The successful deployment of a military force involves the movement of troops and materiel in response to a regional threat and the ability to sustain this force until the military objective is achieved. RAND has extensive experience evaluating and providing supportable recommendations to military decisionmakers to ensure rapid and sustainable deployments to counter regional threats.
RESEARCH BRIEF
With regard to Army families, the study examines the effects of long and frequent parental deployments on children’s academic performance as well as their emotional and behavioral well-being in the school setting.
BLOG
April is the Month of the Military Child, a national initiative to support and honor America's service members and their families. The celebration is being recognized with events around the country, and is a key national initiative of First Lady Michelle Obama.
COMMENTARY
Never before in our nation's history have our service members and their families been so challenged and never before have their struggles (and successes) been the topic of so much scholarly attention, writes Sarah O. Meadows.
RESEARCH BRIEF
Describes the methodology used to develop resource allocation and forward positioning recommendations for the sustainment stock portion of Army pre-positioned stocks, given a specific scenario and budget.
RESEARCH BRIEF
Analyzes how the Army might use a rotational strategy to reduce equipment in early phases of the Army Force Generation cycle, how changes might be applied to units and equipment, and how changes might affect near- and far-term budgets.
RESEARCH BRIEF
Assess the demands placed upon the Army by the continuing deployments of soldiers to operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
REPORT
Testimony presented before the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee provides an overview of RAND's extensive research on how deployment affects service members and their families. Issues addressed include combat-related stress, psychological injuries, willingness to reenlist, and the impact of parental deployment on children.
REPORT
To meet the demands of the past decade of conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Army has adopted a rotational strategy based on the Army Force Generation (ARFORGEN) model, but equipping policies have not yet been adapted to the model. This report analyzes how the Army might reduce equipment in early phases of the ARFORGEN cycle, how changes might be applied across Army units and equipment, and how changes might affect near- and far-term…
REPORT
Army children whose parents have deployed 19 months or more since 2001 score lower on standardized tests than other Army children whose parents have deployed for shorter periods of time.
NEWS RELEASE
Army children whose parents have deployed 19 months or more since 2001 score lower on standardized tests than other Army children whose parents have deployed for shorter periods of time.
COMMENTARY
There is a growing recognition among senior Taliban leaders that they are losing momentum in parts of southern Afghanistan, their longtime stronghold, writes Seth Jones.
REPORT
Since 2004, the U.S. Air Force has provided personnel for "joint sourcing solution" assignments in Iraq and Afghanistan. As a result, certain Air Force career fields are experiencing greater-than-expected deployment strains. Air Force personnel and deployment data were used to populate a RAND-developed model to assess the supply of and demand for Air Force personnel and various types of capabilities to fill joint assignments.
REPORT
When U.S. Army Reserve Component units experience a surge of personnel turbulence as they approach deployment, units must repeat some training, making pre-mobilization preparation less efficient and potentially increasing the extent of training that must be accomplished after mobilization.
RESEARCH BRIEF
A study of Army Reserve Component (RC) units finds that personnel instability is widespread, driven mostly by soldier losses and nondeployers, and affects training prior to deployment.
COMMENTARY
President Obama's declaration last week that a change in personnel will not mean a change in policy suggests that the administration took only some of the lessons contained in Michael Hastings' Rolling Stone article, writes Celeste Ward Gventer.
REPORT
As U.S. forces withdraw from Iraq, significant changes can be expected throughout al-Anbar Province in security, political, economic, and even cultural relationships. RAND convened a series of three one-day workshops at which participants identified five relatively distinct futures, or scenarios, for al-Anbar that provide plausible but alternative trajectories for the province between early 2009 and the end of 2011.
COMMENTARY
By replacing Gen. Stanley McChrystal with Gen. David Petraeus, U.S. President Barack Obama has treated the most recent symptom of his Afghan malaise—an insubordinate, or at least indiscreet, general. He has not, however, addressed the underlying malady, writes James Dobbins.
REPORT
Navy and Marine Corps Sea Basing concepts envision the rapid deployment, assembly, command, projection, reconstitution, and re-employment of expeditionary forces from the sea. RAND researchers assessed alternative structures for the proposed Maritime Prepositioning Force (Future), or MPF(F), squadron and their effects on operational support. For example, eliminating large-deck ships could be offset by substituting CH-53K helicopters for…
COMMENTARY
Reflecting changes in the American approach to counterinsurgency, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mullen recently enunciated a new and apparently more restrained doctrine for the use of armed force. But is this really a repudiation of the so-called Powell Doctrine, asks James Dobbins.
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