Attrition and reenlistment in the Army: Using the Tailored Adaptive Personality Assessment System (TAPAS) to improve retention

Attrition and reenlistment are critical outcomes that continually shape the Army’s workforce. However, relatively little is known about factors that reliably predict which Soldiers will ultimately complete their first term of service or reenlist after their first term has concluded. The present study evaluated the efficacy of a noncognitive measure, the Tailored Adaptive Personality Assessment System (TAPAS), as well as a traditional cognitive test, the Armed Forces Qualification Test (AFQT), as predictors of attrition and reenlistment. Specific categories of attrition were examined based on the reasons Soldiers separated from the Army, both during training and while the Soldiers were in their units. Additionally, analyses were conducted to model attrition over time, and reenlistment was examined both Army-wide and for specific MOS. The paper concludes with a discussion of the findings and needs for future research concerning the potential value of cognitive and noncognitive measures for better understanding and predicting Army attrition and reenlistment.