Explain to the man how his job fits into the "big picture"-how it fits into the American defense program. Today's soldier has a job that counts.

30-Day Paid Vacation: Every man has 30 paid vacation days every year. Show him how this compares with the vacation time offered with the civilian job he would get. Remind him that unused vacation time in 1 year can be accumulated and can be used later. Point out that these 30 days each year are in addition to weekends or other passes.

Additional Information Functions

You should be prepared for the fact that undecided men and men who are leaning toward re-enlistment will often think of questions about the Army after they have left the interview (or between interviews). It is very important that these questions be answered at the time they arise, for otherwise, the man may go to his buddies for answers. This can often work against your efforts. His buddies will usually give him their opinions rather than facts; and if they are not planning to re-enlist themselves, there is always the chance that they may bias him toward getting out. Be sure, then, that you anticipate the possible questions which might arise in the man's mind and provide him with a reservoir of relevent information to which he can refer. The re-enlistment printed materials are good sources, and the post personnel officer can probably give you additional material of a nore detailed nature.

Ring In the Parents: Your role as an information-giver must necessarily be confined to some degree to giving facts about the Army. Occasionally, you can help the soldier ind make your own job easier by having the oldier use his parents as a source of infornation. Many young inductees were living with their parents prior to entry into the Army, and many of their bonds of confidence

are with their parents. When appropriate, encourage these men to talk it over with their parents and to get the facts on the civilian world the next time they're home on pass or leave.

It is also highly desirable to keep the soldier's parents on the side of the Army. Ordinarily, parents know very little about their son's activities in the Army, and even less about the Army itself its opportunities and benefits. They want such information, but Army studies show that the soldier seldom tells them anything about the details of his Army life and what the Army is doing for him.

It will help to keep parents on the Army's side if they have such information; if they know that the Army is truly interested in their son, and is mindful of the parents' concern over their son in the Army. For this purpose, some of the re-enlistment booklets directed to the family can be used. The best time to send such booklets is when the soldier takes some notable step forward in his Army career - on entering or completing a training course, on changing assignments, or receiving a commendation. The booklet should be accompanied by a letter (prepared for the commanding general's signature, if possible) announcing the occasion and commending the soldier for his contribution to the Army and his country.

Providing Justifications: Earlier, in the discussion of factors affecting re-enlistment, it was pointed out that soldiers are subject to various pressures from family and friends -pressures which sometimes influence (usually negatively) the re-enlistment decision. A very important function of giving the soldier information is to provide him with justifications or "rationalizations" for reenlisting which he can use to explain his re-enlisting to his family, girl friend, and friends both in and out of the Army. The need to justify re-enlistment will be especially demanding in cases where re-enlist

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ment involves a change of previous plans. For some men, however, justification will be unnecessary; they don't have to justify their actions to others. But, in any event, "check the man through" to learn the extent to which he is faced with this need. You might ask him, for example, "What will your parents say about your re-enlisting?" and then, "What will you tell them?" In this way you can determine whether the soldier will meet with this situation and how well prepared he is for it. If the man is undecided due to family ties or objections which may sway his decision, you may write his parents, but only with the man's knowledge and approval. The letter may state that the man is approaching the end of his time in the Army, that he has done an important and patriotic job well, and that we hope to have him with us for at least another enlistment.

Many men overlook the fact that they may have to justify their decision, and your first step is usually to bring this fact to their attention. The best justifications, of course, are justifications based on facts.

The justification should above all be reasonable to the person for whom it is intended. This is where the facts come in. You can bolster the man's arguments by pointing out the salient advantages of the Army financial security, a chance to grow and advance, and an opportunity to acquire new technical skills—which other people will readily recognize are some of your best bets.

In any case, make certain that the soldier knows what to say, and help him put it into words.

Additional Interviews

You will find sometimes that the "action" phase cannot be satisfactorily completed in one interview. Do not hesitate, therefore, to schedule the soldier for additional interviews. The lapse of time should

be short- a few days if possible. Otherwise, the soldier is very likely to lose the train of thought and persuasion you have established, and you are likely to lose your "feel" for the details of his case.

Each additional interview should have movement, that is, the soldier should come closer each time to a re-enlistment decision. The following are some pointers to help you achieve this:

Always try to end each interview with the soldier making some kind of a decision. Sometimes it will be merely a decision to think things over in the meantime and then have a second interview. Or perhaps to discuss his decision further with the NCO or another soldier who has decided to re-enlist. If you have succeeded in getting the man to "unfreeze" a negative decision, but find that he is not yet ready to make the re-enlistment decision, schedule him for another interview at which time he agrees to report at least a tentative decision.

Getting the soldier to make a tentative decision can be a very effective way of reaching a firm, final decision. Most men are willing to make a tentative decision because it doesn't commit them to action. In so doing, you can get them much closer to a final decision.

Also, always try to end the interview with an agreement about some point to be discussed at the next interview. This point will provide a "bridge" for giving continuity and progress to the second interview and enable you to get down to concrete business immediately.

When Discharge Means "Going Home"

There is a special case of the "decided against" soldier which requires careful attention. This is the man for whom the desire to leave the Army is really a desire to get home for a while. He has nothing against

he Army, nor does he have any highly atractive opportunities in civilian life which are working to draw him from the Army. It is simply that the idea of discharge is associated with "going home." Cases of this ype usually have no strong desire to remain at home. Frequently they have been away From home for some time (perhaps overseas), are curious about conditions at home, or perhaps are worried about some problem at home and want to see for themselves how hings are going. After a short stay with heir families, they would be quite willing o continue their Army careers. This in part explains a fact previously mentioned, that 5 percent of all men re-enlisting do so after eaving the Army.

