Sustaining the US Air Force's Force Support Career Field through Officer Workforce Planning

This dissertation recommends changes that can be made to the structure and management of the Air Force's Force Support officer career field to better align development of functional competencies with positional demand for those competencies. Data on Force Support relevant positions were coded on the competencies they require, and a RAND simulation tool provided the means to model the flow of personnel through these officer positions and the acquisition of competencies via on the job learning. A healthy and effective Force Support officer population plays an important role in delivering the overall Air Force mission, and this population of officers will be more effective when their accumulated competencies meet the demand for such competencies generated by Force Support billets. In this sense, this research is of immediate interest to Air Force and Force Support community leadership. While this dissertation focuses on improving the development of a specific population of personnel within the United States Air Force, the relevance of employed thought, methods, and analysis extends beyond United States Air Force career field management to any large organization. Determination and management of organizational human capital requirements and capacity to meet such requirements are necessary tasks to better assure organizational effectiveness. The findings should thus be of interest to personnel and policymakers concerned with the development and management of organizational human resources.