It's Y Time

A new generation of young adults entering the workforce is like none that has come before, and the military is learning to adapt.

By Elizabeth H. Manning, Senior Writer

They've been christened America's most socially conscious generation and its most narcissistic one. They seek meaning and challenge in the workplace, but won't pay with their personal lives- Even when theyVe happy in their jobs, they,re looking for their next- And they're more likely than any generation that's ever come before to strike out on their own in business, yet also most likely to live longer in their parents' homes.

Call them Generation Y, or Nexters-for postGeneration Xers-Echo Boomers, or simply Millennials. These young adults are entering the job market in numbers not seen since the 1980s, and they're a distinctly different breed of worker. First learning of the world through the prism of the booming '90s, coming of age in a mix of fingertip technology and wrenching disaster, the typical American Millennial presents an unprecedented challenge to those seeking to employ them-including the military.

Nor is the challenge simply recruiting today s high school or college graduate or, to take it a step farther, recruiting and retaining them. With four generation types now in the market-Veterans, Baby Boomers, X, and Y-success means rethinking an organization's traditional structure and strategies to avoid boosting one strength at the expense of another. Flexibility and accessibility will likely be the watchwords of tomorrow's leading organizations.

"I'm more impressed with this generation of young people than any in a long time, including my own, the Vietnam generation," said Lt Gen John A. Bradley, chief of the Air Force Reserve. "They're more disciplined, they're more focused, they're joining knowing we're at war. But we have to pay attention to them, we have to listen to them."

Do You Know This Person?

Many studies have tried to capture this population, which most designate as having been born in 1982 (turning 18 in the year 2000) or later. The more reputable studies note that Millennials are still young and as yet not far removed from such formative events as the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, so characteristics and trends are best considered in a soft light.

We do know that in 2000, there were 4,051,598 Americans 18 years of age, according to that year's U.S. Census. That number is predicted to rise each year to a peak of about 4.4 million around 2009, and taper only slightly for the next decade. The last time the United States had so many 18-year-olds was in 1979, when about 4.3 million were counted.

However, this generation of 18-year-olds is much more diverse in background. In the 2000 census, 14 percent were Hispanic, a number expected to rise to 22 percent by 2020. White 18-year-olds, who currently represent 66 percent, will drop to around 57 percent. At the same time, Millennials are much more likely than their parents to date and marry across race lines. And their mothers' education level, a marker for their own expectations, is on the rise: only about 30 percent of those who became mothers 25 years ago had at least some college education, a number that climbed sharply through the '90s and is now closing on 50 percent.

Carolyn Martin, Ph.D., an expert on generational differences in the workplace, noted that one in five Millennials today have parents born outside the United States, according to a Pew Charitable Trust report. A principal with management training firm Rainmaker Thinking, Inc., based in New Haven, Conn., Dr. Martin described for THE OFFICER several other traits that millennials often share:

* Emphasis on education. Millennials are practiced in learning fast and adapting. "They know that the job they have today may be obsolete tomorrow," said Dr. Martin. "They're poised to be lifetime learners."

* Sense of entitlement. Like Generation Xers, Millennials seek responsibility in the workplace-but not so much to prove themselves, like their predecessors tended to do, but because they're confident they can handle it. They've taken those self-esteem "you can do anything" messages of the past two decades to heart.

* Social conscience. "This generation wants to work for an organization that's socially responsible," she said. "They'll do the research."

* Family focus. Most surveys find this age group overwhelmingly answers "my parents" when asked to name their heroes or role models. On the flip side, Millennials are also the first children of the so-called "helicopter parents," who hover and swoop at the slightest provocation-a phenomenon that doesn't always stop when children leave the house.

* Entrepreneurship. Thanks to the low threshold of many Internet-based companies, Millennials are expected to be more adventurous than ever in business.

* High expectations. Generation Y "wants an organization that's a career store," said Dr. Martin. They want managers and co-workers to act as coaches and teachers, and they expect feedback to be a two-way street.