These men can ordinarily be identified by their responses to your inquiries about why they wish to leave the Army, what are he first things they want to do when they get home, and how things are with their amilies. Sometimes it is possible to retrieve man from discharge simply by giving him eave before he makes his decision. Do not ttempt to "reformulate" the decisions of nen of this type before the leave, for they vill most likely decide against re-enlisting. But after they have been home for a while, hey can often return to the Army and view e-enlistment in a more favorable light.

Higher Echelon Interviews

Supplementary interviews at higher chelons of command may be used to good urpose in the Re-enlistment Interview Proram. They have two functions: (a) To button up" or finalize the intentions of men ho are leaning strongly in the direction of -enlistment; and (b) to congratulate men ready decided.

To Finalize: This is for two types of proscts (a) men who are tentatively decided favor of re-enlistment; and (b) men you ve succeeded in "unfreezing" but whose cisions you have not succeeded completely

in "reformulating." These interviews may be scheduled with the battalion or regimental recruiting officer and then perhaps with unit commanders at these levels. The recruiting officer should be briefed by you on just what is "holding the man up" in making the decision so that he may augment your efforts. Interviews by higher level unit commanders should attempt to do the following:

a. Give the soldier a sense of pride and satisfaction over his Army performance. Compliment him and make him feel that he has made progress and that this progress has been noted "from above."

b. Give the soldier the feeling that the Army needs him and wants him. Let him know that he is important.

For greatest effectiveness, these interviews shoud be staggered throughout the remaining time leading up to ETS-perhaps three such interviews, at successively higher levels of command (or by officers of successively higher rank), at intervals of 2 weeks. In this way you can avoid the impression that the Army has "dropped" the man once he has announced his intentions to reenlist.

Exit Interviews

The soldier who has definitely decided to leave the Army and whose decision cannot be changed must not be dropped and forgotten. Your disposition of these cases should always be tempered by two considerations:

a. Men who get out can take other men out with them and thus hurt your other re-enlistment efforts. Undecided men are especially open to suggestion, and it is possible for a strongly "decided against" man to turn them against re-enlistment. You should attempt to prevent this possibility.

b. Once back in civilian life, a discharged soldier can have an important influence upon the attitudes of future enlistees and inductees. You must do all you can to make the man a strong proponent of the Army. Remember, the most effective advertising is by "word of mouth."

The Exit Interview can be rather brief, perhaps about 10 minutes long. As a first step, it is always a good idea to tell the soldier that you have been glad to serve with him and that you appreciate the fine job he has done. Your purpose here is to give him a feeling of satisfaction with his Army service and to let him know that his work in the Army has been appreciated. You might consult the soldier's 201 file and briefly review in your conversation with him his various activities and achievements in the Army, pointing up how both he and the Army have gained from these. Compliment him on his performance and do all you can to give him a sense of pride in winding up a job well done.

After this, you can adopt some variation of the following general approach: "You have discharged your responsibilities toward your country, and we hope that we can get other men who will do as well as you. To do that, we must have good men sent to us, and

that's where you can help us." Point out that other men must fill the gap created by his discharge, and that while further Army service may not be for him, he knows other men who could do the job and for whom the Army would be a good deal. You cannot always turn a man into a "walking advertisement" for the Army, but you can at least get over to him that it is his patriotic obligation not to injure the recruitment effort.

Additional Exit Interviews of the "wellwishing" type may be scheduled after you have completed your own. These should be conducted at higher echelons of command the purpose being to reinforce further the soldier's feeling of accomplishment and to let him know that his efforts have been appreciated.

You will also find that an excellent procedure is to write the soldier a letter after he has been home for a short while, commending him for his Army service and expressing your best wishes for success in the civilian world.

One last reminder: always keep the door to re-enlistment open. The man may still change his mind before getting out, or perhaps may re-enlist after accepting his discharge (one out of every seven re-enlistments come after leaving the Army).

The procedures and considerations discussed thus far have the most direct bearing on re-enlistment and thus constitute the core of any re-enlistment program. There are, of course, other things to do which have a less undamental effect upon re-enlistment, but which nevertheless should be included whenever possible.

The purpose of this chapter is to outline a complete re-enlistment program. This is not one of those "ideal" programs which is mpossible to implement; it is for the most art a program which actually has been caried out the re-enlistment program of the st Infantry Division. Following is an outne of this program which was eminently uccessful and bears testimony to the effecveness of many of the procedures proposed 1 this guide.

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Preparation for the Program

A survey was conducted to determine why men did or did not intend to reenlist.

1. Among the questions included were: a. "Do you plan to re-enlist?” b. "If you do, why?"

c. "If you do not, why?"

2. This information was used to gain greater understanding of the specific appeals that should be used in reenlistment interviewing and in posters.

While chapters 2, 3, 4, and 5 of this guide contain information of this sort, of a general nature, there are always a number of attitudes, problems, and wants which are peculiar to a given unit and locale. But if you practice the principles of personal communication discussed in chapter 6, you will have your own informal troop survey, on a continuing basis. And remember, as in a formal opinion survey, you want to know the attitudes of men not yet up for re-enlistment inasmuch as these men can have an important influence over the decisions of other men who are approaching ETS.

B. A column, "DO YOU KNOW," was prepared for the Division's weekly newspaper.

1. The column contained information on Army benefits and other facts about the Army which were considered important to the men.

2. The material was presented in an objective, straightforward manner, stressing facts rather than sentiment or propagandistic approaches. The re-enlistment booklets which you give in the Contact Interview (chapter 7) will assist you in achieving the same results.

C. A series of posters was prepared for distribution by various units. It is highly desirable that such posters be "different," that is, they should not look like the standard posters which are distributed