Benchmarking and Crosswalks of Army Data from Multiple Sources

Benchmarking and assessing the quality of Army data is a foundational step in analyses. This research aims to benchmark U.S. Army data in the Person-Event Data Environment (PDE) data enclave from 2000 to 2019 against publicly available data that document annual numbers of total Army strength and accessions. We complete three sets of comparisons. In the DOD Demographic Report and SDAD Project Crosswalk, we compare top-level counts of Soldiers derived within the PDE from various Army data sources with those reported within annual DOD demographic report profiles. The RAND Accession Report and SDAD Project Crosswalk, compares top-level accession counts of Soldiers derived within the PDE from various Army data sources with a RAND report on Army accessions. Lastly, in the Examination of Missing Accession Dates for Officers, we examine observed missing data patterns of officers for specific accession years and identify their potential source. These analyses revealed that our top-level sample characteristic numbers and trends over time are generally consistent with those reported annually by the DOD demographic reports for total active-duty Army strength and with reports of annual accessions.  Data are available with research approvals through the PDE managed by the Research Facilitation Laboratory of the Army Analytics Group.

Ratcliff N, Thurston J, Linehan K, Goldstein J, Lancaster V, Schroeder A, Shipp S, Keller S. Benchmarking and Crosswalks of Army Data from Multiple Sources, Technical Report 023-287. Proceedings of the Biocomplexity Institute, University of Virginia; 2022 March. DOI: