Skip to page content

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.

Research Brief

Reserve Component General and Flag Officer Requirements

RAND researchers assessed whether the system, management, and number of reserve component general and flag officers were appropriate.

Oct 14, 2016
Report

Promotion Benchmarks for Senior Officers with Joint and Acquisition Service

This report examines ways to improve reporting on promotion objectives for officers who have served on the Joint Staff or in the Office of the Secretary of Defense staff or are joint-qualified officers or Acquisition Corps members.

Sep 14, 2016
Report

Can We Explain Gender Differences in Officer Career Progression?

The report provides a quantitative analysis of the differences in the career progression of officers based on gender, as well as the factors that explain these differences.

Aug 17, 2016
Tool

Officer Accession Planning: A Manual for Estimating Air Force Officer Degree Requirements

This tool describes and provides implementation guidance for the process RAND Project AIR FORCE created to develop evidence-based degree requirements for officer accessions.

Aug 1, 2016
Research Brief

How Effective Are Military Academy Admission Standards?

This brief summarizes the results of analysis of the applicant scoring systems that the U.S. Military Academy and U.S. Air Force Academy use for admission.

Jul 22, 2016
Report

Air Force Officer Accession Planning: Addressing Key Gaps in Meeting Career Field Academic Degree Requirements for Nonrated Officers

This report summarizes an analysis of the Air Force's programs and processes for matching new officers with career field assignments and offers suggestions for improvement.

Jun 9, 2016
Testimony

Reforming the American Military Officer Personnel System: Addendum: Thoughts on Contractors

Document submitted on May 24, 2016 as an addendum to testimony presented to the Senate Armed Services Committee on December 2, 2015.

May 27, 2016
Report

Reserve Component General and Flag Officers: A Review of Requirements and Authorized Strength

Increased use of the reserve component has renewed interest in the question of the appropriate number of reserve component general and flag officers. RAND researchers conducted a review of requirements for reserve component general and flag officers.

Feb 8, 2016
Report

The U.S. Department of Defense's Earned Value Management–Analyst Workforce

To support development and integration of earned value management (EVM) competencies across the defense acquisition workforce, RAND researchers surveyed the U.S. Department of Defense EVM-analyst workforce and described it across several dimensions.

Jan 14, 2016
Report

Identifying Key Workplace Stressors Affecting Twentieth Air Force: Analyses Conducted from December 2012 Through February 2013

A series of focus groups with 20th Air Force personnel and their spouses helped assess such issues as job stress and satisfaction and problem behaviors and solicit suggestions for addressing them.

Dec 23, 2015
Testimony

Reforming the American Military Officer Personnel System

Today's U.S. military personnel system is fundamentally the same one put into place after World War II, with minor changes for officers. Reform efforts should include changes in how personnel are assigned and lengthening military careers.

Dec 2, 2015
Report

Reducing Air Force Fighter Pilot Shortages

Examines potential paths for overcoming the persistent and critical shortage of fighter pilots that the Air Force has faced over the past several decades.

Nov 24, 2015
Report

Improving Development Teams to Support Deliberate Development of Air Force Officers

This report examines the ways development teams assist Air Force officers with their professional development and assesses the future of these teams.

Nov 24, 2015
News Release

U.S. Military Drawdown Could Affect Gains in Service Member Diversity

Planned, large-scale personnel reductions in the U.S. military could inadvertently reduce gains made in the racial and gender diversity of the force since the 1990s.

Oct 26, 2015
Report

U.S. Military Drawdown Could Affect Gains in Service Member Diversity

Planned, large-scale personnel reductions in the U.S. military could inadvertently reduce gains made in the racial and gender diversity of the force since the 1990s. Conducting adverse impact analyses prior to making drawdown decisions could allow the services to identify interventions earlier in service members' military careers.

Oct 26, 2015
Research Brief

Implications of Force Drawdowns for Demographic Diversity

The Department of Defense (DoD) has been conducting a large reduction of its military force. DoD drawdown policies that target certain groups (by experience, specialty, or aptitude) could have adverse effects on demographic diversity.

Oct 26, 2015
Report

Admissions Process at West Point Proves Effective at Predicting Student Outcomes

Given the limited information that is known about high school graduates, the application scores used by the U.S. Military Academy at West Point do a good job of predicting graduation outcomes. Some scores are also significantly associated with higher probability of officer promotion.

Mar 12, 2015
Report

Strength Testing in the Air Force: Current Processes and Suggestions for Improvements

Examines the usefulness, validity, and fairness of the Air Force's Strength Aptitude Test, with a focus on its implementation at military entrance processing stations and the process for setting strength requirements for career fields.

Dec 5, 2014
Report

Promoting Airmen with the Potential to Lead: A Study of the Air Force Master Sergeant Promotion System

Despite an evolving operational environment, the system for promoting airmen into the rank of master sergeant has not changed since it was developed more than 40 years ago. RAND researchers assessed the system and explored areas for improvement.

Nov 14, 2014
Report

Air Force-Wide Needs for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Academic Degrees

RAND researchers asked Air Force senior functional authorities which STEM degrees are and will be needed to maintain vital technical skills. The results suggest areas the Air Force should review for emerging demand.

Oct 6, 2014

Previous
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Next

Research conducted by