Analysis of Intention to Continue Services Among Recruited Voluntary Soldiers

Abstract

In order to attract more promising young people to join the military and enhance combat capability, Taiwan’s Department of Defense is transforming the nation’s military service system from a draft system, which has been in effect for more than sixty years, to an all-volunteer military force system. The government hopes that the new system not only can recruit promising voluntary soldiers, but that they also continue their military service after the contract expires in order to ensure stability in recruitment sources. This study explores the intention of voluntary soldiers to continue their military service. This study’s questionnaire encompasses five dimensions: Participation motivation, organization commitment, career planning, personality traits and departure tendency. The questionnaires were issued to 350 voluntary soldiers to explore if they intend to continue their service after their contract expires, with a total of 314 effective questionnaires that were recovered and analyzed. The results find that about half of the voluntary soldiers indicate that they do not plan on staying and continuing their service after contract expiration, which will result in understaffing in the military. In order to stabilize the prescribed number of soldiers, the existing recruiting policy and military management system should be re-adjusted.