Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited / This thesis examines the movement of personnel into, through, and out of the enlisted forces of the U.S. military services during the period FY1974-FY1987. The vehicle for this analysis is the Enlisted Transition Matrix, which is used by DOD and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), to track the transition characteristics of the enlisted forces. The Matrix data were supplied by the Defense Manpower Data Center, Monterey, CA. The data were aggregated to the service-wide and years-of-service (YOS) level. The main conclusion of this thesis is that analysis of data aggregated to this level does not yield useful information. Economic and demographic factors fluctuated significantly during the period of interest; however, the effects of those fluctuations are not evidenced in enlisted force information aggregated to the force or YOS level. / http://archive.org/details/trendsinenlisted00good / Lieutenant Commander, United States Navy