Tool
Officer Accession Planning
Aug 1, 2016
The Air Force commissions thousands of new officers each year, assigning each a career field. But what determines these assignments? This report summarizes an analysis of the Air Force's programs and processes for matching officers with career field assignments, focusing primarily on line officers being assigned to nonrated career fields, and offers suggestions for improvement.
Addressing Key Gaps in Meeting Career Field Academic Degree Requirements for Nonrated Officers
Format | File Size | Notes |
---|---|---|
PDF file | 1.5 MB | Use Adobe Acrobat Reader version 10 or higher for the best experience. |
Format | List Price | Price | |
---|---|---|---|
Add to Cart | Paperback78 pages | $25.75 | $20.60 20% Web Discount |
The Air Force commissions thousands of line officers each year from the U.S. Air Force Academy, Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps, and Officer Training School. Some of these become rated officers (pilots, combat systems officers, and air battle managers), while others will serve in nonrated career fields (space, logistics, security, etc.). Before being classified into any of these nonrated fields, new officers must have appropriate education and skills. But how does the Air Force determine what skills are required for a given job, and which officers best fit? This report summarizes an analysis of the Air Force's programs and processes for matching nonrated officers with career field assignments. Among other things, the authors found that it is not always clear which academic requirements for a career field are truly required, as opposed to desirable, or what percentages of new entrants to a career field need to meet which requirements.
Chapter One
Introduction
Chapter Two
The Line Officer Accession Process
Chapter Three
An Overarching Education Requirement Philosophy Is Needed
Chapter Four
Classification Results Should be Assessed and Reported to Meet Career Field Needs More Effectively
Chapter Five
Career Fields Lack Evidence-Based Methods for Determining Education Requirements
Chapter Six
Career Fields Lack an Effective Framework for Documenting Education Requirements
Chapter Seven
AFROTC Scholarship Production Is Not Aimed at Meeting Academic Degree Requirements
Appendix A
Model Formulation — Determining Aggregate Education Requirements by Academic Degree Type
Appendix B
AFROTC Scholarship Data Requested and Received
The research reported here was sponsored by SAF/AQX Acquisition Integration and AF/A1P Force Management Policy and conducted within the Manpower, Personnel, and Training Programof RAND Project AIR FORCE.
This report is part of the RAND Corporation Research report series. RAND reports present research findings and objective analysis that address the challenges facing the public and private sectors. All RAND reports undergo rigorous peer review to ensure high standards for research quality and objectivity.
This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law. This representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for noncommercial use only. Unauthorized posting of this publication online is prohibited; linking directly to this product page is encouraged. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of its research documents for commercial purposes. For information on reprint and reuse permissions, please visit www.rand.org/pubs/permissions.
The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.