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Military Career Field Management

Effective military leaders help nations meet their strategic goals, and the retention of these leaders is essential to preserving morale and unit readiness. RAND has conducted extensive research on training and career development programs that are designed to attract and retain personnel with the most promising mix of knowledge, skills, abilities, and experience.

Report

Developing an Air Force Retention Early Warning System: Concept and Initial Prototype

The authors examine the development of an early warning system that alerts decisionmakers when a subgroup of U.S. Air Force military members is at risk for future shortages, thereby enabling policy adjustments before shortages occur.

Oct 14, 2021
Report

Building the Best Offensive and Defensive Cyber Workforce: Volume I, Improving U.S. Air Force Training and Development

RAND researchers held discussions with enlisted and civilian cyberwarfare personnel to gather insights into how the U.S. Air Force could revamp cyber training, recruiting, and retention. This volume of the report summarizes training-related findings.

Sep 29, 2021
Report

Building the Best Offensive and Defensive Cyber Workforce: Volume II, Attracting and Retaining Enlisted and Civilian Personnel

To better understand the drivers of attraction to and retention in U.S. Air Force cyber jobs, RAND researchers held focus group discussions with enlisted and civilian cyberwarfare personnel. This report summarizes discussion participants' insights.

Sep 29, 2021
Report

Championing the Agile Air Force Officer Career: Examining the Potential Use of New Career Management Flexibilities

The 2019 National Defense Authorization Act introduced new options for officer career management for the military services. Researchers examine the potential utility of five of the new flexibilities for improving the management of Air Force officers.

Jul 30, 2021
Report

Department of the Air Force Officer Talent Management Reforms: Implications for Career Field Health and Demographic Diversity

The Department of the Air Force is revamping the way it manages officer development and promotion. The Air Force Personnel Policy Simulation Tool models the effects of personnel policy changes to identify potentially adverse consequences.

Jul 27, 2021
Report

Making the Grade: Integration of Joint Professional Military Education and Talent Management in Developing Joint Officers

The authors examine how joint educational institutions and stakeholders and the military services can support a transition to joint professional military education using the outcomes expected of graduates rather than traditional learning processes.

May 26, 2021
Research Brief

Modernizing Officer Career Management: Analyzing Eleven Issues

The authors examine 11 issues related to modernizing officer career management; these involve statutory, policy, cultural, and fiscal constraints. They offer service perspectives on these constraints and present mitigation strategies.

Jan 19, 2021
Research Brief

"Muddling Through": The Revolutionary Potential of Evolutionary Officer Management Reform

The authors examine why the services embraced the fiscal year 2019 National Defense Authorization Act reforms after rejecting the Force of the Future reforms.

Jan 19, 2021
Report

Officer Career Management: Additional Steps Toward Modernization

The authors identify useful steps toward modernization of officer career management in the military, examine constraints on reforms, and propose mitigating strategies and ways forward.

Jan 19, 2021
Report

Cost-Benefit Analysis of Special and Incentive Pays for Career Enlisted Aviators

The authors develop a capability to calculate the efficient amount of special and incentive pays for Air Force career enlisted aviators (CEAs). They also estimate the trade-offs between retaining CEAs and increasing accessions for a given force size.

Jan 7, 2021
Dissertation

Attracting the Right Volunteers: U.S. Army Functional Areas and the Voluntary Transfer Incentive Program

Explores how the United States Army has adapted to the Voluntary Transfer Incentive Program, which allows mid-career Army officers to volunteer to switch specialties to a functional area.

Sep 23, 2020
Report

U.S. Military Approaches to Leadership Vary Among Services

Emerging global security challenges might require different military leadership approaches and perspectives. How do the services currently develop leaders? And how do each service's personnel practices and culture influence how general and flag officers lead, manage, and advise?

Aug 10, 2020
Report

Modeling Career Enlisted Aviator Retention in the U.S. Air Force

The career trajectories and retention profiles of certain U.S. Air Force career enlisted aviators (CEAs) vary across the different Air Force Specialty Codes. Is there a model that would estimate CEA retention?

Aug 5, 2020
Report

Strengthening Total Force Culture and Facilitating Cross-Component Integration in the U.S. Military

While all U.S. military services have strived to achieve greater total force integration and a stronger total force culture across their active and reserve components, significant impediments limit the achievement of these objectives. What policies can foster cross-component integration?

May 28, 2020
News Release

New Space Force Will Need Resources, Clear Definition of Warfighting Mission

To meet the goals of the U.S. Space Force most space activities in the Department of Defense should be moved into the new service. Moreover, it will be critical that the Space Force clearly define and clarify its space warfighting mission.

Mar 13, 2020
Research Brief

How to Build an Effective, Efficient, and Independent Space Force

To increase its likelihood of developing into a successful organization, the new U.S. Space Force should define and clarify its space warfighting missions. And most space activities in the Department of Defense should be moved into the new service.

Mar 13, 2020
Report

A Separate Space: Creating a Military Service for Space

As the United States creates the Space Force as a service within the Department of the Air Force, RAND assessed which units to bring into the Space Force, analyzed career field sustainability and drew lessons from other defense organizations.

Mar 13, 2020
Report

Army Expeditionary Civilian Demand: Forecasting Future Requirements for Civilian Deployments

As the largest provider of government civilians to support U.S. military operations, the Army stands to benefit to a great extent from a more robust process for forecasting future demand for its civilian workforce.

Oct 24, 2019
Report

Projecting Air Force Rated Officer Inventory Across the Total Force: Total Force Blue Line Model for Rated Officer Management

Managing the flow of Air Force rated officers has become more challenging. In this report, the authors document their efforts to develop a long-term career field planning model for all rated officers across the Total Force.

Sep 4, 2019
Report

Balancing Quality of Life with Mission Requirements: An Analysis of Personnel Tempo on U.S. Coast Guard Major Cutters

The authors analyze how U.S. Coast Guard servicemembers serving on major cutters respond to various levels of personnel tempo, as well as the effects of working conditions on these responses.

Jul 29, 2019

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Research conducted by

Researcher Spotlight

Maria C. Lytell

Associate Director, Personnel, Training, and Health Program, RAND Arroyo Center

Maria Lytell is a senior behavioral scientist and associate director of the RAND Arroyo Center Personnel, Training, and Health Program. Her work focuses on military personnel topics with recent examples including diversity, equity, and inclusion in the military, digital talent needs for the…
M. Wade Markel

Acting Director, Forces and Logistics Program, RAND Arroyo Center

M. Wade Markel is the acting director of the Forces and Logistics program in RAND Arroyo Center, and a senior political scientist at the RAND Corporation. His research focuses on aligning human, materiel and fiscal resources with alternative institutional strategies. Specific topics of recent…

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