Frequently Asked Questions
What is the DEOCS? Top
The Defense Organizational Climate Survey (DEOCS) is conducted by the Department of Defense (DoD) Office of People Analytics (OPA) to provide commanders and leaders with information they can use to improve their unit, organization, Military Service Academy (MSA), or Military Service Academy Preparatory School (MSA prep school) climate. The DEOCS asks questions about your experience within your unit, organization, MSA, or MSA prep school. The survey also asks questions about your immediate supervisor, unit commander, organizational leader, Senior Non-Commissioned Officer (Senior NCO)/Senior Enlisted Leader (SEL), or the first cadet or midshipman in your chain of command. The combined responses to these questions provide commanders and other leaders with important feedback about the current climate and flag emerging or existing challenges that may have an impact on your unit.
How do I know this is an official, approved DoD survey? Top
The public reporting burden for this collection of information, OMB Control Number: 0704-0659, is estimated to average 30 minutes per response, including the time for reviewing the instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or burden reduction suggestions to the Department of Defense (DoD), Washington Headquarters Services, at whs.mc-alex.esd.mbx.dd-dod-information-collections@mail.mil (OMB Control Number: 0704-0659). Respondents should be aware that notwithstanding any other provision of law, no person shall be subject to any penalty for failing to comply with a collection of information if it does not display a currently valid OMB control number.
How is my privacy protected? Top
Security Protection Advisory
Neither the DoD nor Data Recognition Corporation (DRC) will collect personal information about you when you visit this web site unless you choose to provide it yourself. If you provide personal information, it will be treated as private.
In addition, our system does not enable "cookies," which are files placed on your computer's hard drive to monitor your use of the web site or the web. For more information about your privacy rights, please click on the About the DEOCS/Privacy Advisory link on the Welcome screen.
This web site collects information from your visit to assist the DoD and our survey contractor in improving the web site and the performance of our web-based surveys. This non-personal information helps us make the web site more useful by recognizing the types of technology being used. The data collected are listed below:
  1. The Internet Protocol (IP) address for the computer and the server being used on the Internet (for example, www.verizon.com, www.comcast.com, 122.3.55.34). Depending on your Internet service provider, IP addresses may identify your computer; in other cases, they identify no more than your Internet service provider (such as Verizon or Comcast).
  2. The device that is used to access the survey (e.g., PC, tablet, or mobile phone).
  3. The type and version of the browser and operating system that are used to access our web site.
  4. The date and time that this web site is accessed.
  5. Number of bytes sent and received.
  6. The pages visited.
This information is stored permanently for troubleshooting technical problems and for future capacity planning. DoD and its survey contractor use this information to improve the performance of the OPA survey web site. None of this information will be revealed publicly or will be used to identify you or your responses.
Is the DEOCS Section 508 compliant? Top
The DoD is committed to making electronic and information technologies accessible to individuals with disabilities in accordance with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act (29 U.S.C. ยง794d), as amended in 1999.
Send feedback or concerns related to the accessibility of this website to: DoDSection508@osd.mil.
For more information about Section 508, please visit the DoD Section 508 web site.
Last Updated: 03/21/21
Why doesn't my information match to a registered DEOCS? Top
To take your unit or organization's DEOCS, the information that you enter must match to the information that was uploaded by your DEOCS administrator when they registered for the survey. Along with your first and last name, your DEOCS administrator provided at least one of the following pieces of information about you on the roster: DoD ID, e-mail address (primary or secondary), or phone number. It could be the case that you are entering valid information but cannot access the survey because your administrator did not list that information on the roster.
If you are having difficulty matching to your registered DEOCS try:
  • Entering the e-mail address for the inbox where you received the e-mail invitation for taking the DEOCS
  • Contacting your DEOCS administrator to identify what information they listed for you on the roster
How will my answers be used? Top
The information gathered from the DEOCS will be used by commanders, Equal Opportunity Advisors (EOA), Command Climate Specialists (CCS), survey administrators, and other leaders to assess the unit, organization, MSA, or MSA prep school climate. Based on the DEOCS results, commanders, leaders, and their support teams will develop a targeted action plan to address any emerging and current problematic issues with the overall goal of improving their command climate.
Are my DEOCS answers private? Top
All your individual answers will be protected and kept private. Your personal data will be held in a secure system that protects against interception of data and unauthorized access. No one in your unit will be able to identify your answers on the DEOCS.
All data will be reported in the aggregate, and no individual data will be reported. To ensure your privacy, groups or subgroups with fewer than five (5) participants will not be reported. For example, commanders and leaders will not be able to see responses to questions where fewer than five people responded to them. Additionally, if only two women complete a DEOCS in your unit, women-only results will never be shown to your leaders, only overall results with men and women combined if more than five participants respond.
Any responses you provide to open-ended questions will be compiled and reported to commanders and leaders in your chain of command if there are at least 16 responses to the survey. To prevent unintended disclosure, please do not include personally identifiable information in your responses, as the comments are not edited.
In addition, to ensure your privacy, be aware of the environment in which you take the survey. For example, take the survey when no one else is home or take care to not leave the survey unattended. Finally, please do not provide any personally identifying information in the short answer questions.
