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Combat Support Operations

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
Report
Innovation in the United States Air Force
An assessment of historical cases of Air Force innovation — or apparent failure to innovate — sheds light on whether the service is sufficiently innovative today and what can be done to make it more innovative for the future.
May 13, 2016
Report
Project AIR FORCE Modeling Capabilities for Support of Combat Operations in Denied Environments
Documents the modeling framework Project AIR FORCE developed to evaluate combat support requirements, basing posture vulnerabilities, operational resilience, and potential mitigation strategies to support combat operations in a denied environment.
Jul 7, 2015
Report
Ensuring U.S. Air Force Operations During Cyber Attacks Against Combat Support Systems: Guidance for Where to Focus Mitigation Efforts
RAND researchers developed a process for prioritizing functions and information systems in assessing mission assurance under cyber attack, a challenge due to the number of systems, range of vulnerabilities, and variety of combat support functions.
May 29, 2015
Report
Integrating Operational Energy Implications into System-Level Combat Effects Modeling: Assessing the Combat Effectiveness and Fuel Use of ABCT 2020 and Current ABCT
The authors developed and applied a methodology that leveraged detailed combat effectiveness models to account for the operational energy needs of an Armored Brigade Combat Team (ABCT) 2020 and the current ABCT conducting combat missions.
Apr 23, 2015

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RAND Topic:
Combat Support Operations

Topic Synonyms:
Combat Support;
CS

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