Skip to page content

National Security Organizations

News Release

U.S. National Security Decisionmaking Processes Need Trimming

Increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of the National Security Council is necessary as the country contends with many more state and nonstate actors, around-the-clock public scrutiny, and exploding nontraditional threats.

Apr 5, 2016
Commentary

Time for Washington to Amp Up the Power to Coerce

The U.S. government should start preparing systematically for the use of coercion as it does for military warfare, including analyzing options, assessing requirements and capabilities, conducting war games to refine these capabilities, and planning with allies.

Mar 22, 2016
Commentary

Do 'Guardian Forces' Belong in the Military?

More and more national security workers in and out of uniform never get close to combat. They address cyber threats, operate satellite constellations, and control drones. It's time to rethink their place in the system.

Mar 10, 2016
Commentary

The Tension Between What the Army Is and What It Does

Cooperation and integration of the Army's three components is important, but what's most important is effectiveness in war and the key to that is trained, properly organized, and ready forces.

Mar 3, 2016
Commentary

Gaming the System: Obstacles to Reinvigorating Defense Wargaming

Reinvigorating wargaming in the defense community offers great potential value given the complex strategic situation that the U.S. faces today. DoD should educate sponsors and consumers about the appropriate use of wargames, set realistic expectations, and build the right amount of risk acceptance into its gaming enterprise.

Feb 18, 2016
Commentary

Planning for the 'Army of the Future'

What must the Army be ready to do as part of a joint force, now and in the future? What capacities and capabilities should the Army have in order to be ready? The NCFA comes up short in its answers to both of these questions.

Feb 17, 2016
News Release

U.S. Military Service Members May Volunteer to Extend Tours if Incentives Offered

Nearly 60 percent of U.S. military service members surveyed were unwilling to voluntarily extend their tours because they believed doing so may adversely impact quality of life, morale, and possibly job performance. Others reported interest in longer tours under some circumstances, including if financial incentives were offered.

Feb 8, 2016
Commentary

Transforming 'Distributed Lethality' Strategy into Action

Distributed lethality offers a more offensive approach to using naval surface forces as potential adversaries acquire naval capabilities designed to control the sea. Translating the concept into action has implications for Navy operations, logistics, finances, and overall strategy.

Feb 8, 2016
Announcement

RAND Studies Help Inform Pentagon Decision to Open Combat Roles to Women

RAND researchers addressed topics such as whether members of U.S. special forces are ready to integrate women into their ranks and what lessons may be learned from other militaries that already have integrated women into combat positions.

Feb 5, 2016
Commentary

Ground Combat

The U.S. Army needs to pay attention to state-sponsored irregular forces, whose numbers are growing. Such groups represent the type of adversary U.S. ground forces are likely to face.

Dec 23, 2015
Commentary

Understanding the Abrams Doctrine: Myth Versus Reality

As the NCFA finishes up its work on the future of the Army it is worthwhile to note that the strategic context in which the Army operates and is organized has changed over time, resulting in different calculations of costs and risks.

Dec 9, 2015
News Release

Implications of Integrating Women into Marine Corps Infantry

The gender integration experiences of foreign militaries, as well as U.S. civilian police and fire departments, can provide valuable lessons for the U.S. Marine Corps as it considers making more opportunities available to women.

Dec 3, 2015
Commentary

Inside the Fish Bowl: High Stakes Acquisition Protests

The Boeing-Lockheed Martin team filed a protest with the Government Accountability Office asserting that the U.S. Air Force's selection of Northrop Grumman to build the Long Range Strike-Bomber was fundamentally flawed. Work on the program, valued at approximately $80 billion, is now paused.

Dec 3, 2015
Commentary

Building Interoperability for European Defense

To make the most out of declining defense budgets, the U.S. needs to engage European forces to build interoperability that would enable joint operations to deter and defeat potential adversaries, even with little advance notice. But building interoperable units has often proved difficult even among the friendliest of nations.

Nov 9, 2015
Commentary

Benghazi: Questions Unasked and Opportunities Missed

Instead of asking whether a video precipitated the attack or whether Ambassador Stevens should have been in Benghazi on that fateful night, the right question to ask is under what conditions the United States should have a diplomatic presence in high-risk areas.

Oct 22, 2015
Commentary

Lessons from the Past for the Future of the KC-46A

Analysis suggests that fixed-price contracts have not successfully reduced costs to the DoD associated with developing complex weapon systems. This has implications for the Air Force, given the importance of the ongoing KC-46A program.

Sep 16, 2015
Project

An Interactive Look at the U.S.-China Military Scorecard

To advance the public debate, RAND Project AIR FORCE used open, unclassified sources to compile 'The U.S.-China Military Scorecard: Forces, Geography, and the Evolving Balance of Power.' Use this interactive graphic to explore the operational areas covered in the report.

Sep 14, 2015
Commentary

U.S. Needs Larger Army, Not a Smaller One

To meet potential challenges in the Baltics and Korea while at the same time countering the existing terror threat posed by the Islamic State group and dealing with other problems that will doubtless emerge, the United States would need more troops, not less.

Sep 9, 2015
Commentary

Apply Principles of Professional Change Management to Acquisition Reform, or Risk Failure

If Congress enacts substantial changes to acquisition processes as part of the 2016 National Defense Authorization Act, then it has a responsibility to ensure that the DoD has the opportunity and resources to implement proven change management principles to increase the chances for its success.

Aug 7, 2015
Commentary

Lessons from a Long History of Acquisition Reform

Congress and the DoD have a long history of efforts to improve the way weapon systems are acquired. Now, changes to DoD acquisition policies and processes are again being proposed in the House and Senate in an attempt to get needed military capabilities to soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines faster and cheaper.

Jul 17, 2015

Previous
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
Next