Life as a Private: Stories of Service from the Junior Ranks of Today’s Army

Life as a Private: Stories of Service from the Junior Ranks of Today’s Army. RAND Corporation. Rebecca Zimmerman et al. March 6, 2019

Army enlisted service is an enduring American tradition. Men and women, often recent high school graduates, leave home to serve their country and experience the challenges of Basic Combat Training and the camaraderie of life on a military base. But there is much more to Army service than the outlines with which most Americans are familiar. A separate RAND Arroyo Center report details the service experiences of 81 junior enlisted soldiers across many similar topics. The objective of this report is to provide deeper insight into the junior enlisted experience in a way that is accessible to policymakers and senior Army leaders, junior leaders, recruiters, and individuals considering an Army career.

This volume goes beyond the archetypes and bumper stickers to tell the stories of six soldiers in their own words. In these chapters, readers learn about their decisions to join the Army, the joys and frustrations of their jobs, and their considerations for the future. The narratives identify some leadership behaviors that support soldier success and others that make soldiers’ lives more difficult. The interviews have been edited for clarity and readability, and some details changed to protect soldiers’ confidentiality; otherwise, these words are theirs alone, with a few opening and concluding thoughts from the authors to capture key lessons. [Note: contains copyrighted material].

[PDF format, 210 pages].

Digitalization and the American Workforce

Digitalization and the American Workforce. Brookings Institution. Mark Muro et al. November 2017

In recent decades, the diffusion of digital technology into nearly every business and workplace, also known as “digitalization,” has been remaking the U.S. economy and the world of work. The “digitalization of everything” has at once increased the potential of individuals, firms, and society while also contributing to a series of troublesome impacts and inequalities, such as worker pay disparities across many demographics, and the divergence of metropolitan economic outcomes.

In light of that, this report presents a detailed analysis of changes in the digital content of 545 occupations covering 90 percent of the U.S. workforce in all industries since 2001. The analysis categorizes U.S. occupations into jobs that require high, medium or low digital skills and tracks the impacts of rapid change.
The full report concludes with implications of the key findings and suggests ways communities can work with firms and workers to spread the benefits of digitalization while mitigating its potentially harmful effects. [Note: contains copyrighted material].

[PDF format, 60 pages, 2.98 MB].