David Luckey

Senior International / Defense Researcher; Professor of Policy Analysis, Pardee RAND Graduate School

Off Site Office

Education

M.B.A., University of Maryland; M.S. in air and space strategic studies, University of Maryland; M.A. in national security affairs, Naval Postgraduate School; B.A. in American studies/military history, Purdue University

One Page Bio

Media Resources

This researcher is available for interviews.

To arrange an interview, contact the RAND Office of Media Relations at (310) 451-6913, or email media@rand.org.

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Overview

David S. Luckey is a senior international and defense researcher at the RAND Corporation and a professor of policy analysis at the Pardee RAND Graduate School. He came to RAND from the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs where he was the director of Homeland Security and served as the counterterrorism advisor to the chairman. He directed oversight of and legislation for the Department of Homeland Security, and he advised the chairman daily on counterterrorism and homeland security issues. Luckey was previously a senior professional staff member on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, where he led Audits and Oversight for the chairman and vice chairman. He was previously the senior policy analyst for the under secretary of Defense for Intelligence and a senior inspector in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Office of Inspector General. Luckey was also an operations analyst, test manager, and senior systems analyst supporting the Marine Corps Operational Test and Evaluation Activity, Navy Operational Test and Evaluation Force, Naval Special Warfare Command, and Naval Aviation community. A retired Marine Corps Officer and graduate of Air War College and Marine Corps Command and Staff College, Luckey holds an M.A. in national security affairs from the Naval Postgraduate School, and an M.S. in air and space strategic studies and M.B.A. from the University of Maryland.

Research Focus

Recent Projects

Commission on Combating Synthetic Opioid Trafficking
Capability Portfolio Assessment and Requirements Capability Analysis
Strategic Planning and Performance Management Support
Improving Intelligence Support to the Future Warfighter: Acquisition for the Contested Environment
Measuring Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Effectiveness

Selected Publications

Commission on Combating Synthetic Opioid Trafficking,, Commission on Combating Synthetic Opioid Trafficking: Final Report, Commission on Combating Synthetic Opioid Trafficking (EP-68838), 2022

Luckey, David, David Stebbins, Sarah W. Denton, Elena Wicker, Stephanie Anne Pillion, and Alice Shih, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency Resources: Financial Management Programming Evaluation, RAND Corporation (RR-A659-1), 2022

Luckey, David, Bradley M. Knopp, Sasha Romanosky, Amanda Wicker, David Stebbins, Cortney Weinbaum, Sunny D. Bhatt, Hilary Reininger, Yousuf Abdelfatah, and Sarah Heintz, Measuring Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Effectiveness at the United States Central Command, RAND Corporation (RR-4360-OSD), 2021

Cook, Cynthia R., David Luckey, Bradley M. Knopp, Yuliya Shokh, Karen M. Sudkamp, Don Casler, Yousuf Abdelfatah, and Hilary Reininger, Improving Intelligence Support to the Future Warfighter: Acquisition for the Contested Environment, RAND Corporation (RR-A537-1), 2021

Knopp, Bradley M., David Luckey, and Yuliya Shokh, Documenting Intelligence Mission-Data Production Requirements: How the U.S. Department of Defense Can Improve Efficiency and Effectiveness by Streamlining the Production Requirement Process, RAND Corporation (RR-A241-1), 2021

Luckey, David, David Stebbins, Rebeca Orrie, Erin Rebhan, Sunny D. Bhatt, and Sina Beaghley, Assessing Continuous Evaluation Approaches for Insider Threats: How Can the Security Posture of the U.S. Departments and Agencies Be Improved?RAND Corporation (RR-2684-OSD), 2019

Nacouzi, George, J.D. Williams, Brian Dolan, Anne Stickells, David Luckey, Colin Ludwig, Jia Xu, Yuliya Shokh, Daniel M. Gerstein, and Michael H. Decker, Assessment of the Proliferation of Certain Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems: Response to Section 1276 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017, RAND Corporation (RR-2369-JS), 2018

Weinbaum, Cortney, Bonnie L. Triezenberg, Erika Meza, and David Luckey, Understanding Government Telework: An Examination of Research Literature and Practices from Government Agencies, RAND Corporation (RR-2023-OSD), 2018

Honors & Awards

Gold Medal Award, RAND

Recent Media Appearances

Interviews: The Dispatch Podcast; KCBS-AM - San Francisco; Federal News Network

Commentary

Substance Use Harm Reduction

Fentanyl Makes an Already Dangerous Drug Market Deadlier Than Ever
Failure to recognize and respond to how rapidly illegal drug markets have changed with the arrival of illegally manufactured synthetic opioids will continue to put many Americans at risk of exposure to fentanyl, endangering the lives of hundreds of thousands more for years to come.
May 2, 2022
The Ripon Forum
Substance Use Harm Reduction

