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Combat Support Operations

Report
Connector Survivability in the Current Operating Environment
Current operating concepts and an evolving threat environment demand that the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps reevaluate survivability in their analysis of the current and future fleet of Navy amphibious connectors.
Oct 4, 2023
Brochure
Improving Combat Support Analyses to Better Inform Decisionmaking: Insights from RAND Research
This portfolio of combat support analyses conducted by RAND Project AIR FORCE highlights examples of enterprise-wide analyses, vulnerability and resilience analyses, and resource allocation analyses in support of U.S. Air Force decisionmaking.
May 22, 2023
Report
U.S. Major Combat Operations in the Indo-Pacific: Partner and Ally Views
This report, one of two, focuses on whether partners and allies have the willingness to support U.S. operations in a major Indo-Pacific conflict. The companion report focuses on technical and operational issues.
May 16, 2023
Report
Organizing and Training Airfield Operations Capabilities for Emerging Expeditionary Operations: Potential Courses of Action
The authors identify ways to enable the airfield operations (AO) career fields to respond to the needs created by the Dynamic Force Employment concept and the USAF implementation of Agile Combat Employment.
Mar 16, 2023
Brochure
Implications of Climate Change for Department of the Air Force Missions and Operations
This compilation of climate research conducted within RAND Project AIR FORCE for the Department of the Air Force and more broadly across RAND offers insights about climate change and its implications for military operations and other contexts.
Feb 1, 2023
Report
Command and Control of U.S. Air Force Combat Support in a High-End Fight
This report describes new concepts for U.S. Air Force combat support command and control while under persistent multi-domain attack during a high-end fight, specifically to support maneuver and functioning in a communications degraded environment.
Mar 16, 2021
Report
Measuring Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Effectiveness at the United States Central Command
U.S. Central Command Directorate of Intelligence is interested in developing a repeatable process to measure the effectiveness of its intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) operations and activities. What methodology can be used to accomplish this?
Jan 20, 2021
Tool
A Modeling Framework for Optimizing U.S. Air Force Fighter Pilot Access to Advanced Training Ranges
This tool presents the technical details of an optimization model for the U.S. Air Force to analyze the potential effectiveness of different combinations of range upgrades and squadron restationing to improve access to advanced ranges.
Sep 24, 2020
Report
Naval Surface Fire Support: An Assessment of Requirements
The authors developed recommendations to improve existing formal requirements and technological solutions regarding naval surface fire support, a way for the U.S. Navy to provide the equivalent of artillery support for forces operating ashore.
Apr 16, 2020
Commentary
Lives on the Line: The A2AD Challenge to Combat Casualty Care
Countries such as Russia and China continue to develop and expand the ability to integrate long-range strike, anti-ship, anti-air, space and cyber abilities. Provision of medical support could be a worthy priority for NATO planners when considering deterrence of and defense against near-peer or peer adversaries.
Jul 31, 2018
Report
Human Capital Needs for the Department of Defense Operational Contract Support Planning and Integration Workforce
This comprehensive review of the U.S. Department of Defense operational contract support (OCS) planning and integration workforce identifies gaps between doctrine and practice, recommending several options to address these shortfalls.
Oct 2, 2017
Report
Support to the Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center: Enabling AFIMSC's Role in Agile Combat Support Planning, Execution, Monitoring, and Control
This report provides a strategic view of the analytical capabilities that are needed by the Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center to allocate resources to and assess the performance of installation and mission support activities.
Jun 23, 2017
Report
A Modeling Framework for Optimizing F-35A Strategic Basing Decisions to Meet Training Requirements
This report presents a modeling framework designed to identify basing locations for the F-35A fleet and training range locations that minimize flying costs associated with composite force training exercises for combat mission-ready pilots.
Dec 14, 2016
Commentary
China's PLAAF Pilot Training Program Undergoes Major Overhaul
China's People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) has made great strides in recent years to transform its pilot training program. PLAAF leaders understand many of the institutional and cultural weaknesses that impede effectiveness and are taking measures to address them.
Oct 27, 2016
Report
From Theory to Practice: People's Liberation Army Air Force Aviation Training at the Operational Unit
This report seeks to assess People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) pilot proficiency by examining training held at operational aviation units in the context of the larger PLAAF training system.
Sep 20, 2016
Report
Worldwide C-17 Availability to Support 82nd Airborne Operations from Fort Bragg/Pope Field
This report explores C-17 availability and determines how quickly these aircraft and their aircrews can reach and depart from Fort Bragg/Pope Field, where the 82nd Airborne Division operates, from the many locations they are deployed to worldwide.
Aug 18, 2016
Report
Enabling the Global Response Force: Access Strategies for the 82nd Airborne Division
The Global Response Force is built for rapid response to unforeseen operations. This study recommends specific GRF access strategies for each geographic combatant command given constraints in aircraft, intermediate staging bases, and other factors.
Jul 28, 2016
Research Brief
Expeditionary Civilians: Informing Department of Defense Civilian Deployment Policy and Practice
RAND conducted an end-to-end review and analysis of Department of Defense civilian deployment to inform policy and practice for using deployable civilians to meet mission needs ten to 20 years into the future.
Jun 9, 2016
Report
Expeditionary Civilians: Creating a Viable Practice of Civilian Deployment Within the U.S. Interagency Community and Among Foreign Defense Organizations
This report describes the requirements that generate the need for deployable civilians, the types of missions civilians support, and the methods that U.S. and foreign government organizations use to identify, select, track and deploy civilians.
Jun 9, 2016
Report
Creating a Viable Practice of DoD Civilian Deployment
Expeditionary civilians have been used to reduced stress on the uniformed military, reduce the military's reliance on contractors, and circumvent limits on the deployment of additional military forces. An analysis of civilian deployment aims to inform DoD's policy and practice for using civilians to meet mission needs ten to 20 years into the future.
Jun 9, 2016

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RAND Topic:
Combat Support Operations

Topic Synonyms:
Combat Support;
CS

Research conducted by

Researcher Spotlight

Daniel M. Romano

Senior Technical Analyst

Dan Romano is a senior technical analyst at the RAND Corporation. He has been with RAND since October 2010, and brings with him 30 years of active duty service in the Air Force. Romano is an experienced military logistician and has conducted research on military strategic policy and practices to…
Patrick Mills

Senior Operations Researcher

Patrick Mills is a senior operations researcher at the RAND Corporation, and a member of the Pardee RAND Graduate School faculty. At RAND, Mills has led a range of projects focused on Air Force logistics, basing, posture, Agile Combat Support, and the costs of these. He has developed…

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