United States Air Force Security Forces Merger and Career Satisfaction Relating to Retention

The relationship between the Air Force merger of Law Enforcement personnel, Security Police personnel, and Combat Arms Training and Maintenance personnel into the Air Force Security Forces Career Field; and job retention was investigated among 209 Air Force Security Forces Enlisted Personnel at five different Air Force bases (Columbus Air Force Base (AFB), MS, Keesler AFB, MS, Eglin AFB, FL, Hurlburt Field Air Base, FL, and Moody AFB, GA). Participants completed a 91-item survey designed to measure merger satisfaction, career and job satisfaction, life satisfaction, job involvement, job stress, turnover intentions and demographic data. The results showed only four items significantly related to job retention. In a simple regression analysis, satisfaction with the merger was significantly associated with retention but was not the best predictor. Career satisfaction was also a significant predictor of job retention and a stronger one. Merger satisfaction was also significantly related to career satisfaction. In a simple multiple regression analysis, however, merger satisfaction was not significantly related to retention. The results in this population of Air Force Personnel indicated that retention was significantly related to whether the major satisfaction in one’s life came from the job, the level of satisfaction with the career field, and the amount of time off from work.