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Military Facilities

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Adequate military facilities are critical for the support, redeployment, and operation of military forces. RAND research has examined the structure and needs of such facilities for U.S. and allied military forces, provided recommendations concerning base realignment, and investigated ways to maximize the capabilities and utilization of existing resources and to anticipate future facility-related requirements.

Report

Valuing Air Force Electric Power Resilience

Jun 3, 2019

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.
Report

Improving Army Installation Facility and Land Use Deals and Partnerships

Sep 16, 2019

Army installation facility and land use deals and partnerships can provide substantial benefits such as include saving costs and improving installation operations. What are the most promising approaches and practices that can be used to develop and implement these deals and partnerships?

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Commentary

Why Overseas Military Bases Continue to Make Sense for the United States

Voices on the left and right have proposed downsizing America's overseas military footprint. While the merits of basing in a particular location should be open to debate, the underlying twin logics of deterrence and reassurance behind permanently stationing American forces overseas remain operationally, economically, and strategically as sound as ever.

Jan 14, 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

Alternatives for Reducing Army Installation Utility Bills While Enhancing Installation Readiness

Researchers identified options for reducing installation utility costs in three areas: reducing commodity payments; finding alternative funding sources for energy and water system investments; and leveraging nontraditional partnerships.

Jun 18, 2020
Report

Air Base Defense: Rethinking Army and Air Force Roles and Functions

The gap between the growing cruise and ballistic missile threat to U.S. Air Force bases in Europe and the U.S. capacity and capability to counter the threat is worrisome. This report assesses alternative Air Force courses of action.

May 29, 2020
Report

Options for Maintaining Clinical Proficiency During Peacetime

The U.S. Army Medical Department has a dual mission: to care for the war wounded during times of conflict and to operate medical treatment facilities that provide care to service members, their beneficiaries, and military retirees. What options exist for improving the readiness of Army medical personnel?

May 19, 2020
Commentary

There's Still Life in the U.S.-Philippines Visiting Forces Agreement

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte announced that he would terminate the U.S.-Philippines Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA). Washington and Manila have until August 9 to save it or negotiate a new VFA to avert any further alliance crisis.

May 4, 2020
Report

Improving the Allocation and Execution of Army Facility Sustainment Funding

To identify strategies and make recommendations on improving the allocation and execution of Army installation facility sustainment funding, the authors compare Army practices with those in the other Services and in the public and private sectors.

Apr 23, 2020
Q&A

Thinking Outside the Grid: Q&A with Anu Narayanan

Anu Narayanan, an engineer at RAND, is a specialist in what-ifs. Her research focuses on critical infrastructure and national security. In this interview, she discusses her latest work that explores what would happen if a cyberattacker tried to take down the power grid.

Mar 5, 2020
Report

Understanding the Deterrent Impact of U.S. Overseas Forces

After Russian aggression in Ukraine, and with rising U.S.-China tensions, the question of whether U.S. overseas military presence can enhance deterrence remains central. What does the evidence suggest?

Feb 4, 2020
Commentary

Can Iraq Evict U.S. Forces?

The Iraqi parliament voted to expel U.S. troops from Iraq. This vote was nonbinding, and the Iraqi caretaker government cannot pass laws, but it does indicate that a majority in parliament wants U.S. forces to leave.

Jan 6, 2020
Report

Optimizing Army Medical Materiel Strategy

This report describes how the U.S. Army can optimize its medical materiel strategies for efficient medical equipping readiness.

Oct 30, 2019
Commentary

The Ramifications of China's Reported Naval Base in Cambodia

China and Cambodia have reportedly signed a secret agreement allowing the Chinese navy to use a military facility near Ream, along Cambodia's southern coast, though both countries deny the reports. The installation of a Chinese military facility in Cambodia, if realized, would further complicate an already sensitive and tense situation in the region.

Aug 7, 2019
Commentary

A Ruling from the Hague Threatens a U.S. and British Military Base in Asia

A remote and obscure tropical atoll in the Indian Ocean would seem an unlikely stage for the latest act of the United Kingdom's unfolding Brexit drama and the newest challenge to U.S. global power projection. But a nonbinding verdict in The Hague calls into question the legitimacy of the UK's administration and the major U.S. military presence on the islands' largest atoll, Diego Garcia.

Apr 1, 2019
Commentary

'Cost Plus 50' Explained

The Trump administration may be considering requiring host nations to subsidize the entire cost of the U.S. military presence and pay an additional 50 percent of that amount. This type of transactional foreign policy increases the risk that countries will rethink their agreements to host U.S. forces, and that could reduce the U.S. military's ability to operate globally.

Mar 15, 2019
Report

Quality of Life at Contingency Bases: Managing Sustainment Community Support Requirements

Quality of life for soldiers on contingency bases is key for morale and physical and emotional well-being but also a substantial logistics burden. This report evaluates factors that contribute to and detract from soldier quality of life.

Nov 29, 2018
Essay

An Inside Look at Life in the Army's Junior Ranks

History records the names of generals, not of the privates filling out supply forms, cleaning out trucks, or huffing through another training exercise. But those privates keep the U.S. Army running. RAND research provides their unfiltered take on life in the ranks.

Oct 31, 2018
Report

Sexual Assault and Harassment in the Military: Estimates for Installation- and Command-Level Risk

This report examines differences in sexual assault risk estimates across U.S. military installations and commands based on 2014 data. These differences may help identify characteristics of installations that can be modified to reduce sexual assault risk.

Sep 21, 2018
Report

Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment in the U.S. Military: Annex to Volume 5. Tabular Results from the 2014 RAND Military Workplace Study for Installation- and Command-Level Risk of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment

This Annex to Volume 5 presents survey estimates of how risk of sexual assault and sexual harassment varies across military installations and major commands using data from the 2014 RAND Military Workplace Study.

Sep 21, 2018
Report

Preparing for Post-ISIL Access Challenges

As the conflict against ISIL enters a new phase, a stronger basing posture against adversary networks in and around Syria and the Sinai Peninsula is needed. U.S. Central Command must plan for the possibility of losing access to Iraqi bases and airspace. An interactive tool can help identify robust basing options.

Sep 10, 2018

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RAND Topic:
Military Facilities

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