For Ellen Kossek, an organizational psychologist and professor of human resources at Michigan State University in East Lansing, the outstanding feature of Millennials is that they're "dual-centric," she said. "They equally love their work and personal life. That's a major change from Baby Boomers. When push comes to shove, you love your family, but Baby Boomers put work first-providing for them is how you show you love your family. Companies need to realize that to Millennials, work is important, but they won't make tremendous sacrifices for it."

The Military View

The Department of Defense (DoD) conducts studies of Millennial-age children and young adults as well. For example, each autumn and spring, staff with the Joint Advertising Marketing Research and Studies (JAMRS) program gathers responses from about 3,000 representative 16- to 21-year-olds via random-dial telephone surveys. Since the inception of this format in 2001, DoD has observed four general trends, according to JAMRS program manager Matt Boehmer:

1. The time period in which members of this age group may marry, buy a house, enter the workforce or otherwise launch their adult lives now extends well into their 20s, a phenomenon often called prolonged adolescence or delayed adulthood;

2. Parents, particularly mothers, have significant influence on choices regarding education and career;

3. Quality of life issues matter to these young adults, who have seen their parents put in long hours on the job;

4. The value of doing something for the larger good is rated high, but this increase is associated more with community service than military service.

In 2003, a National Academy of Sciences (NAS) committee formed at DoDs request published a report titled "Attitudes, Aptitudes, and Aspirations of American Youth: Implications for Military Recruitment." It's a trove of statistics, observations, and recommendations for attracting millennial-age servicemembers. One of its authors, an expert in military manpower and education at George Mason University (GMU), in Fairfax, Va., told THE OFFICER that for all its unique features, this generations willingness and reasons to serve in the military look quite familiar.

"From the mid-'80s to the present time, the data have stayed remarkably consistent," said David J. Armor, Ph.D., who was principal deputy assistant secretary for manpower at DoD during President Ronald Reagan's administration. "Among those who say they might serve, getting training for job experience is their number-one reason, education is number two, with patriotism or duty usually a close number three. But among those who say they would serve, duty becomes their number-one reason. That means those people are coming in not for selfish reasons."

On the Ground

Army recruiter SFC Jason F. Earl's own experience agrees with Dr. Armor's assessment. "More young folks, whether they see it this way or not, have a desire to serve their country," said SFC Earl, USA, who serves with the Army's Recruiting Battalion Raleigh, N.C. "They may see it as money for college or job training, but when we start to talk about what they want to do, what they hope to get out of it, what I hear underlying it is a desire to serve their country. Even those who protest want to make a diff�rence."

On the other side of the country, CPT Ryan T. Choate, USA, commanding one of eight companies within Army Recruiting Battalion Los Angeles, listed and defined reasons for the four main motivations he sees these days:

1. For higher education: The Army now offers distancelearning programs such as eArmyU via local colleges in addition to the traditional GI Bill and loan-repayment options.

2. For adventure: "They're tired of going to school, of staying at home, and they're looking for something new. To these people, we offer something like airborne school or assault school-the career version of'extreme sports.' Instead of paying to jump out of a plane, they get paid."

3. For skills training: "We can guarantee very marketable jobs like medical lab technician that's very expensive training, and after only three or four years they've got not only the training but on-the-job experience."

4. And simply, for a desire to serve: "Occasionally we do get a person who walks through the door and says, ? don't care what kind of job you give me, I just want to serve.'"

For Navy recruiter FCl Michael Benavidez, USN, a stand-out feature of today's young adults is their knowledge. "They're much more informed than my generation was," said the Denver-based Generation Xer. "They're looking toward the future and evaluating their choices to get them where they want to go." With all the Web-based information now available to potential recruits, "they come in telling me about programs."

