AUSTRALIAN MILITARY RECRUITMENT FLAT DESPITE POOR

C O N F I D E N T I A L CANBERRA 000163

NOFORN
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/17/2019
TAGS: MARR MCAP PREL AS
SUBJECT: AUSTRALIAN MILITARY RECRUITMENT FLAT DESPITE POOR
ECONOMY

REF: 2008 CANBERRA 434

Classified By: Political Counselor James F. Cole for reasons 1.4(b) and
(d)

SUMMARY
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1. (C/NF) Contrary to recent media reports of recruiting
increases linked to potentially poor domestic economic
performance from the global financial crisis, there has been
no change in actual recruiting levels. Systemic personnel
issues limit Australian Defence Force (ADF) staffing
flexibility, create critical shortages at certain officer
levels, and complicate policies targeted to balance career
and lifestyle. The ADF continues to fall short on overall
recruiting goals by 15 to 25 percent and expects shortfalls
in meeting its needs for critical skills, which will be
offset at least partially by prolonging retention bonus
payments. The ADF is seeking to boost armed forces levels by
2016 from 53,000 to 57,000 through creative advertising and
promotional efforts targeted at Generation Y. This planned
increase includes increasing Army troops from the current
level of 26,500 to 30,000. Increasing the ADF is a strategic
necessity for Australian defense planning and in 2006, a
budget of more than USD 600 million was allocated to achieve
these recruitment goals. In 2007-08, the budget was
increased by an additional USD 1.4 billion. Meanwhile, the
ADF is turning to reservists to fill more than 1,000 position
gaps in the regular forces annually. End Summary.


2. (SBU) Commodore Tim Barrett, CSC RAN, Director General of
Defence Force Recruiting for the Australian Defence Force
(ADF),and Brigadier Gerard Fogarty, AM, the Director General
Personnel - Army, recently briefed DAO and POL on ADF
personnel and recruiting issues.

ECONOMIC DOWNTURN NOT YIELDING STAFFING BENEFITS
--------------


3. (C/NF) Despite the negative effects of the global
financial crisis on the Australian economy, including
gradually rising unemployment, now up to 4.8 percent, ADF
recruiting results for its all-volunteer force have not
changed, according to Barrett. While recent data shows that
applications have increased by more than 20%, this has not
translated into actual enlistment increases. He advised that
ADF is evaluating both applicant quality and the ability of
recruiters to successfully complete the recruitment process.
The ADF maintains that they are not an employer of "last
resort" and will adhere to standards and policies that keep
them an employer of "first choice".


4. (SBU) Commodore Barrett and Brigadier Fogarty both
indicated that studies have shown no correlation between
downturns in the domestic economy and increases in
recruitment. Commodore Barrett indicated that many of the
employees now surplus in the automobile industry are second
and third generation contract laborers with little interest
in moving away from their neighborhoods. He noted that
mining workers have already adapted to mobility issues and as
mining jobs decline, may be more interested in the stable
employment offered by the military over a four- to six-year
enlistment.


5. (SBU) While recruiting efforts have yielded some success
in overall numbers, the ADF is not getting the right mix of
skills needed. Thirteen of 150 Army trades are classified as
critical, each of which has a three-year training period to
reach the desired skill level. Critical skills include
engineers, technicians, linguists and medical personnel. In
2006, after several years of failing to achieve personnel

growth targets, more than USD 2.0 billion was allocated to
stem attrition through payment of retention bonuses. Bonus
payments have been focused on the critical skill sets,
including bonuses of US$42,000 to submariners for an
additional 18 months of service and US$14,000 bonuses to Air
Force plumbers, carpenters and electricians for an additional
24 months of service.

SYSTEMIC LIMITS TO GROWTH AND FLEXIBILITY
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6. (SBU) Brig. Fogarty explained that throughout the 1990's,
the ADF was directed to reduce its force levels from a high
of almost 70,000 regular forces in 1990. This was
accomplished through normal attrition, adjustments to annual
recruiting targets, and establishment of rules and policies

that discouraged personnel from remaining in the ADF for long
periods. Many of these rules and policies are still on the
books, negatively affecting current efforts to improve
recruiting and retention. One such policy is the ADF's
open-ended enlistment, in place since the 1980's. Service
members can resign with six months notice after initial
commitment periods of four to six years. Brig. Fogarty
expects the ADF will move toward fixed re-enlistment
contracts.


7. (C/NF) Under current Defence management structure, all
Defence civilians and some contractors report to the
Secretary of Defence, while uniformed personnel report to the
Chief of Defence Force (CDF). To maintain control over
management and staffing levels, CDF often uses uniformed
personnel for positions that could be filled by civilians,
reducing availability of uniformed personnel for other
duties. Brig. Fogarty advised that the 2009 Defence White
Paper is expected to recommend moving all Defence personnel,
including civilians, under the control of the CDF, allowing
greater opportunity to optimize the mix of civilian and
uniformed personnel. He also advised that the White Paper
will surprisingly recommend changes to existing rules that
financially penalize movement from uniformed to civilian
roles, further increasing staffing flexibility.

