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Capabilities Based Planning

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Capabilities-based planning enables military agencies to identify program needs, allocate resources, and track activities and outcomes. RAND develops methodologies and tools such as this to assist the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army, and other defense agencies in evaluating their manpower, equipment, cooperative relationships with military partners, and other capabilities.

Report
Capabilities-Based Planning Can Enhance Energy Security at DoD Installations
Energy security strategies are needed because DoD installations rely on the U.S. commercial electricity grid which is vulnerable to disruption from natural hazards and actor-induced outages, such as physical or cyber attacks.
Feb 20, 2013

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Report
Creating Readiness Metrics for the Army Civilian Workforce: A Way Ahead for Integrating Readiness into Civilian Workforce Planning
The authors develop a definition of and model for measuring civilian workforce readiness to inform Army policies and practices using qualitative methods, with which they identify potential data sources for readiness metrics.
Aug 21, 2023
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.
Mar 23, 2023
Journal Article
Broad and Selectively Deep: An MRMPM Paradigm for Supporting Analysis
To aid policy analysis and decision making, projects should use models and simulations of varied resolution and perspective. This can improve analysis, improve communication, and provide a broad view, necessary detail, and alternative views.
Feb 21, 2023
Report
Designing a Capability Development Framework for Home Affairs
Australia's Department of Home Affairs is seeking to establish an auditable, transparent and evidence-based approach to capability lifecycle management. The authors of this report describe a principles-based model to meet the department's needs.
Jun 24, 2019
Report
Valuing Air Force Electric Power Resilience
How well do current Air Force processes evaluate power resilience investments? A proposed framework identifies cost- and performance-related information in a clear manner that facilitates decisionmaking.
Jun 3, 2019
Report
Estimating Air Force Deployment Requirements for Lean Force Packages: A Methodology and Decision Support Tool Prototype
This report describes a methodology and prototype tool -- the Lean Strategic Tool for the Analysis of Required Transportation (Lean-START) -- that can explore trade-offs among capability (or risk), speed, and cost to create force packages for deployment.
Nov 15, 2017
Report
Capabilities for Joint Analysis in the Department of Defense: Rethinking Support for Strategic Analysis
This report stems from a congressional request for an independent report about the U.S. Department of Defense's capabilities for joint analysis and ways to improve them.
Sep 12, 2016
Report
Venture Capital and Strategic Investment for Developing Government Mission Capabilities
Through case studies and economic modeling, this research on government strategic investment will help acquisition managers evaluate strategic investment methods to motivate mission-oriented innovation by private firms.
Mar 24, 2014
Report
Analysis to Inform Defense Planning Despite Austerity
Defense analysis can better serve policymakers by exploiting improvements in the state of the art and by rediscovering and supplementing classic principles. These relate to multiple objectives and hedging against uncertainty.
Mar 20, 2014
Report
Improving Air Force Depot Programming by Linking Resources to Capabilities
Depot purchased equipment maintenance (DPEM) funds the bulk of the work done at Air Force depots that does not involve the repair of spares or work on modification programs. This report analyzes how to better program for DPEM.
Nov 21, 2012
Report
Bridging the Gap: Prototype Tools to Support Local Disaster Preparedness Planning and Collaboration
RAND researchers developed an initial prototype tool to help determine capabilities and resources a locality will likely require during a disaster. The report also describes two social networking tools for local coordination of disaster preparedness.
Oct 12, 2012
Report
Integrating the Full Range of Security Cooperation Programs into Air Force Planning: An Analytic Primer
Supplies Air Force planners with information about resources for security cooperation, the rules that govern their use, and their application methods.
Sep 29, 2011
Report
Assessing the Effectiveness of the International Counterproliferation Program
Addressing the threat of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction requires interagency and international cooperation. This report demonstrates how one assessment framework can be applied to security cooperation programs.
Sep 12, 2011
Report
Bridging the Gap: Developing a Tool to Support Local Civilian and Military Disaster Preparedness
This report describes the current policy context for domestic all-hazards risk-informed capabilities-based planning by local military and civilian authorities and provides a framework for a local planning support tool for their use.
Apr 12, 2010
Report
Assessing Capabilities and Risks in Air Force Programming: Framework, Metrics, and Methods
A method for capabilities-based programming is developed to assist the programming of a wide range of resources in light of an uncertain future, expressing capabilities and risks of resource allocations in terms of national planning objectives.
Apr 1, 2009
Report
A Capabilities-Based Strategy for Army Security Cooperation
In the context of multinational force compatibility, this report defines the Niche Capability Planning Framework, which is intended to guide and focus the U.S. Army's long-term compatibility investments with partner armies of varying capabilities.
Jul 31, 2007
Report
Supporting Air and Space Expeditionary Forces: Capabilities and Sustainability of Air and Space Expeditionary Forces
Presents a method for assessing Air and Space Expeditionary Force manpower and materiel deployment capabilities and a detailed description of software tools developed by RAND for quantifying deployment capabilities.
Feb 17, 2006
Report
Supporting Air and Space Expeditionary Forces: A Methodology for Determining Air Force Deployment Requirements
Describes a prototype research tool for determining manpower and equipment deployment requirements.
Aug 13, 2004
Report
New Challenges, New Tools for Defense Decisionmaking
Addresses the new challenges for defense policy in a world transformed by the end of the Cold War and then the war on terrorism, and sketches new analytic techniques for framing particular defense issues.
Jan 1, 2003

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RAND Topic:
Capabilities Based Planning

Topic Synonyms:
CBP

Research conducted by

Researcher Spotlight

Anu Narayanan

Associate Director, Forces and Logistics Program, RAND Arroyo Center

Anu Narayanan is associate director of the Forces and Logistics Program within RAND Arroyo Center, a senior engineer at RAND, and professor of policy analysis at the Pardee RAND Graduate School. Her research focuses on the intersection of critical infrastructure and national security. She has…
Christopher G. Pernin

Director, Engineering and Applied Sciences Department

Chris Pernin (he/him) is director of the Engineering and Applied Sciences Department and a senior physical scientist at the RAND Corporation. Since joining RAND in 1999, Pernin has been involved with or led a wide range of national security and domestic research projects on decisionmaking,…

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