Fiscal Year 2005 Research Agenda

Manpower, Personnel, and Training Program

Realigning Manpower for AEF Operations

This project continues efforts to provide analysis and models to help functional managers and deployment planners realign manpower resources to better support AEF capabilities, including a web-based tool for formulating and evaluating manpower requirements embedded in unit type codes in AEF libraries. An important step involves evaluating manpower capability in light of USAF force modules. The project supports efforts of the manpower community to move toward capability-based determination of manpower requirements.

Sponsors: AF/DPM; AF/XOX
Project Leader: Manuel Carrillo

Enlisted Career Field Management Objectives

Determining the right levels for selective reenlistment bonuses, retraining, career job reservations, and other skills management programs depends on an understanding of relative experience levels, expressed as years-of-service (YOS) profiles, and other desired characteristics of each career field. This project will develop improved methods for determining YOS profiles that, unlike present methods, are sensitive to the limits that can be reached using these skills management tools. Additionally, the project will provide improved methods for developing objective grade profiles for career progression groups, which are used to provide guidance to MAJCOM manpower managers.

Sponsor: AF/DPL
Project Leaders: Michael Schiefer, Lionel Galway

Comprehensive Human Capital Requirements Framework

The objective of this project is to identify elements of a comprehensive requirements framework, including capabilities-based requirements, competitive sourcing, and strategic partnerships, and explore approaches for determining total requirements in a more integrated way. It will identify barriers and propose alternatives to facilitate shifting requirements among active, reserve, civilian, and contractor workforce components, and effect capital/labor substitutions. It will recommend an integrated architecture that links decisions reached in PPBE structures, the Air Force Force Development Council, the AF/DP Strategic Planning Executive Board (SPEB), and other corporate decision bodies.

Sponsor: AF/DPM
Project Leader: Ray Conley

Integrated Executive Force Planning

This project continues a body of work that supports requirements-based development of individuals to meet future GO, SES, Colonel, GS-15, and CMSgt requirements. It also examines more flexible and rational utilization of complementary executive workforces (e.g., GO and SES, colonel and GS-15). This year’s work will focus in building a deeper understanding of how functional and occupational competencies are developed; a more precise understanding of requirements for broader leadership and management skills and other education, training, and experience prerequisites for senior leader positions; and a better sense of how these requirements will shift as the Air Force evolves towards its envisioned future CONOPS.

Sponsors: AF/DP; AFSLMO
Project Leaders: Steve Drezner, John Boon

Methods and Prototypes for Force Development and Utilization

In response to CSAF direction, the Air Force is establishing a Force Development Council and functionally oriented force development teams to enhance the development and utilization of officers. These new structures will require analytic support in order to determine desired stocks and flows of officers with various characteristics within and between career fields. This project will be dedicated to developing prototype tools and methods for use by in-house analysis cells. It will recommend a division of responsibilities among AF/DPXF (Force Development Division), career field managers, development teams, and AFPC force development analysts; link data requirements and information flows to required decision processes; and specify models and other tools.

Sponsors: AF/DPP
Project Leader: Craig Moore

Cost and Productivity of Technical Training vs. On-the-Job Training

This project will investigate the cost and readiness tradeoffs found in allocating initial skill training between schoolhouse and OJT. It will collect AFSC-specific data regarding retention, pipeline training costs, and OJT costs for six representative AFSCs. Using previously-developed techniques for characterizing the relative productivity growth rates of technical training school graduates, the project will determine optimal initial skill training durations for each of the six AFSCs.

Sponsors: AF/DP; AETC/CC
Project Leader: Tom Manacapilli

Rated Force Development

This project’s purpose is to formulate and evaluate policy options to match supply and demand for rated officers. It will evaluate effects of future force structure changes on requirements for, and ability to develop rated officers and use existing dynamic (unit-level and force-wide) models to explore potential policy options. It will also continue efforts to identify and evaluate rated career paths in support of the rated officer force development team.

Sponsors: AF/XO; AF/DP; ACC/DO; AMC/DO
Project Leaders: Bill Taylor, Lionel Galway

Strategic Acquisition and Sustainment Workforce Planning and Sizing

Whether to activate a new SPO is rarely debated, but the level of resources is debated. AFMC/CC wants to build resource models that can be used to define, articulate and defend manpower requirements throughout the command and to the remainder of the Air Force and DoD. AFMC has developed a Sustainment/Acquisition Composite Model (SACOM) that could be used for internal re-distribution of manpower resources; however, the general consensus is the model’s subjectivity will limit its acceptance outside of AFMC. This project will assist AFMC, AF/DPM, and AFMA in developing more objective workload factors, identifying performance measures correlating manpower and outputs, and determining modeling trade-offs. In addition, this project will explore new boundaries by leveraging existing work to build new models that improve objectivity, replicability, and auditability.

Sponsor: SAF/AQX
Project Leaders: Ray Conley, Mike Thirtle

Improving Development and Utilization of Intelligence Officers

In recent years, members of the Air Force intelligence community have noted a shortfall in the availability of general officers with desired experience to fill senior leadership positions in Air Force and joint intelligence organizations and functions. Additionally, Air Force development doctrine requires each career field manager to provide appropriate education, training, and assignment vectors for officers in the career field. Appropriately designed vectors would insure that experience requirements in senior positions are met as closely as possible. This project will fill that need by determining competencies required by field grade and general officer jobs, competencies imparted by jobs at all levels, and a set of ideal career paths to develop the best possible distribution of the needed competencies in the workforce.

Sponsor: AF/XOI; AFSLMO
Project Leader: Marygail Brauner

Barriers to Equal Opportunity in the Air Force Civil Servant Workforce

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has, since 2004, required each federal agency to submit an annual report identifying barriers to equal opportunity and plans to remove them.  The Air Force has heretofore been unable to invest the resources required for an in-depth supporting analysis. This project, to be conducted in parallel with an FY06 project on barriers to equal opportunity in the military workforce, will provide the needed analysis.

Sponsor: SAF/MRE
Project Leader: Nelson Lim

AFMC Workforce Management and Career Development

In response to a need for better understanding of its changing workforce needs, AFMC is establishing workforce planning cells at each of its product and logistics centers. Concurrently, the AFMC/DP community is consolidating career development planning and monitoring responsibilities that have previously been exercised separately by other functional areas within the headquarters. This project will assist AFMC in mounting both of these related efforts.

Sponsor: AFMC/DP
Project Leader: Georges Vernez

Blue-Suit Science and Engineer Requirements

The purpose of this project is to assist SAF/AQR in sizing the requirement for scientists and engineers within the Air Force officer corps. Depending on sponsor interest and available project resources, the project may also explore career development issues such as the use of operational tours and establishment of a separate promotion category for scientists and engineers.

Sponsor: SAF/AQR
Project Leader: Michael Schiefer

 

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