Trust in Military Leadership

Trust in military leadership is increasingly a problem of confidence and commitment, a phenomenon documented in detail within the 2014 Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR), published as a means of developing a strategic plan for military readiness. Several research studies show trust in leadership is arguably among the most important variables in relation to intent to leave an organization (Milligan, 2003). Trust continues to be a key factor in commitment within the military (Vadell, 2008). The problem in this research is the perceived lack of trust that officers hold with their leadership. The combination of senior leaders losing confidence in captains and the growing doubts about the trustworthiness of senior military leaders creates a knowledge gap in trust, explained in this research. The knowledge gap is seen when there is a lack of credibility with senior leadership as a result of diminished levels of trust from captains. Previous research suggested that the lack of trust and commitment impact intentions to leave. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between trust, commitment, leader actions, and intent to leave the military. Analyzing numerical survey data from 362 captains, the ultimate goal was to examine the relationships between trust, commitment and leader actions. The rationale behind this study; having a better understanding of the concept of trust and its relationship to retention, may have implications for future leader development and overall military readiness. This study utilized Milligan's theory as the foundation, as applied to trust in military leadership. Research findings conclude with Tables 29-31 and the following points: trust is a growing factor in leadership and thought to be part of the reasoning behind officers leaving the Army; there exists a significant statistical relationship between trust and intent to leave; trust is directly related to the intent for officers' leaving the Army; there is a statistically significant relationship between commitment and intent of officers leaving the Army; leader action was a statistically insignificant predictor to intent to leave. Final implications suggest that with an increase of trust and commitment in leadership there is a decreased intention to leave the military.