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Military Professions

For decades, RAND has conducted extensive research to help U.S. and allied decisionmakers design training and career development programs that will attract and retain military professionals capable of meeting a nation's national security and defense goals.

Report

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

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
Commentary

Investing in Military Human Capital

A new effort to review the military's personnel system will focus initially on policies to assign, evaluate, and promote service members. To truly address systematic challenges, however, the scope will need to widen to include how the various military services might size, structure, and support key missions.

Nov 5, 2015
News Release

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
Research Brief

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

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
Report

Report

Key Skills and Competences for Defence: Annex E

This is Annex E of the non-public final report of a study commissioned by the European Defence Agency (EDA) with the aim of defining and identifying the key skills for defence; Annex E provides the case studies investigated during the study.

Jul 30, 2015
Report

Report

Key Skills and Competences for Defence: Annex B

This is Annex B of the non-public final report of a study commissioned by the European Defence Agency (EDA); the annex details current and prospective European equipment programmes.

Jul 30, 2015
Report

Report

Key Skills and Competences for Defence: Annex C

This is Annex C of the non-public final report of a study commissioned by the European Defence Agency (EDA); Annex C details education courses for key skills and competences for defence,

Jul 30, 2015
Report

Report

Key Skills and Competences for Defence: Annex D

This is Annex D of the non-public final report of a study commissioned by the European Defence Agency (EDA) with the aim of defining and identifying the key skills for defence ; Annex D provides the taxonomy of key skills and competences.

Jul 30, 2015
Report

Report

Key Skills and Competences for Defence: Executive Summary

This is the executive summary of the non-public final report of a study commissioned by the European Defence Agency (EDA)

Jul 30, 2015
Commentary

Military Security Contractors Get PTSD, Too

Largely absent from the conversation about the use of military security contractors are the parallel issues of mental health and the deployment-related stress contractors can face.

Jun 12, 2015
Dissertation

Dissertation

Air Transport Pilot Supply and Demand: Current State and Effects of Recent Legislation

Provides a comprehensive Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) supply and demand model and then assesses the current and future ATP supply and demand pipeline, to include the impact on the U.S. military pilot population.

Apr 15, 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

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

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

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

Improving Demographic Diversity in the U.S. Air Force Officer Corps

To what extent does the representation of women and racial and ethnic minorities in the Air Force match the make-up of the general population? Despite the Air Force's efforts, minority groups and women are underrepresented in the active-duty line officer population, particularly among senior leaders.

May 20, 2014
Commentary

America's New Missile Gap

With the end of the Cold War, the U.S. military refocused on the non-nuclear realm. In most cases, military professionals moved seamlessly into this realm, but the land-based missileers lacked the option to shift their focus.

Feb 25, 2014

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