OFFICER SHORTAGES
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8. (SBU) A systemic factor aggravating retention is the
promotion system at lower officer levels. Promotions up
through two-stripe Corporals are controlled at the Unit
Commander level. Privates take approximately 5.7 years to
reach Corporal level, while many Privates are only on a
four-year enlistment. Consequently, many are leaving at the
end of their contract periods without having been promoted,
creating shortages at the Corporal level and above. Without
a continual supply of new leaders at the Corporal level,
leadership voids impact at the lowest unit levels. Increased
recruits will not meet long-term officer needs without
parallel changes in promotion practices. Brig. Fogarty is
discussing different approaches to promotion evaluations with
Unit Commanders to increase promotions and reduce attrition
at these levels.


9. (SBU) Another shortfall occurs at the mid-level rank of
Captain/Major. In 1995, the ADF cut two classes from their
regular schedule at Duntroon Royal Military Academy. The
impact of this has been to reduce available candidates for
mid-level officer positions. Without sufficient officers in
the pipeline for these ranks, the ADF has had to offer
retention bonuses of USD 40,000 for an additional two years
of service. Brig. Fogarty noted that it has taken more than
USD 28 million to increase the retention rate for these
officers from 91 percent to 93 percent. However, ADF has
learned from this experience to target the retention payments
more efficiently in the future.


10. (SBU) Senior officer compensation rules discourage
promotion from O5 to O6. O5 officers are about 38-39 years
old and once promoted, would normally serve in just two or
three more jobs before moving up or being offered a "golden
handshake" of 13 months pay. Most would find it difficult to
replicate their ADF compensation package in the private
sector and as a result, are not eager to move up - or out of
- the ranks.

ATTRITION AND CAREER - LIFESTYLE BALANCE
--------------


11. (SBU) The five-year rolling average for Army attrition

is currently 11.5% with a goal of 10.0%. Both Commodore
Barrett and Brig. General Fogarty indicated that ADF
retention programs will continue to focus on improving the
balance between career and lifestyle, a key reason given in
Defence personnel surveys for leaving the military.


12. (C/NF) Work lifestyle balance issues may also drive
changes to assignment processes and future base
rationalizations. Unlike in the past, ADF personnel now
change jobs every two years and with many Army bases spread
across the country, geographical moves disrupt schooling and
employment opportunities for other family members. The 2009
Defence White Paper will include recommendations to extend
assignments to three years, with possible back-to-back
assignments at one location. Another arrangement will keep
the family based in one location with the service member
making regular family visits at ADF expense. Another


proposal would have the service member work three weeks at
base and return to the family location for the fourth week.
The ADF's housing policy will also focus aggressively on home
ownership for service members, including home ownership in
locations other than work assignment locations.

RECRUITING SUCCESSES AND EFFORTS
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13. (U) ADF continues to influence potential recruits
through many initiatives. A recent Navy TV ad shows 7 days
in the Navy in 30 seconds, showing a mix of work and leisure
activities, as well as the "mateship" among Navy personnel.
It closes with the line - "That was 7 days in the
Navy...imagine what you could do in a career." According to
Commodore Barrett, the ad was targeted to address key
misperceptions about Navy life, such as dull and monotonous
work in a lonely environment. The ad was successful in
generating twice the number of SMS inquiries than received on
previous advertisements.


14. (SBU) Commodore Barrett described other media efforts to
target potential Gen Y recruits. The Navy recently sponsored
a "battle of the bands" to develop a new Navy song and ran
the competition through MySpace.com. Blogs will begin
following a ship around the world to promote Navy life.
Looking forward, Commodore Barrett expects to continue to use
Web tools, such as gaming, to attract Gen Y recruits.


15. (SBU) Other recruiting efforts target women, Indigenous
persons and certain ethnic groups with a higher propensity to
serve in the military. Commodore Barrett identified key
barriers to service for each of these groups, as well as
policy and process changes needed to remove these barriers.
Changes include increasing flexibility to move in and out of
the service to meet family needs, strong post-entry mentoring
programs, and greater flexibility in directing assignments
geographically, such as posting Indigenous recruits in the
Northern Territory where they bring localized skills.

RESERVES
--------------


16. (SBU) Use of ADF Army Reserves, now at a level of about
16,600, for full-time service has now become compulsory.
According to Brig. Fogarty, approximately 1,200 regular
personnel are away from service at any time, leaving gaps
that are filled with Reserve personnel for periods of one to
three years. Brig. Fogarty shared that specific long-term
goals for the Reserves have not yet been identified.

COMMENT
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17. (C/NF) COMMENT: The ADF is stretched at many points in
management of personnel levels, with no quick or easy fixes.
With too few recruits, a mismatch on needs and skills,
limited flexibility among civilian and uniformed staffing,
and disincentives to remaining with the ADF, the challenges
in aligning force levels with strategic requirements are
formidable. Simultaneously, ADF is restructuring Force
Command and control, creating significant change at senior
levels of the service. Rotations have also been extended
from six to eight months, adding stress to current service
members with possible negative impacts on potential recruits.
However, ADF Senior Officers seem realistic about the
difficulties and focused on rectifying barriers to growth.
They are using a full range of tools to understand the
situation and have developed solutions that indicate
significant flexibility with bureaucratic systems and
processes. It is a difficult challenge and it is reasonable
to expect that it will take some time to achieve their

staffing goals. In the interim, while the U.S. should not
expect major changes in the overall level of Australia's
defense cooperation, it is possible that Australia may face
near-term constraints in its ability to contribute or staff
higher-end, specialized functions in joint operations. End
Comment.

CLUNE