Publications

Report

Designing a New Framework for the U.S. Space Force Workforce

The authors of this Perspective outline a way for the U.S. Space Force to develop its officer workforce that is not tied to the traditional Air Force structure of stovepiped career fields.

Lawrence M. Hanser, Jennifer J. Li, Chaitra M. Hardison

Report

Great-Power Competition and Conflict in the Middle East

This report explores the potential for competition among the United States, China, and Russia in the Middle East; where and why competition might turn into conflict; what form that conflict might take; and the implications for the United States.

Ashley L. Rhoades, Elina Treyger, Nathan Vest, Christian Curriden, Brad A. Bemish, Irina A. Chindea, Raphael S. Cohen, Jessica Giffin, Kurt Klein

Report

Advancing Combat Support to Sustain Agile Combat Employment Concepts: Integrating Global, Theater, and Unit Capabilities to Improve Support to a High-End Fight

This report presents a framework to assess necessary elements of the combat support enterprise — including base, theater, and global resources — for operating in a hybrid push-pull system as a means to mitigate uncertainty and adversary actions.

James A. Leftwich, Katherine C. Hastings, Vikram Kilambi, Kristin F. Lynch, Shannon Prier, Ronald G. McGarvey

Brochure

Improving Combat Support Analyses to Better Inform Decisionmaking: Insights from RAND Research

This portfolio of combat support analyses conducted by RAND Project AIR FORCE highlights examples of enterprise-wide analyses, vulnerability and resilience analyses, and resource allocation analyses in support of U.S. Air Force decisionmaking.

Report

U.S. Major Combat Operations in the Indo-Pacific: Partner and Ally Views

This report, one of two, focuses on whether partners and allies have the willingness to support U.S. operations in a major Indo-Pacific conflict. The companion report focuses on technical and operational issues.

Michael J. Mazarr, Derek Grossman, Jeffrey W. Hornung, Jennifer D. P. Moroney, Shawn Cochran, Ashley L. Rhoades, Andrew Stravers

Report

Lead Forward: Mobility Air Force Command Nodes for Complex Operations

Motivated by the future threat to air force command and control networks and forces, the authors identify the demands of future conflicts and consider alternative options for the design of wing-level command and control elements.

Michael J. Lostumbo, Jeffrey S. Brown, Stephen W., Jr. Oliver

Report

Alternative Futures Following a Great Power War: Volume 1, Scenarios, Findings, and Recommendations

RAND researchers generated four plausible near-term great power war scenarios and assessed how they could shape the postwar strategic environment.

Miranda Priebe, Bryan Frederick, Anika Binnendijk, Alexandra T. Evans, Karl P. Mueller, Cortez A. III Cooper, James Benkowski, Asha Clark, Stephanie Anne Pillion

Report

Alternative Futures Following a Great Power War: Volume 2, Supporting Material on Historical Great Power Wars

To inform a project on the aftermath of great power wars, the author examined ten conflicts since 1853. This volume presents brief historical summaries and assesses past forecasts of the duration, intensity, stakes, and consequences of each war.

Alexandra T. Evans

Research Brief

The Aftermath of a Great Power War

RAND researchers drew on historical great power wars to develop four scenarios illustrating how hypothetical wars between the United States and either China or Russia could produce unanticipated consequences — even for the state that is victorious.

Miranda Priebe, Bryan Frederick, Anika Binnendijk, Alexandra T. Evans, Karl P. Mueller, Cortez A. III Cooper, James Benkowski, Asha Clark, Stephanie Anne Pillion

Report

Supporting the U.S. Space Force Single-Component Structure: Impediments for Members Transitioning Between Full-Time and Part-Time Participation

U.S. Space Force leadership envisions a service in which Guardians transition easily between full- and part-time service. Five impediments discussed in this report make it unnecessarily difficult to make these transitions between types of service.

Albert A. Robbert, Lawrence M. Hanser

Brochure

Addressing Challenges in Defense Acquisition: Insights from RAND Research

This portfolio of Project AIR FORCE research conducted for the Department of the Air Force and more broadly across RAND offers insights for overcoming acquisition challenges and improving agility within the Defense Acquisition System.

Report

The Resilience Assessment Framework: Assessing Commercial Contributions to U.S. Space Force Mission Resilience

This report describes the resilience assessment framework that RAND Project AIR FORCE developed to assess the potential impact of integrating select commercial space services on U.S. Space Force mission performance.

Osonde A. Osoba, George Nacouzi, Jeff Hagen, Jonathan Tran, Li Ang Zhang, Marissa Herron, Christopher Lynch, Mel Eisman, Charles Barton

Report

Great-Power Competition and Conflict in the 21st Century Outside the Indo-Pacific and Europe

This report explores where the United States, China, and Russia may be competing for influence in secondary theaters; where and why competition might turn to conflict; what form that conflict might take; and implications for the United States.

Raphael S. Cohen, Elina Treyger, Irina A. Chindea, Christian Curriden, Kristen Gunness, Khrystyna Holynska, Marta Kepe, Kurt Klein, Ashley L. Rhoades, Nathan Vest

Report

Emerging Options for Field-Grade Officer Promotions in the U.S. Air Force

The Fiscal Year 2019 National Defense Authorization Act established an alternative framework for promotion policies for military officers. The authors examine whether shifting to this framework would be beneficial and how it would be implemented.

Albert A. Robbert, John S. Crown, Agnes Gereben Schaefer, Matthew Walsh, Diana Y. Myers, Anthony Lawrence, Ignacio A. Lara

Report

Data-Enabled Approaches for Enhancing the Air Force Transformational Capability Pipeline

To aid the Air Force Transformational Capabilities Office, the authors of the report developed a data science tool to extract information from free-text descriptions. They demonstrate the tool and foresight methods in three case studies.

Matthew Walsh, Lance Menthe, Jonathan L. Brosmer, Julie George, Christine Kistler LaCoste, Eric Hastings, Sherrill Lingel, Éder Sousa

Report

Organizing and Training Airfield Operations Capabilities for Emerging Expeditionary Operations: Potential Courses of Action

The authors identify ways to enable the airfield operations (AO) career fields to respond to the needs created by the Dynamic Force Employment concept and the USAF implementation of Agile Combat Employment.

John A. Ausink, Dwayne M. Butler, Kristin F. Lynch, John G. Drew, Sarah W. Denton, Monica Rico, Ignacio A. Lara, Will Shumate, Albert (Mike) M. Esposito

Report

Unraveling Entanglement: Policy Implications of Using Non-Dedicated Systems for Nuclear Command and Control

It has been argued that the use of common systems for conventional and nuclear command and control risks inadvertent escalation. The authors argue that these concerns have been overstated and that the risks are manageable, with a few caveats.

Don Snyder, Alexis A. Blanc

Report

Talent Management and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Department of the Air Force: Qualitative Review of Programs, Practices, and Partnerships

Researchers conduct a qualitative literature review and interviews with subject-matter experts to identify the Department of the Air Force's existing and planned efforts to improve diversity, equity, and inclusion in its military force.

Maria C. Lytell, Elicia M. John, Melissa Shostak, Miriam Matthews

Report

Understanding, Managing, and Reporting U.S. Space Force Readiness

As a branch of the U.S. military, the U.S. Space Force (USSF) must understand, manage, and report its readiness. The authors of this report have created a readiness framework for the USSF and instructions on how to implement it.

Brian Dolan, Bonnie L. Triezenberg, Emmi Yonekura, Sandra Kay Evans, Moon Kim, Dwayne M. Butler, Sarah W. Denton, Shreyas Bharadwaj

Report

Assessment of Joint All Domain Command and Control Requirements and the Use of Live, Virtual, and Constructive Capabilities for Training

This report presents research findings addressing the use of live, virtual, and constructive simulation capabilities for continuation training at air operation centers in the U.S. Air Force, in support of Joint All Domain Command and Control.

Timothy Marler, Carra S. Sims, Mark Toukan, Ajay K. Kochhar, Shawn Cochran, Christine Kistler LaCoste, Matt Strawn