Alignment of Department of Defense Manpower, Resources, and Personnel Systems

Are the Department of Defense manpower, resources, and personnel systems aligned to provide the personnel inventory needed to meet changing military readiness and operational requirements? This report documents a research effort exploring the premise that these systems are misaligned and thus lead to organizations being mismanned or undermanned. RAND’s tasks were to determine whether there was misalignment, assess how the systems synchronize if a misalignment occurs, and identify policies and programs to implement improvements. The research included an analysis of military personnel authorizations and inventory, as well as case studies of the Army’s conversion to the Stryker brigade and the post-9/11 stand-up of the U.S. Northern Command. The manpower, resources, and personnel systems were found to be generally functionally aligned and to be able to adapt and synchronize effectively following exceptional events. In addition, it was determined that overall interoperability could benefit from changes in the personnel system, including additional flexibility to reduce the cycle time needed to meet manpower authorizations.