Bernard D. Rostker | |
|---|---|
 | |
| United States Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness | |
| In office May 23, 2000 – June 2001 | |
| President | Bill Clinton George W. Bush |
| Preceded by | Rudy de Leon |
| Succeeded by | David S. C. Chu |
| United States Under Secretary of the Army | |
| In office October 1998 – May 23, 2000 | |
| President | Bill Clinton |
| Preceded by | Robert M. Walker |
| Succeeded by | Gregory R. Dahlberg |
| United States Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Manpower and Reserve Affairs | |
| In office October 7, 1994 – October 1998 | |
| President | Bill Clinton |
| Preceded by | Frederick Pang |
| Succeeded by | Carolyn H. Becraft |
| 5th Director of theSelective Service System | |
| In office November 26, 1979 – July 31, 1981 | |
| President | Jimmy Carter Ronald Reagan |
| Preceded by | Byron V. Pepitone Robert E. Shuck (acting) |
| Succeeded by | Thomas K. Turnage James G. Bond (acting) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Bernard Daniel Rostker (1944-02-01)February 1, 1944 (age 81) |
| Spouse | Louise |
| Alma mater | New York University(BS) Syracuse University(MA,PhD) |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch/service |  United States Army Reserve |
| Years of service | 1968–1970 |
| Rank |  Captain[1] |
Bernard Daniel Rostker (born February 1, 1944)[2][3][4][5] was Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Manpower and Reserve Affairs) from 1977 to 1979; 5th Director of theSelective Service System from 1979 to 1981;Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Manpower and Reserve Affairs) from 1994 to 1998;Under Secretary of the Army from 1998 to 2000; andUnder Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness in 2000–2001. From 1996 to 2001, he also served as Special Assistant to theDeputy Secretary of Defense forGulf War Illnesses.
Rostker was born inThe Bronx in 1944 and graduated fromTaft High School in June 1960 at the age of sixteen. He then attendedNew York University, receiving aB.S. in Education andEconomics in 1964.[3][4][5] While in college, he participated in theReserve Officers' Training Corps, graduating as a Distinguished Military Graduate and beingcommissioned as aSecond Lieutenant in theUnited States Army Reserve.[6] He next attendedSyracuse University'sMaxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, earning anM.A. in Economics in 1966 and then aPh.D. in Economics in 1970.[1][3][7] His master's thesis was entitledThe economics of manpower retraining[8] and his doctoral thesis was entitledManpower theory and policy and the residual occupational elasticity of substitution. His doctoral advisor was Jerry Miner.[9][10]
In 1968, he reported for active duty in the Army and joined the Manpower Requirements Directorate of the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Systems Analysis as aneconomist. After completing his military commitment at the rank ofCaptain two years later, he joinedRAND as a research economist, becoming Program Director of the Manpower Personnel and Training Program, a program sponsored by theUnited States Air Force.[1]
He joined theUnited States Department of the Navy in 1977, upon being named Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Manpower and Reserve Affairs.[6]
In 1979, he became Director of theSelective Service System, holding this post November 26, 1979 – July 31, 1981. The selective service registration requirement for all U.S. men aged 18–25, had been abolished by PresidentGerald Ford in 1975, but was reestablished when PresidentJimmy Carter signed Proclamation 4771,Registration Under the Military Selective Service Act on July 2, 1980, retroactively re-establishing the Selective Service registration requirement for all 18- to 26-year-old male citizens born on or after January 1, 1960. Rostker thus oversaw the Selective Service Revitalization Plan which registered four million men for selective service. He is the named defendant in theU.S. Supreme Court case ofRostker v. Goldberg, 453 U.S. 57 (1981), which upheld the constitutionality of requiring only men to register for selective service.[11]
Rostker joined theCenter for Naval Analyses in 1981, becoming Director for the Navy's Management Program. In that capacity he conducted research into the majormanagement issues facing theUnited States Navy.
In 1983, he joinedsoftware development companySRA International as Director of theSystems Management Division. He returned toRAND in December 1984 to help establish the Arroyo Center, the Army's federally funded research and development center for studies and analysis. He served as Program Director of the Force Development and Employment Program and associate director of the center. In January 1990, he shifted to RAND's National Defense Research Institute as Director of the Defense Manpower Research Center.
In October 1994, PresidentBill Clinton nominated Rostker asAssistant Secretary of the Navy (Manpower and Reserve Affairs) and Rostker subsequently held this office from October 1994 until October 1998. On November 12, 1996, he was also named Special Assistant to theDeputy Secretary of Defense forGulf War Illnesses and became responsible for coordinating and overseeing all of theUnited States Department of Defense's responses to Gulf War Illnesses.
President Clinton nominated Rostker asUnder Secretary of the Army and he was sworn in on October 26, 1998, while retaining his responsibilities for Gulf War Illness issues. As Under Secretary of the Army, Rostker was the No. 2 civilian in theUnited States Department of the Army; was responsible for assisting theSecretary of the Army in recruiting, organizing, supplying, equipping, training and mobilizing the Army and managing its $64 billion annual budget and more than 1.3 million active duty, National Guard, Army Reserve and civilian personnel; and assumed the duties of acting Secretary of the Army when the Secretary was not available.
After a nomination from President Clinton and confirmation by theUnited States Senate, Rostker was sworn in as theUnder Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness on May 23, 2000. In that capacity, he was the senior adviser to theUnited States Secretary of Defense on recruitment, career development, pay and benefits for 1.4 millionactive dutymilitary personnel, 1.3 millionGuard and Reserve personnel and 725,000DoDcivilians. He also oversaw theMilitary Health System, theDefense Commissary Agency, theArmy and Air Force Exchange Service, theDepartment of Defense Education Activity, and theDefense Equal Opportunity Management Institute. He was also responsible for overseeing research on the nation's military readiness. Rostker was replaced byDavid S. C. Chu, who was sworn in as Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness on June 1, 2001. He was a resident ofGreat Falls, Virginia during his service in the Clinton Administration.[12][13]
Upon leaving government service, Rostker returned to RAND and his research there has focused on managing the recruitment, retention, and performance ofpolice officers inlarge city departments; managing thevolunteer military; and reforming the military by lengthening military careers.
Rostker married Louise Cowen, whom he met in graduate school at Syracuse,[7] in 1966. They have two sons.[4][5]
| Government offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Director of theSelective Service System November 26, 1979 – July 31, 1981 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Manpower and Reserve Affairs) October 1994 – October 1998 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | United States Under Secretary of the Army October 1998 – May 2000 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness May 23, 2000 – ca. June 2001 | Succeeded by |
| Department of War (1789–1947) |
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| Department of the Army (1947–present) |
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| National | |
| Other | |
