VOLAR" conjured up images of undisciplined, unkempt, long
haired soldiers riding motorcycles emblazoned with peace symbols and
swilling beer in the barracks. Obviously these images did not mirror the
MVA concept, which stresses the maintenance of military order, dis
cipline, and mission capability. Neither did they typify the Infantry Center
experience at Fort Benning, where VOLAR became a vehicle for progress,
measured in terms of significant improvements in troop morale and
discipline and military bearing and appearance and also in terms of high
recruiting and re-enlistment goals that were repeatedly exceeded.
The principal elements in the Fort Benning Plan for conducting the
VOLAR experiment were improvements in living and working con
ditions and increased job satisfaction on the part of the individual
soldier. An evaluation process that used the services of the Human Re
sources Research Organization provided continuous monitoring of the
actual implementation of the Benning Plan and served as a vital control
mechanism. Scientifically conducted objective surveys of troop attitudes
and reactions were fundamental in determining whether or not the plan
was on target, what was succeeding and what was not, and what the
soldiers, NCO's, and officers thought about each part of the program.
The VOLAR experiment brought a number of significant changes
to Fort Benning. Over 70 percent of first-term re-enlistees stated that
the experiment had influenced them to stay in the Army. The rating of
Fort Benning by first-term soldiers as "one of the best Army posts" to
which they had ever been assigned increased by 21 percent. Soldiers re
enlisting for their current duty assignments increased from 55.7 percent
to 72.2 percent. Absent without leave rates dropped from twenty-five
to fourteen per thousand. Furthermore, over 3,100 young men were
v
recruited by the 197th Infantry Brigade in a sixteen-month period, making
this unit the first all-volunteer brigade in the Army.
In the preparation of this account I am deeply indebted to Lieuten
ant Colonel Robert W. Faulkender and Captain Daniel F. Smith. My
thanks also go to John W. Gause, who has kindly read and commented
on these pages.
Washington, D.C. WILLARD LATHAM
Brigadier General, U.S. Army
VI
Contents
Chapter Page
I. ANTICIPATING THE NEED 3
Project Volunteer . . . . . 3
Project PROVIDE . . . . 4
Special AssistantJor the Modern Volunteer Army 8
II. DEVELOPING THE REQUIREMENT II
The Scene . .. . . 11
Control and Evaluation 14
Target Areas . . . . 16
The Measure oj Success 18
Evaluation Techniques . 23
Initial Changes . . . . 25
SAMVA and the Benning Plan 27
III. EXECUTION 31
Overcoming Obstacles . 32
Publicity. . . . . . 33
Personal D~velopment . 37
197th InJantry Brigade 43
Mechanical Problems. 45
Change Is Progress . . 48
Improved Medical Care 51
Two Dilemmas . . . 53
Settling Down 55
IV. EXPANSION AND REVISION 57
Educational Projects . . . . . 58
Modern Educational Techniques . 59
Working Conditions . . . . 66
Fiscal rear 72 Benning Plan 67
Unit-oj-Choice Recruiting . . 71
Civic Adventures. . . . . . 77
Fiscal rear 73 Benning Plan 78
vii
Chapter Page
V. MORE THAN THE SUM OF THE PARTS 81
Methodology . . . . 81
Progress in Perspective 82
Trends . . . . . 84
Effect on Discipline 85
Results oj Analysis 87
Interpreting the Results 89
Specific Findings. . 90
General Conclusions 92
Delayed Successes . 98
VI. THE OVERVIEW 102
Verification oj Success . 102
Lessons Learned . . 104
Views oj the Future 105
Appendixes
A. PRQPOSED ACTIONS OF BENNING PLAN, NO-
VEMBER 1970 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 107
1. Actions jor Which Immediate Implementation Has Been
Directed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
2. Actions Considered jor Implementation in Immediate
Future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
3. Actions Which Require Further Study, Additional Per-
sonnel, or Relief From Restrictions . . . . . 115
4. Actions Requiring Additional Resources . . . . . 117
B. KEY EVENTS OF PROJECT VOLAR, 1970-1972 119
C. ORGANIZATION AND MANNING. . . . . . . 120
1. Principal Command and Staff During the M V A Experi-
ment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
2. The Injantry Center ... . . . . . . . . . 121
D. A CONUS COMMAND IN THE SEVENTIES. 122
General 122
The Challenge . 123
The Problem 124
Corrective Action 125
Subordinate Units . 129
The Staff . . . . 129
Control: Organization and Evaluation 131
Areas oj Special Emphasis. . . . . 133
Results. . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Creating a Successful Command Environment. 137
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