The techniques the various services use to reach recruits run the gamut from command structure to the latest in high-tech. For example, the Air Force Reserve has decided to embed its recruiters with units, which means they recruit not for the Reserve in general but for the unit itself, and know it well, said Lt Gen Bradley. "We think that's one reason why the Air Force Reserve has had the best recruiting numbers the last three to four years running. Our recruiters can tell them straight out how it's going to be."

The Navy Reserve caught attention in the advertising industry late last year using Bluetooth technology. Noting that about 80 percent of its recruits are prior service, Navy Recruiting Command decided to set up kiosks on Navy bases that could beam a text message to Bluetoothenabled cell phones as their owners walked by. People could choose to read the message, which was a reminder to former servicemembers that leaving Active Duty didn't have to mean leaving behind Navy camaraderie. "We had a 32 percent opt-in rate [to read the message], twice the industry standard," said CDR David Hosteller, USN, who is director of advertising plans at Navy Recruiting Command in Millington, Term.

Reaching through the Noise

Indeed, technology is the main vehicle to attract Millennials' attention, and across the services the military is developing creative ways to do it. "I'd have to say our biggest challenge in recruiting is that the Army is seen by the nation and by influencers as low-tech, an organization that doesn't require special amounts of skill," said COL Donald Bartholomew, USA, assistant chief of staff of marketing, education, and outreach at Army Recruiting Command, based in Ft. Knox, Ky.

The Army puts a tool in the hands of the recruiter to counter that perception. Called the Future Soldier Remote Reservation System, it provides Web-based laptop access to Army presentations that recruiters used to have only in stations, said COL Bartholomew. Depending on funds, individual stations may also have or borrow a variety of eye-catching equipment: Army race car simulators, H3 Hummers loaded with plasma televisions, or game stations to play the highly popular America's Army video game. Some may even throw "LAN parties," where they set up a Local Area Network server in a mall parking lot so gamers can bring their laptops and play head to head.

Still, no one's forgetting that parents count heavily in this generations decision-making process. For example, a Navy television advertisement called "Drones" starts off with a technology bang-shots of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and a ship's combat control center-but ends with the spoken tagline: "Navy: working on a daily basis to unman the front lines." The young adults "will get the tech part of it," said CDR Hostetler. Meanwhile, the tagline aims to allay concerns of parents and other influencers about the young adult's safety. "We're at war, and, unfortunately, in this business people can get hurt. But we want the parents to know we're doing everything we can to keep their kids safe," he said. "If we cut parents out of the communication, we're only conveying part of the message with Millennials."

And communicating with parents today can be more of a challenge than ever, noted the NAS report. Whereas 40 percent of those who turned 18 in 1988 had parents with military experience, only 18 percent of 18-year-olds did in 2000; and for those born in 2000, that common link drops to 8 percent. On the positive side, this factor doesn't appear to have depressed recruitment-at least not yet, said report author Dr. Armor, who continues to eye such trends. "It's a surprise, really, but for now the impact appears to be more of a concern than reality."

The Generational Melting Pot

So what will tomorrow's successful mixed-generation organization look like? Most important, they'll tend to shift from traditional expectations and rigid career tracks, such as the notion of "paying your dues" before making meaningful contributions in the workplace. "One thing you can't do with today's young adults, particularly college graduates, is put them in a cubicle and give them mundane things to do," said Dr. Martin. "My generation would have complained around the coffee pot. This one will walk."

Techniques such as two-way mentoring can give both Millenniais and older workers what they want, with payoffs that range from higher job satisfaction to increased productivity and innovation. Supervisors identify Veterans and Baby Boomers who can teach Millennials skills such as work ethic, time management, and customer service, at the same time as they encourage Millennials to identify problems a fresh worker can see-along with offering possible solutions-instead of expecting them to go along with the way "it's always done." Supervisors "need to be so much more engaged than they used to be," said Dr. Martin. "Generation Y is looking for constant feedback and learning opportunities."

