A large-scale study conducted by the Rand Corporation has concluded that giving recruits waivers to enter military service has no real effect on the quality of the force and soldiers who came in with waivers do just as well as those who did not.
The study took an unprecedented look at military data sets for recruits who joined between the years of 2001 to 2012, specifically those who came in on waivers for issues like past marijuana use, ADHD, and mild anxiety or depression.
As social norms change in America, the study notes that it will be important for the military to articulate why they give waivers and to whom, as there is still a negative connotation associated with them amongst policymakers and much of the public with people believing that soldiers who received waivers are so-called problem children.
However, while the Rand study did reveal that soldiers who come into service are slightly more likely to get into trouble for what they received a waiver for, that they are also slightly more likely to perform better in other areas and perform the same in one key metric: re-enlistment.
“The strongest message of our report is that using waivers has nothing to do with changing quality standards," Michael Hansen, the associate director of RAND Arroyo Center said.
The study also concluded that the military is making a good bet on issuing waivers for recruits who are older, scored well on aptitude tests, or have at least a high school diploma as these have been shown to be strong indicators of future performance.
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Reach Jack Murphy: jack@connectingvets.com or @JackMurphyRGR.