What is the Office of People Analytics (OPA)? Top
In 2016, the DoD established OPA to use data analytics to better understand key components of Service members' and DoD civilians' career paths and how policy or environmental changes affect the performance and composition of the DoD workforce. OPA provides go-to expertise for scientific assessments, data analytics, and outreach to improve the lives of the DoD community. OPA conducts Joint Services surveys, including the Status of Forces surveys, the Workplace and Gender Relations surveys, and other health and well-being surveys for the DoD. OPA provides the DoD with fast, accurate assessments of the attitudes and opinions of the entire DoD community to evaluate existing programs and policies, establish baseline measures before implementing new programs and policies, and monitor progress of programs and policies and their effects on the total force.
Why should I participate? Top
Your response to this survey makes a difference. This is your chance to be heard on issues that directly affect you, including your opinions and experiences on how your unit, organization, MSA, or MSA prep school operates, its leadership, and other workplace-, MSA-, or MSA prep school-related issues. Commanders and leaders can gather this information in a variety of ways, but this survey allows you to tell them about any positive or negative issues in a private, secure way. No one will be able to identify your DEOCS answers, so this is your opportunity to provide honest feedback to your leaders. This survey is conducted at the unit or organizational level, which means it produces information specifically about your unit, organization, MSA, or MSA prep school. This survey provides your commander and senior leadership with information about what is going on and allows them to develop action plans to address specific issues and problems in a timely manner.
Why do I have to create a PIN? Top
Creating a PIN both protects your privacy and allows only you to re-enter the survey if you choose to save and return later or are timed-out of the survey due to inactivity. We also encourage you to safeguard your PIN to prevent unauthorized access to your survey.
What is DEOCS@datarecognitioncorp.com? Top
This is the official e-mail address for Data Recognition Corporation (DRC), the survey administrator who conducts the survey operations for DEOCS. This email address allows you to communicate directly with DRC if you have any technical difficulties.
Why are you using a ".com" instead of a ".mil" domain to field this survey? Top
We use a ".com" instead of a ".mil" domain to field this survey to allow everyone to access the survey, even from a non-government computer.
Do I have to answer all of the questions? Top
No. Your participation in this survey is voluntary. Each question you respond to is also voluntary. Within the survey screen, you have three control buttons: Previous, Next, and Save and Return Later. Use these buttons to navigate through the survey or to skip questions. To complete the survey at a later time, you can click the Save and Return Later button at any time. When you return to the survey website, enter your e-mail address or phone number and PIN to return to the place in the survey where you left off.
What if I forget my PIN? Top
If you forget your PIN, we cannot give it to you, you cannot create a new one, and you will not be able to re-renter your survey. Any questions that you answered before you saved to return later, or prior to being timed-out due to inactivity, will be submitted when your DEOCS closes.
Why does the survey ask personal questions? Top
OPA reports the overall results, as well as results by other characteristics, such as gender, race, ethnicity, and paygrade (if applicable). To complete these analyses, we must ask about personal information. To protect your privacy, we only report results for groups with five (5) or more participants. For example, if only two women complete a DEOCS in your unit, women-only results will never be shown to your leaders (only overall results with men and women combined). Analyzing results in this way provides commanders and leaders information about the attitudes and concerns of all subgroups of personnel so that no group is overlooked.
Can I withdraw my answers once I have started the survey? Top
If you wish to withdraw your answers, please contact the Survey Processing Center 72 hours before your survey closes by sending an e-mail to DEOCS@datarecognitioncorp.com or calling toll-free 1-833-867-5674. Please include your name and PIN.
Will I ever see the results of the survey? Top
Commanders and leaders are encouraged to share their DEOCS results with their members. Results are made available to your leadership and survey administrator approximately three business days after the DEOCS closes. Additionally, some findings may be published by the Office of People Analytics (OPA) or in professional journals or presented at scientific conferences. Your responses could be used in future research.
Who do I contact if I still have questions? Top
If you still have questions call 1-833-867-5674 or e-mail DEOCS@datarecognitioncorp.com.
Why am I asked to take other DoD surveys after I took my DEOCS? Top
The DoD collects information from its members across a variety of surveys to understand your experiences and identify ways to improve DoD culture and policy. After completing the DEOCS, you can check to see if you are eligible to take other DoD surveys for this purpose. Your responses to these other surveys are independent from your DEOCS responses. For example, if you take the Workplace Gender Relations (WGR) survey from the prompt at the end of the DEOCS, your WGR responses will not be included in the DEOCS results and will not be provided to your leadership as part of the DEOCS report for your unit/organization.
Resources Top
We have provided resources below for participants who experience discomfort and/or other emotions while completing this survey.
If you are a victim of sexual assault or a person who wishes to prevent or respond to this crime, please contact a Sexual Assault Response Coordinator (SARC) or Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Victim Advocate (SAPR VA). You can do this by contacting the DoD Safe Helpline, which is anonymous, secure, and available worldwide, 24/7 by click, call, or text.
If you are a victim of sexual harassment or a person who wishes to prevent or respond to it, please contact your Service's local Equal Opportunity (EO) Office or your Service's EO Hotline listed below.
  • Air Force: 888-231-4058
  • Army: 800-267-9964
  • Coast Guard: 888-992-7387
  • Marine Corps: 703-784-9371
  • Navy: 800-253-0931
If you experience distress while taking this survey or you would like to talk to someone about issues related to suicide, please refer to the resources listed below.
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