"I tell everyone all the time that the six most expensive words in the English language are 'we've always done it this way,' and the four most powerful are 'what do you think?'" said VADM John G. Cotton, chief of the Navy Reserve. The traditional top-down paradigm with a leader "for whom everyone exists" is outdated, he said. "The leaders who are going to get us ahead are those who can constantly adapt to new challenges, form small working groups to solve problems, and get out of the way."

For Dr. Kossek of Michigan State, a key adaptation that organizations can make is in cross-training. "The big change with this generation is that they may not be in lifelong careers," she said. "Organizations need to design ways like cross-training for good workers to get on and off career tracks more easily."

Applying such an idea to military environments may not be such a reach. For example, Army Reserve Chief LTG Jack C. Stultz told attendees at ROAs Mid-Winter Conference in February that he'd like to develop "some kind of reserve status where we can put a uniform on [those Reservists], capture their civilian skills, and make it easy for them to transition back and forth without having to go through boot camp and everything else."

There's a pragmatic element to this notion as well. For example, "One in three women born today will likely live to see 100 [years old], but our current structure is to serve 20 years and to get retirement," said VADM Cotton. "We should be able to leverage those skill sets for 50 years. We need on and off ramps, we need to be able to stretch out careers over years."

Meanwhile, DoD has implemented several recommendations from the 2003 NAS report and other Millennial-age studies like JAMRS surveys, according to the Pentagon s director of accession policy, the office that oversees recruiting and commissions. One NAS suggestion, that the various services and DoD periodically assess the effects of investments such as educational benefits, enlistment bonuses, advertising, and recruiter resources, "we've actually taken farther. We quantify each dollar spent" on such factors and their return, said Curt Gilroy, a Ph.D. economist. "It's a process we're always refining."

Another 2003 NAS recommendation touches on the subject of a current study by the Rand Corporation, said Dr. Gilroy. While methods of collecting data come up with different numbers, education experts like GMU's Dr. Armor agree in general that more people are starting some kind of secondary education while the number receiving degrees is holding steady. That means dropouts have increased: a newer and prime market for recruiting, noted the NAS committee. "What's interesting is that recruits, particularly to the Army, are coming in at a higher age than ever before," said Dr. Gilroy of DoD Accession Policy. The trend has developed in the past five to eight years, he said, with data indicating these Millennials are trying out the job market or educational opportunities first, and finding them lacking. Rand is studying this type of group specifically.

"I do think the military is getting the message about Millennials," said Dr. Martin. "I've been to Fort Bragg. They know that not every recruit needs to clean the latrine to become part of the team. They're recognizing performance. As we say, an ounce of retention is worth a pound of recruiting."

[Sidebar]

"One thing you can't do is give them mundane things to do- My generation would have complained around the coffee pot- This one will walk-"

- Dr. Carolyn Martin

[Sidebar]

"They're much more informed than my generation was. They come in telling me about programs."

- FCl Michael Benavidezn, USN

[Sidebar]

"If we cut parents out of the communication! we're only conveying part of the message with Millennials."

- CDR David Hostetler, USN

[Sidebar]

Winds of Change?

Here come our future officers. And this next generation of junior officers is a completely new breed from its predecessors. So, we went directly to the source to gain insights into the incoming class of American servicemen and women; Here are essays from four cadets on the cusp of their military careers. While they embody much of what typifies the Millennials, some of their sentiments sound strikingly traditional.

Protect and Improve

By MID Joseph A. Babajan, USMC

University of Missouri-Columbia

My mother tells me that ever since I could walk I wanted to fly. As I grew, I realized that I wanted to serve my country by being a protector of its citizens and by trying to improve the world around me. The military seemed to be the ideal place to accomplish my two goals, and in my senior year in I high school I applied for a Naval ROTC scholarship.

During my first few weeks in ROTC, I was surrounded by a new breed with which I had little experience: the Marines. My Marine officer instructor, Capt Gregory Field, pushed me to give my all and saw in me what he said were the beginning qualities that would comprise a good Marine officer. I quickly began to realize that I wanted to be a Marine, and eventually realized that I wanted to be a Marine before I wanted to be a pilot.

