Skip to page content

Military Force Planning

Featured

Ensuring that a modern military has the appropriate personnel and capabilities is the key goal of military force planning. RAND research on such topics as military wages, support for military families, troop diversity, and reenlistment rates ensures that U.S. and allied militaries are well aware of issues related to career field management and personnel retention and recruitment.

Report

How the Pandemic Affected Military Recruitment and Retention

Jan 18, 2022

Military recruiting and retention activities are typically conducted in person, but with COVID-19–related stay-at-home orders and social distancing requirements, the armed services had to quickly adapt their policies and procedures or risk missing their end strength objectives.
Essay

Army Enlistment Waivers in the Age of Legal Marijuana

Oct 27, 2021

Army recruits with a history of marijuana use can ask for a waiver like those who have diabetes or insomnia. They are just as likely as others to complete their first term and make sergeant, and are less likely to leave the Army for health or performance reasons.

Explore Military Force Planning

Commentary

What's the Plan? The NATO Coalition in Afghanistan

The imminent changes to the NATO mission in Afghanistan will be profound and, more crucially, carry unpredictable outcomes. After January 1, the removal of tens of thousands of coalition troops will trigger an inevitable period of adjustment as all sides involved in the conflict press for a new equilibrium that tilts in its favor.

Nov 19, 2014
Report

Measuring and Retaining the U.S. Army's Deployment Experience

The Army has contributed the bulk of deployed U.S. troops since 9/11, and has accrued substantial deployment experience. How can the U.S. prevent experience from being lost as combat operations conclude, soldiers separate from service, and Regular Army endstrength is reduced?

Nov 18, 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
News Release

Military Retirement Compensation System Can Be Improved to Cut Costs and Improve Equity

The U.S. Department of Defense can change its retirement system in ways that will save between $1.8 and $4.4 billion a year, while extending benefits to more veterans and maintaining its attraction as a recruiting tool.

Nov 12, 2014
Report

Military Retirement Compensation System Can Be Improved to Cut Costs and Improve Equity

The U.S. Department of Defense can change its retirement system in ways that will save between $1.8 and $4.4 billion a year, while extending benefits to more veterans and maintaining its attraction as a recruiting tool.

Nov 12, 2014
Report

What Can the U.S. Army Learn from France's War in Mali?

French Army operations in Mali provide an example of how a technologically sophisticated army organizes and fields an expeditionary force. While the French way of war may not be optimal for U.S. commanders, who have greater resources at their disposal, the Army should still examine it for useful insights.

Oct 17, 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
Report

The Other Quiet Professionals: Lessons for Future Cyber Forces from the Evolution of Special Forces

Both special operations forces and cyber forces are small teams of highly skilled specialists, and both communities value skilled personnel above all else. What lessons can be drawn from a review of the commonalities, similarities, and differences between U.S. cyber forces and early U.S. special forces?

Oct 3, 2014
Report

How Pay Freezes, Unpaid Furloughs, and Other Compensation Changes Affect Retention in the Federal Civil Service Workforce

Federal employee pay freezes and unpaid furloughs have raised concerns about the ability of the federal civil service to attract and retain personnel. RAND's dynamic retention model has been extended to assess how such actions could affect DoD civil service employment.

Oct 2, 2014
Commentary

The More Options, the Better

Preserving the ability of the United States to choose how it will respond to global events is essential. And maintaining options is critical to the calculus.

Sep 23, 2014
Report

Assessing the Army's Active-Reserve Component Force Mix

Active-reserve force mix decisions should consider both capability and cost. This report examines two critical considerations: the time needed to make forces ready to deploy and the relative cost to sustain the same level of deployed output.

Sep 10, 2014
Report

Air Force Manpower Requirements and Component Mix: A Focus on Agile Combat Support

Examines the extent to which various manpower requirements processes employed by the U.S. Air Force are validated, coordinated, and consistent.

Sep 10, 2014
Blog

A U.S. Strategy for Dealing with China

Developing a next generation strategy for dealing with China will require the United States to sculpt a balanced and flexible approach that protects U.S. interest in East Asia while at the same time fosters cooperation with China on issues of common concern.

Sep 3, 2014
News Release

Key U.S. Military, Diplomatic Strategies Are Necessary to Balance China's Growing Regional Strength

Developing a strategy for the United States to address China's growing military strength should not sacrifice future cooperation between the two nations.

Sep 2, 2014
Research Brief

Developing a U.S. Strategy for Dealing with China — Now and into the Future

U.S. military strategy in Asia should include a framework that allows the United States and China to pursue common and individual goals, deters China's use of force to intimidate its neighbors, and postures U.S. forces to support partner militaries.

Sep 2, 2014
Report

Key U.S. Military, Diplomatic Strategies Are Necessary to Balance China's Growing Regional Strength

Developing a strategy for the United States to address China's growing military strength should not sacrifice future cooperation between the two nations. A U.S. policy could recognize China's expanding importance in the world and its legitimate interests, while also keeping U.S. commitments to allies and partners in the region.

Sep 2, 2014
Report

Toward Improved Management of Officer Retention: A New Capability for Assessing Policy Options

This report documents efforts to implement a capability for the U.S. Department of Defense to assess alternative policies to enhance officer retention provides source code and foundations of a spreadsheet version of the model.

Jul 28, 2014
Journal Article

Tailored Deterrence: Strategic Context to Guide Joint Force 2020

To prioritize limited resources in accordance with actual defense policies and threats, DOD should develop tailored approaches to deter specific threats to U.S. national security interests.

Jul 1, 2014
Report

Implementation Actions for Improving Air Force Command and Control Through Enhanced Agile Combat Support Planning, Execution, Monitoring, and Control Processes

Uses a companion architecture to identify and describe where shortfalls exist between current agile combat support (ACS) processes and the vision for integrating enhanced ACS processes into Air Force command and control.

Jun 30, 2014
Report

An Operational Architecture for Improving Air Force Command and Control Through Enhanced Agile Combat Support Planning, Execution, Monitoring, and Control Processes

Presents an architecture that depicts how enhanced ACS processes could be integrated into Air Force command and control to support resource allocation decisions.

Jun 30, 2014

Previous
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
Next

RAND Topic:
Military Force Planning

Research conducted by