Beth E. Lachman

This report presents findings on the economic activity supported by total Army spending in each of the 435 congressional districts for fiscal years 2012-2014. Using input/output models, researchers estimated that in FY 2014, the Army directly spent approximately $121 million in the median congressional district (in 2012 dollars), translating into about 4,200 jobs and contributing to $375 million of economic output.

This study assesses whether Army policy, doctrine, and guidance adequately address environmental activities in post-conflict phases of contingencies. A review of policy, doctrine, operational experience, and documentation, as well as interviews with Army personnel, indicates that environmental concerns can have significant impacts.Recommendations are made for improving the Army's approach to environmental issues in contingency operations.It looks at the growing importance of environmental considerations for the Army in contingency operations, and recommendations for ways to better address environmental issues in Army planning, training, policy, guidance, and operations.

Assesses the homeland security implications of publicly available geospatial data and information. Following the attacks of September 11, 2001, many agencies within the federal government began restricting some of their publicly available geospatial data and information from such sources as the World Wide Web. As time passes, however, decisionmakers have begun to ask whether and how such information specifically helps potential attackers, including terrorists, to select U.S. homeland sites and prepare for better attacks. The research detailed in this book aims to assist decisionmakers tasked with the responsibility of choosing which geospatial information to make available and which to restrict.

Assesses the risks facing U.S. commercial remote sensing satellite firms and explores the U.S. policy and regulatory environment for these firms. American firms have begun to operate their own imaging satellite systems, aiming to become an important part of the U.S. commercial remote sensing industry. To succeed over the long run, these new U.S. commercial remote sensing satellite firms need a combination of reliable technologies, government policies that encourage U.S. industry competitiveness, a strong international presence, and sound business plans to ensure their competitiveness in both the domestic and international marketplaces. The greatest risks for the these firms come from the challenge of transforming themselves from imagery data providers to strong competitors as information age companies; the need to master the technical risks of building and operating sophisticated imaging satellite systems; and the requirement to operate effectively in a complex international business environment.In addition, the government's policymaking process has yet to achieve the degree of predictability, timeliness, and transparency that the firms need if they are expected to operate effectively in a highly competitive and rapidly changing global marketplace. The authors conclude with six recommendations that the U.S. Department of Commerce should adopt to best fulfill its responsibilities for promoting the U.S. commercial remote sensing industry and for encouraging the competitiveness of new private imaging satellite firms. (MP)

This report features case studies of four industry leaders and discusses how these companies view enviromental technology investments.

The U.S. Army has accepted risk in facility sustainment to maintain warfighting readiness, which can result in higher life-cycle costs because it increases the likelihood that facility components break earlier. To identify strategies and make recommendations for improving the allocation and execution of Army installation facility sustainment funding, the authors study practices in the Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, and public and private sectors.

In 2014, the RAND Arroyo Center conducted a formal needs assessment survey of active component soldiers and described the broad landscape of needs and resource use. Installations vary in several ways that can affect service delivery. This project analyzed existing survey data at the garrison level and gathered qualitative focus group data to provide unique information, enabling garrisons to see where they do well and where they have challenges.

The Army relies on commercial rail carriers for off-post rail movements, but it currently has three business models for on-post rail operations: government owned, government operated; government owned, contractor operated; and privatized. In this report, the authors evaluate the three business models and determine whether greater reliance on commercial rail assets could meet Army rail needs at a lower cost.

This report assesses water management, partnerships, rights, and market trends and opportunities, and how Army installations can potentially use them to improve programs and investments in water and wastewater systems. It provides examples from across the United States, along with detailed case studies of two states and two Army installations, and recommends ways to improve installation water security, programs, and infrastructure investments.

This research seeks to help the U.S. Air Force (USAF) understand the implications for future operations in the Nevada Test and Training Range (NTTR) of Desert National Wildlife Refuge (DNWR) land that overlaps the NTTR. The USAF and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) co-manage this land, and some of it is proposed wilderness. The proposed wilderness designation can restrict some desired Air Force activities.

The Global Force Management Data Initiative was launched to improve aggregation of unclassified force-structure data. Aggregation, though, raised concerns about classification because the system might be attractive to a potential adversary. The authors develop a framework for evaluating classification decisions to determine that, while overall classification is not indicated, the inclusion of some data will require careful consideration.

An installation sustainability plan (ISP) documents long-range plans that address mission, community, and environmental issues developed through a strategic planning process. RAND Arroyo Center examined the experiences of Army installations with sustainability planning and made recommendations to help foster the effective development and implementation of ISPs throughout the Army.

This monograph assesses the effectiveness of DoD's Readiness and Environmental Protection Initiative to help testing and training installations deal with encroachment from sprawl and other sources.The authors identify the main causes of encroachment; detail the benefits, both to the military and local communities, of buffering areas near installations with REPI projects; and provide recommendations for how to improve REPI's effectiveness.It assesses the effectiveness of DoD's Readiness and Environmental Protection Initiative in helping military installations develop partnerships to address encroachment with buffering projects on non-military lands.

Like many large organizations, the Department of Defense (DoD) faces a serious challenge as it attempts to balance its efforts to pursue core military, financial, and environmental goals. Over the last 15 years, DoD and other large, complex, global organizations have turned increasingly to "proactive environmental management" to balance such competing goals more successfully. By looking beyond simple compliance with environmental regulations, proactive approaches give these organizations strategic flexibility. But such approaches are difficult to implement. The authors first summarize analyses of how commercial firms have implemented proactive approaches in areas of environmental management relevant to (1) weapon system design, (2) provision of central logistics, (3) integrated base management, and (4) management of environmental cleanup, then draw implications for DoD's environmental management efforts in these areas.The authors propose an approach to implementation based on total quality management, recommending that DoD use commercially developed TQM templates, which have been customized for application to sophisticated environmental management systems, to define and monitor the details of this implementation effort.

Commercial facilities have discovered that pursuing integrated, facilitywide approaches to environmental management is good for the environment and makes good business sense. Direct benefits can include cost savings, increased operational flexibility, and improved public image. But despite the benefits, implementation can be difficult, as Department of Defense (DoD) installations have discovered while trying such integrated approaches. Commercial facilities similar to DoD installations offer insights about how to implement integrated approaches successfully. Demonstrated success factors include getting and sustaining high-level leadership support for change until change is complete, which will take time; implementing an effective environmental management system, often based on an international environmental management standard, ISO 14001, throughout the organization; establishing proactive environmental goals and activities with clear relationships to the organization's core values and mission; training and motivating personnel; using creative environmental assessment and priority setting techniques; developing good relationships with all stakeholders.The commercial lessons offered here can help DoD and other organizations implement integrated facilitywide approaches to environmental management. (PG)