Report
Building the Best Offensive and Defensive Cyber Workforce
Sep 29, 2021
Cyberwarfare is considered a core element of the U.S. Air Force (USAF) mission, and USAF has sought to better understand some of the drivers of attraction to and retention in the cyber field. RAND researchers spoke with members of the workforce to collect their viewpoints on training, recruiting, and retention. Volume I presents training-related findings, and Volume II—this volume—presents findings related to recruiting and retention.
Volume II, Attracting and Retaining Enlisted and Civilian Personnel
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The U.S. military's success in cyberwarfare depends on the capabilities of the cyber personnel who are brought to the fight. Because cyberwarfare is considered a core element of the U.S. Air Force (USAF) mission, USAF has been looking for ways to revamp training of its offensive and defensive cyber operators to develop the best cyberwarfare workforce possible. USAF has also sought to better understand some of the drivers of attraction to and retention in the cyber field.
To this end, researchers at the RAND Corporation conducted 30 discussions to collect the viewpoints of enlisted and civilian cyber personnel on training, recruiting, and retaining issues and solutions in their career fields. The researchers also spoke with subject-matter experts at several bases. The authors summarize participants' insights on recruitment and retention in this second volume of this report. Volume I presents findings related to training.
Chapter One
Introduction
Chapter Two
Workforce Views on Recruiting
Chapter Three
Workforce Views on Retention and Data on Past Retention
Chapter Four
Recommendations
Appendix A
Focus Group Results, by Specialty
Appendix B
Questionnaire Methodology
The research reported here was commissioned by the Secretary of the Air Force, Office of the Assistant Deputy Chief Information Officer for Digital Transformation and Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff for Cyber Effects Operations, and conducted within the Workforce, Development, and Health Program of RAND Project AIR FORCE.
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