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Project Air Force is Making a Difference with the Air Force

Research Spotlight

  • An MQ-9 pilot

    A Career Field Planning Tool to Build a Healthy MQ-1/9 RPA Pilot Community

    The personnel who operate remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) are crucial in the Air Force, but many in the RPA career field are dissatisfied, and it is difficult to train and retain enough pilots to meet the demand. To assist in building a healthy, sustainable RPA career field, RAND has developed a long-term RPA career field planning model.

Recent Work

  • A 74th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron A-10 Thunderbolt II pilot in her aircraft during the squadron's deployment in support of Operation Atlantic Resolve at Graf Ignatievo, Bulgaria, March 18, 2016

    How the U.S. Air Force Could Retain More Female Officers

    Apr 10, 2018

    Women are underrepresented among the Air Force's senior leadership compared with their representation among the lower ranks. Focus groups with female officers identified key retention factors and potential ways to improve Air Force policies and programs to address female officer retention.

  • Saving the Government Money: Examples from RAND's FFRDCs

    Dec 20, 2017

    RAND's federally funded research and development centers apply research capital they have developed over the years to help decisionmakers solve problems and often save money as well. This publication lists and briefly summarizes some RAND projects undertaken over the past several years that have helped save the government money or that have identified ways to do so.

  • Power plant operations at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska

    Air Force Installation Energy Assurance

    Nov 6, 2017

    Air Force mission success is increasingly dependent on assured access to electricity. A number of factors can interrupt supply of electric power, including natural disasters, accidents, and deliberate interference. Researchers present a framework to assess energy assurance at Air Force installations.

  • Exercise Anakonda 2016, Exercise Anakonda 16, Anakonda 16, AK16, AN16, Poland, MTA Drawsko Pomorski, DPTA, MTA Chelmno, MTA Wedryzn, MTA Krosno Odrzanskie, MTA Nowa Deba, Jaworze Training Area, Gdynia Training Area, Ustka, U.S. Army Europe, USAREUR, U.S. European Command, EUCOM, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, NATO, 364th Expeditionary Sustainment Command, 364th ESC, 311th Expeditionary Sustainment, Command, 4th Expeditionary Sustainment Command, 103rd Expeditionary Sustainment Command, 316th Expeditionary Sustainment Command, 451st Expeditionary Sustainment Command, 412th Theater Engineer Command, 469th Combat Support, 483rd Quartermaster Company, 328th Adjutant General Company, 236th Transportation Company, 592nd Ordnance Company, 716th Quartermaster Company, 129th Transportation Company, 361st Engineer Company, 380th Transportation Element, 3d Infantry Division, 3d ID, Fort Stewart, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 173rd Airborne Brigade, 2nd Cavalry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, airborne, paratrooper, Stryker, ordnance, ammunition supply, engineer, transportation, quartermaster, petroleum, adjutant general, multi-role bridge, inland cargo, movement control teams, combat service support, combat sustainment, maintenance support, 2X Citizen, U.S. Army Reserve, U.S. Army Reserve Command, U.S. Army Reserve photo, U.S. Army Reserve photograph, U.S. Army Reserve photographer, U.S. Army Reserve photojournalism, Army photo, Army photographer, Army photojournalism, Army picture, Federal Reserve, Operational Reserve, Twice the Citizen, U.S. Army Reserve, U.S. Army Reserve Command, USARC, Warrior-Citizen, military photograph, military photography, military photojournalism, military picture, reserve component, Albania, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, U.S., U.S. Army Reserve, U.S. Army National Guard, 4th ID, 4th Infantry Division

    Emerging Opportunities for Engagement on NATO's Northeastern Flank

    Jun 29, 2017

    Will renewed tension between NATO and Russia prevent key U.S. allies and partners in Europe from being able to contribute to U.S. regional defense objectives? What can the U.S. do to strengthen its European partnerships?

  • A PLAAF B-6K strategic bomber at the China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition in Zhuhai, Guangdong province, October 25, 2016.

    China's PLAAF Pilot Training Program Undergoes Major Overhaul

    Oct 27, 2016

    China's People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) has made great strides in recent years to transform its pilot training program. PLAAF leaders understand many of the institutional and cultural weaknesses that impede effectiveness and are taking measures to address them.

  • J-10 in Zhuhai Air Show, 2008. PLAAF.

    Assessing the Training and Operational Proficiency of China's Aerospace Forces: Selections from the Inaugural Conference of the China Aerospace Studies Institute (CASI)

    Oct 20, 2016

    This volume contains revised versions of three presentations on Chinese aerospace training and operational competence issues from a June 2015 China Aerospace Studies Institute (CASI) conference. Presentations concentrate on People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) leadership; training for PLAAF joint operations; and developments in PLAAF facility logistics and maintenance.

  • Pilots of China's J-10 fighter jet from a PLAAF Aerobatics Team prepare before a media demonstration at the Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand, November 24, 2015

    China's Air Force Is Fixing Its Shortcomings

    Oct 14, 2016

    The prevailing view among Western observers is that Chinese fighter pilots lack the tactical mindset to engage and prevail in a dynamic, unscripted combat environment. But the PLAAF appears to have undertaken major reform in how it trains its pilots.