A Greater Focus On Harm Reduction Will Save Lives
For decades, elected officials brushed off harm reduction as a viable option for reducing the harms of drug use over concerns of enabling drug consumption. But now, these strategies are front and center, spoken aloud, from the largest podium in the land, and during prime time. What caused this historic about-face?
Apr 29, 2022
Health Affairs Blog
Fentanyl and Other Synthetic Opioids

A New Approach to Fighting Synthetic Opioids: Q&A with David Luckey and Jayme Fuglesten
The opioid crisis isn't just about drug policy or law. It involves national security, homeland security, intelligence, diplomacy, supply chain issues, and cryptocurrency. Drawing on RAND's expertise across all those areas, the Commission on Combating Synthetic Opioid Trafficking delivered a plan, a call to action about what it's going to take to save lives.
Apr 26, 2022
Drug Markets and Supply

A New and More Dangerous Drug Market Requires a New Approach
Synthetic opioids are likely to increasingly reach illegal drug markets. Failure to recognize and respond to how rapidly drug markets have changed with the arrival of illegally manufactured synthetic opioids will continue to put many at risk of exposure to fentanyl, endangering the lives of hundreds of thousands more Americans for years to come.
Mar 16, 2022
The RAND Blog

Publications

Report
Decision Aid Framework Development to Inform the Application of Federal Assistance: Improving Sharing of Criminal History Record Information for Personnel Vetting
Researchers identified factors inhibiting the provision of information to the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency from law enforcement agencies and developed a framework to help assess which areas might benefit from federal assistance.
May 3, 2023
Multimedia
What Policy Changes Could Help Save Lives from Illicit Synthetic Opioids Overdose?
In this recording of a July 2022 virtual event, experts discuss the findings from the Commission on Combating Synthetic Opioid Trafficking Final Report, and recommendations to reduce lives lost to illicit synthetic opioids.
Aug 18, 2022
Report
National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency Resources: Financial Management Programming Evaluation
The authors examined how the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency has programmed its resources, focusing on the reasons for changes over time and the results of the changes.
Jun 8, 2022
Report
Improving Intelligence Support to the Future Warfighter: Acquisition for the Contested Environment
In view of new and increasingly sophisticated threats from peer and near-peer adversaries, the authors suggest reforms to the processes by which intelligence informs the U.S. Air Force acquisition enterprise.
Nov 4, 2021
Report
Documenting Intelligence Mission-Data Production Requirements: How the U.S. Department of Defense Can Improve Efficiency and Effectiveness by Streamlining the Production Requirement Process
The authors examine issues relating to the identification of requirements for Intelligence Mission Data and intelligence production for the Acquisition Intelligence Requirements Task Force.
Aug 3, 2021
Report
Measuring Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Effectiveness at the United States Central Command
The authors developed a repeatable process to measure the effectiveness of U.S. Central Command intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance operations; evaluate current performance; and plan for, influence, and resource future operations.
Jan 20, 2021
Tool
Measuring Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Effectiveness at the United States Central Command: Data Visualization Tool Documentation
The authors used Tableau to create a visualization tool that allows U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) to display the performance and effectiveness of its support to intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) roles, sub-roles, and activities.
Jan 20, 2021
Report
Assessing Continuous Evaluation Approaches for Insider Threats: How Can the Security Posture of the U.S. Departments and Agencies Be Improved?
This exploratory project examines various continuous evaluation approaches to detecting insider threats that are available to the U.S. government and assesses the relevance of these approaches to the challenges posed by such insider threats.
Aug 5, 2019
Report
Assessment of the Proliferation of Certain Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems: Response to Section 1276 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017
RAND Corporation researchers assessed the impact that certain remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) governed by the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) have on U.S. national security interests. In this report, they document their findings.
Jun 14, 2018
Report
Understanding Government Telework: An Examination of Research Literature and Practices from Government Agencies
This report provides an overview of the literature on telework, examines telework practices from across seven government agencies, and explains how government agencies benefit when employees engage in telework.
Apr 23, 2018
Report
Assessing Bid Protests of U.S. Department of Defense Procurements: Identifying Issues, Trends, and Drivers
The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 called for a study of "the prevalence and impact of bid protests on DoD acquisitions," including the systematic collection and analysis of information on their characteristics and outcomes.
Jan 4, 2018