I grew a deep respect for the time-honored traditions of the Marine Corps. I knew in my heart and my head that I wanted to be part of the Marine Corps' rich warrior culture where leading, bleeding with, and taking care of your Marines was the cornerstone.

I applied for a Marine Corps scholarship my junior year in college and received it, and the following summer I received my gut check at Officer Candidate School, where I found in myself a confidence and strength I never knew I had. Safe to say, it left me wanting to be a Marine officer more than ever.

I was once told by one of my coaches many years ago that the strongest sword is made from the hottest heat, the highest pressure, and the strongest hammering. I feel that this is a metaphor for what I sought in the Marines. I wanted to push myself to my best and be nothing less. I wanted to be a member and a leader of the warrior elite. As a Marine officer, I hope to be a positive role model in the lives of the Marines under my command. I will seek self-improvement on a daily basis and expect the same of my Marines. I will never ask my Marines to do anything I myself am not willing or able to do. In short, I intend to lead by example.

In my few years in ROTC, I have been told time and time again that the two main things an officer must ensure is mission accomplishment and taking care of his or her Marines, in that order. I hope to accomplish this and more. I want to make being an officer of Marines a full career. Honestly, I cannot imagine myself doing anything else. Some might say that is a narrow-minded approach, but I say to them that it is a drive and a purpose I feel I have been preparing to walk my whole life.

Reason To Be

By Cadet Stephen DiLorenzo, Army ROTC

Louisiana State University

It is hard to say why or when I chose to serve in the U.S. Army It has not been in my plans since birth. The military wasn't a family tradition, and I didn't have close relatives pushing me to join. The point when I became interested in the Army is hard to define.

My draw to the Army was not like the turning on of a light switch. My attraction was more like the breaking of dawn. The night waned and the sky gradually lightened. I did not realize that the day was approaching until it was already light. Thus, I did not realize I was interested in the Army until I was already in the Army.

As a youth, I did not idealize the military. I didn't have Army T-shirts or an F-16 bed spread. In high school, there were no set plans of joining the Army. In the time between high school and college I was still unsure of what I was going to do. I went into college not really knowing what wanted to do as an adult. During my first couple weeks of college, I met a recruiter for the Army ROTC program. He sweet-talked me and told me to "try it one semester and see how you like it." I was bribed with cool pens and an Army backpack. They showed me all the cool, fun things about the Army, and I was suckered in.

I have never regretted my decision to join, but my motivation has puzzled me. I joined after Sept. 11, but I was not motivated by a desire to take vengeance upon my country's enemies. Patriotism was only a slight factor in my decision. The monetary motivations were not that attractive to me; I already had the means to complete college with scholarships and my parent's savings. And I was not forced to join because I was in trouble with the law. I did not fulfill most of the classic reasons for joining the Army.

I believe I joined the Army to be a part of something larger. I wanted to be a part of something prestigious and powerful, and not just me alone by myself going through life. I believe I have found that in the Army. Here I have more direction and motivation than I would in a civilian career. I am not simply serving myself in attempts to obtain a livelihood. I have no doubt that I would have been successful as a civilian, but I would not have been fulfilled. I certainly know the importance of civilian careers and commerce. These civilian activities and pursuits are what the military is designed to defend. In the Army, I am serving my country and the people within it. I am guarding freedom and the American way of life. The knowledge that I am helping to preserve what I love and hold dear is more rewarding than anything I could have found elsewhere.

Destined to Serve

By Cadet Jessica Azar, U.S. Coast Guard Academy

I was 3 when my Granddad passed away. The only memory I have of him is visiting the hospital before he died, but the blanks have been filled in by my family. He looked like Bing Crosby and could play any tune on the piano that someone whistled. He was someone my family loved and looked up to. He was a U.S. Naval officer.

