Volunteer military personnel

Assessment | Biopsychology | Comparative | Cognitive | Developmental | Language | Individual differences | Personality | Philosophy | Social |
Methods | Statistics | Clinical | Educational | Industrial | Professional items | World psychology |

Industrial & Organisational : Introduction : Personnel : Organizational psychology : Occupations: Work environment: Index : Outline

---

Military psychology

Military personnel

Airforce personnel Army personnel Coastguard personnel Commisioned officers Enlisted military personnel Marine personnel Military medical personnel Military psychiatrists Military psychologists National guardsmen Navy personnel Noncommissioned officers Military veterans Reservists ROTC students Volunteer military personnel

Related topics

Bullying in the military Children of military personnel Civilian and family relationships Combat experience Combat stress reactions Military attrition Military deployment Military duty status Military enlistment Military families Military recruitment Military schools Military training Psychological aspects of combat

Volunteer military personnel are volunteer personnel who enter military service. In an army without conscription such volunteers are the main source of military recruitment.

A military volunteer is a person who enlists in military service by free will, and is not a mercenary or a foreign legionaire. Volunteers often enlist to fight in the armed forces of a foreign country.

Many armies, including the U.S. Army, formerly distinguished between "volunteers" enlisted during a war, and "regulars" who served on long-term basis. Troops raised as state militia were always "volunteers" (even when recruited by conscription), while "U.S." troops could be volunteers or regulars. The rank of an officer in a volunteer unit was separate from his rank (if any) as a regular, and usually higher. When the volunteer forces were disbanded at the end of the war, officers with both kinds of commission reverted to their "regular" rank.

See also

• Commissioned officers
• Enlisted military personnel
• Military medical personnel
• Military personnel
• National guardsmen
• ROTC students

References

Cotton, C. A. (1990). Commitment in military systems. New York, NY, England: Greenwood Press.

*Dornstein, M., & Matalon, Y. (1989). A comprehensive analysis of the predictors of organizational commitment: A study of voluntary army personnel in Israel: Journal of Vocational Behavior Vol 34(2) Apr 1989, 192-203.
*Eden, D., & Kinnar, J. (1991). Modeling Galatea: Boosting self-efficacy to increase volunteering: Journal of Applied Psychology Vol 76(6) Dec 1991, 770-780.
*Ensign, T. (2004). America's military today: The challenge of militarism. New York, NY: New Press.
*Jones, E. E. (1978). Review of The all-volunteer force: A study of ideology in the military: PsycCRITIQUES Vol 23 (5), May, 1978.
*Kirkland, F. R. (1996). Can soldiers keep peace? A study of the recent history of the psychological dimensions of the U. S. Army: Journal of Psychohistory Vol 23(4) Spr 1996, 427-437.
*LaRocco, J. M., & Jones, A. P. (1980). Organizational conditions affecting withdrawal intentions and decisions as moderated by work experience: Psychological Reports Vol 46(3, Pt 2) Jun 1980, 1223-1231.
*Leal, D. L. (1999). It's not just a job: Military service and Latino political participation: Political Behavior Vol 21(2) Jun 1999, 153-174.
*Moyer, R. C. (1976). Impression management effects on locus of control scores among psychiatric patients as a function of the content and context of the instructional set: Dissertation Abstracts International.
*Murray, B. (2004). Castles in the air: Civilian trainee experiences with the RAF: Psychiatric Bulletin Vol 28(4) Apr 2004, 145-146.
*Pastuovic-Terze, I. (1998). The main sources of stress for foreign war veterans in Croatia: Socijalna Psihijatrija Vol 26(4) Dec 1998, 167-170.
*Perlstein, G. R. (1988). The mercenary as social bandit: A preliminary look: International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology Vol 32(3) Dec 1988, 201-207.
*Sandecki, R. (1987). Women veterans. In Williams, Tom (Ed). (1987). Post-traumatic stress disorders: A handbook for clinicians. 
*Sarnecky, M. T. (1989). A history of volunteerism and patriotism in the Army Nurse Corps: Military Medicine Vol 154(7) Jul 1989, 358-364.
*Segal, D. R., Burns, T. J., Falk, W. W., Silver, M. P., & Sharda, B. D. (1998). The all-volunteer force in the 1970s: Social Science Quarterly Vol 79(2) Jun 1998, 390-411.
*Singer, M. S., & Coffin, T. K. (1996). Cognitive and volitional determinants of job attitudes in a voluntary organization: Journal of Social Behavior & Personality Vol 11(2) Jun 1996, 313-328.
*Vinokur, A. D., Pierce, P. F., & Buck, C. L. (1999). Work-family conflicts of women in the Air Force: Their influence on mental health and functioning: Journal of Organizational Behavior Vol 20(6) Nov 1999, 865-878.
*Wyatt, T. C. (1983). A contextual analysis of organizational commitment in the U.S. Army Reserves: Dissertation Abstracts International.