Survey of Private-Sector Earnings of Navy Enlisted Personnel Who Left the Service in Mid-Career

GAO reported the results of a survey which it conducted to obtain data on whether experienced career personnel leaving the Navy earned more or less in their first private-sector job than they would have by reenlistment. The timeframe covered by the survey, fiscal year (FY) 1980 through the first quarter of 1982, was a period during which the services were trying to recover from serious recruitment and retention problems which were attributed to the failure of military pay to remain competitive with the private sector.