If there was a defining moment when the idea of joining the military popped into my head, I'd say it was when I was in kindergarten. To the surprise of my dad, I turned to him in the car and announced, "Daddy, I want to be in the Army!" Of course, I didn't really know what the Army did, but I knew from the commercials that when Soldiers came home in uniform, their parents hugged them and smiled.

Yet, the two academies I was interested in were the Naval and Air Force Academies. Then, while on a community service project, I picked up a piece of trash to throw away. It was a flier for a weeklong summer program, the Academy Introduction Mission (AIM) for high school students at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. My first thought was, "There's a Coast Guard Academy?" Something seemed appealing, and the next day my mom and I filled out the application together and sent it in. I was accepted, and at AIM I learned about the Coast Guard Academy and the missions of the Coast Guard. I was hooked.

As my senior year of high school began, I concentrated solely on my Coast Guard Academy application and sending it in for early acceptance. I remember the date the envelope was supposed to arrive: Dec. 16, 2002. I waited on the porch for the mail and was heartbroken when I was wait-listed. I spent January, February, and March sending in extra recommendation letters from anyone and everyone. It wasn't until May 8 that my mom got a phone call saying I had been accepted.

Since receiving that call and reporting in, the road has not been smooth, and it hasn't been a completely enjoyable experience, but I don't think it's meant to be. It's meant to be hard. Still, the great moments are enough to carry you through the rest of your life-especially when it comes to the people. I have the greatest friends. We've been through hell and back together, and those ties are bound to last.

What I hope for most after graduation is to not let anyone down: not my family, not my friends, not those I will serve with, not the Coast Guard, and not myself. I hope I can contribute back to the Coast Guard what it has already given to me, and I hope I can help others throughout my time in the service. At the end of the day, the experiences I've gained, both good and bad, the friends I'm lucky to have, and how proud I've made my family, I owe all to the Coast Guard and the Academy.

Military Arts

By Cadet Duy Nguyen, AFROTC, University of Cincinnati

What do you think a typical cadet's major is in college? Engineering? Nursing? Political Science? Criminal Justice? These are types of academic majors that people often associate with military cadets. As for me, I'm a fine arts major in the University of Cincinnati's College of Design, Art, Architecture, and Planning (DAAP).

While some of my fellow cadets were sitting in a lecture room listening to a professor talk about thermodynamics, I would be in a studio painting a still-life image of a bowl of fruit. While other cadets are listening to a lecture on the history of classical civilization, I might be in a small room with five other students drawing a timid yet beautiful nude female model. People who walk the halls of DAAP often see students with tattoos covering their arms, hair dyed blue, body piercings, or students wearing their own artwork (fashion designers). Not your typical cadet, huh?

You often see newly commissioned lieutenants leave college and go into the Active Duty military to apply their skills-whether it is engineers going to a research facility or nurses getting deployed to the frontlines. To those people who ask, "What can you do with an art major in the military?" I would often answer, "I honestly don't know what I could do. It doesn't matter which field I am going to be sent into. All I want is to be an officer and serve the country I live in."

That is the primary reason why I decided to join AFROTC. Despite being in an environment that requires me to express myself freely, I also wanted to have structure in my life. ROTC was the answer. The University of Cincinnati had two detachments-Army and Air Force-and they were right across the hall from each other. I chose the Air Force side of the hall because... well, I heard the Air Force had more "goodies."

Throughout my years as a cadet, I grew professionally. I learned the skills and attributes of an Air Force officer, and I was applying some of them to my life as a fine arts student. I applied my time management skills to organize my workload in the long hours I put in the studio; my briefing skills, when I gave a presentation of my portfolio to a group of instructors for critique; and my leadership skills, when I was to lead a group of students in a collaborative art project. These skills would definitely help me in the future if I were to enter the art world after fulfilling my four years in the Air Force.

Will I stay in the military and make it a career? Who knows ? I probably will continue to serve my country and, on the side, pursue my artistic expression as a hobby or fulfill my four years and go into art instruction. Only time will tell.