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In the past, the space domain was treated as a sanctuary — there was little emphasis on warfighting or tracking readiness to do so. But today the U.S. military and the Air Force expect a contested, denied, or operationally limited space environment, and it is important that all contributors to space operations — military, civilian, and contractors — are trained and ready to face these challenges. The Air Force has systems to track the readiness of operational military units, but no equivalent readiness information exists for contractors and the missions they perform to support space operations. The authors of this report reviewed contractor personnel tracking in Air Force databases, examined contractor information for two Air Fore Space Command (AFSPC) squadrons, and interviewed subject matter experts within these two squadrons and at Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC). The authors find that contractors contribute substantially to Air Force space mission, and they provide recommendations on how the Air Force can better monitor the readiness of these personnel.

Space warfare --- United States. --- Operational readiness

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"The Air Force is placing increased emphasis on managing its airmen as a total force. Yet many aspects of personnel management are conducted within the confines of a particular component whether active, guard, or reserve. As a result, when personnel policies are implemented in one component, little is known or considered about the effect that those policies might have on personnel flows into and out of other components. The degree to which this is important varies by career field, so examination of such concerns must be conducted not only at an aggregate level but also for individual specialties. Total force personnel management requires tools that provide managers with insight on personnel flows across components and how those flows are affected by personnel policies that lead to changes in accessions, retention, affiliation, and retirements. With a view toward shaping the future force size and mix from a total force perspective, the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Manpower and Reserve Affairs (SAF/MR) asked RAND Project AIR FORCE (PAF) to help improve Air Force capability to analyze and capitalize on military personnel flows across the total force. In response to this request, RAND developed a component flow model described in this report. The model's description and capabilities will be of interest to manpower and personnel managers and analysts both in and outside the Air Force"--Publisher's website.

United States. --- United States. --- Personnel management --- Data processing. --- Reserves --- Personnel management --- Data processing.

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Determining manpower requirements is an important function of Air Force personnel management organizations. The Air Force has long had a detailed and complex process for accomplishing it. The Air Force asked RAND Project AIR FORCE to examine this process and to identify and evaluate options to increase its efficiency. The authors compared the process with equivalent processes in other services, local government, and industry, examining the literature and conducting interviews with practitioners. They also evaluated Air Force data and observed Air Force workshops and other activities. For example, the authors examined how manpower standards are set and applied to determine manning for various units, including such issues as availability and the effects of deployments. Among their findings were that the process lacks feedback loops to determine whether the standards are adequate and that the management engineering workforce is mostly nontechnical, with limited analytical education and expertise. The authors also found that manpower standards have minimal effect on resource programming, being applied mainly when first set but, even then, applying mostly to authorizations unlikely to be funded. The report also offers suggestions for ways to improve modeling of manpower standards, endorsing a survey approach similar to the one the Navy uses.

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The Department of the Air Force (DAF) promulgates directives, memorandums of instructions, and other guidance embracing the importance of diversity. Indeed, DAF Senior Leadership is on record stating that diversity is a mission imperative. Yet, demographic data have been masked for most boards making decisions about career development and promotions. The DAF wanted to assess the efficacy of making demographic data visible to board members. The 2021 Central Professional Military Education Program (CPME) Boards provided an opportunity to test the effects of unmasking the data to board members. In addition, the DAF implemented two other diversity and inclusion–related changes for the 2021 CPME board: (1) board members underwent unconscious bias training, and (2) instructions to board members concerning consideration of race, ethnicity, and gender were modified. In this report, the authors present the results of analyses comparing the 2020 outcomes (before the changes in guidance) with the 2021 outcomes (after the changes). In conducting this research, the project team used a mixed-methods approach. Specifically, the team analyzed board inputs and selection outcomes for the 2020 CPME board (before the changes) and 2021 CPME board (after the changes) to assess the effects on the selection likelihood for minority versus nonminority members; conducted semistructured interviews with 2020 and 2021 board members to learn about their experiences and how they interpreted and applied the new instructions to illuminate the quantitative patterns in the data; and reviewed relevant literature to identify trends that might assist the DAF in implementing the proposed changes.

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The U.S. Air Force (USAF) has a goal of reducing the life cycle operating and support (O&S) costs of the F-35A. Maintenance manpower is a significant driver of O&S costs, and consolidation and reorganization of maintenance career fields could reduce manpower and training costs. Such consolidations might also apply to other objectives, including reducing aircraft downtime due to maintenance, improving combat resiliency, and developing a maintenance workforce that can be employed in leaner, more-mobile adaptive basing concepts. The authors of this report evaluate the costs and benefits of six F-35A maintenance manpower force structures that merge maintenance career fields in different ways, including two alternatives that are being explored by the USAF at the time of publication: the Blended Operational Lightning Technician (BOLT) and the Lightning Integrated Technician (LIT). In addition to quantifying impacts to O&S costs if merged Air Force Specialty (AFS) concepts are adopted, the authors discuss the applicability of such concepts to future basing concepts and identify implementation challenges. The analysis finds that some—but not all—merged AFS concepts offer the potential to increase readiness through increased sortie-generation capability or lower O&S costs through manpower efficiencies, but significant barriers to implementation exist. If the USAF adopts merged AFS concepts, only those that are aggressive mergers of career fields—such as BOLT and LIT—should be pursued. Additionally, before adopting merged career field concepts, the USAF should further explore implementation barriers identified in the analysis, particularly those related to maintainer proficiency and training.

F-35 (Military aircraft) --- Maintenance and repair. --- United States. --- United States. --- United States. --- Equipment --- Maintenance and repair. --- Personnel management.