Risks and Recruitment in Postmodern Armed Forces: The Case of Belgium

Abstract

Taking the Belgian Armed Forces as a case study, this article assesses the impact of new constabulary missions on the recruitment prospects of military personnel in postmodern armed forces. In particular, it analyzes the complex relationship between these new missions, the risks to personnel, the public image of the armed forces, and recruitment prospects. The article first compares the objective level of risks of various occupations and describes the impact of the Rwandan tragedy on the official Belgian defense policy concerning troop deployments. Second, a theoretical framework is presented within which the issue of risks and recruitment can be analyzed. Finally, empirical data coming from various surveys conducted among representative samples of the Belgian population and of the Belgian Armed Forces are used to illustrate this framework.

Predicting applicants' job pursuit behavior from their selection expectations: the mediating role of the theory of planned behavior

“…This has been so since the early 1980s, although there has been a small rise in popularity and trustworthiness in the midst 1990s when the Belgian military started actively participating in peace-support missions (Manigart, 2005). Due to its unfavorable image, the Belgian military, as well as many other Western militaries, has difficulties in attracting, enlisting, and retaining the required numbers of new recruits (Bachman, Segal, Freedman-Doan, & O'Malley, 2000).…”

“…The plausibility of this explanation is strengthened by recent research showing that the military ranked last when 18-25 year olds were asked about their favorite employer (Manigart, 2005), and by the significant relationship between time lag and behavior: long time lags increase the likelihood of finding another job.…”

Diversidad, integración y discriminación en las Fuerzas Armadas Españolas

“…En este sentido creemos que sería razonable añadir (que no sustituir), en el esquema español de reclutamiento de extranjeros, lo que se ha dado en llamar el modelo belga de apertura total a los ciudadanos de la Unión Europea, más acorde y sobre todo coherente con nuestra propia legislación, como tuvimos ocasión de ver 50 . Este sistema, que han asumido además de Bélgica países como Suecia 51 , Dinamarca o Luxemburgo, es también la línea que se plantea seguir Alemania actualmente 52 .…”

Military Occupations: Methodological Approaches and the Military–Academy Research Nexus

“…These investigations, particularly the ROTC analysis by Axe (2007), investigate and highlight the lived experience of students who are part-time soldiers, focusing on the complex roles they are required to fulfil and the often conflicting positions they are confronted with as both students and military personnel. With regards to recruitment and retention, whilst there is much in the literature which explores issues pertaining to broad patterns, policy changes and institutional practices (see, for example, Manigart 2005;Woodruff et al 2006), there is a marked absence of more fine-grained, individualand experienced-based accounts of nascent military membership: the personal logics, motivations and rationales of those who join and remain in military occupations are under-explored. Similarly, studies of those who leave military service, and of the experiences of veterans, have focused on broader trends, patterns and definitions (for an overview, see Dandeker et al 2006) and less on the lived experience of service leavers (though see Jolly 1996;Higate 2001;Walker forthcoming).…”