Caolionn O'Connell

The military services are formalizing and bolstering their contribution to the nation's cyber force. This report identifies the number of Army reserve component (RC) personnel with cyber skills, to help identify ways in which these soldiers can be leveraged to conduct Army cyber operations. This report also describes the broader challenges and opportunities that the use of RC personnel presents.

RAND Arroyo Center explored how the U.S. Army might need to adapt its personnel management policies and practices to support the Regionally Aligned Forces concept. Authors estimated the scope and scale of the requirement for regional expertise; modeled the Army s current ability to produce soldiers with the required expertise; and identified changes to the personnel management system to develop and match such soldiers with appropriate positions."

This report describes commercial practices for cyber workforce management and organization, as determined from a literature review and interviews with reputable organizations that have similarities to the U.S. Air Force (USAF). These practices are applicable to USAF as it endeavors to improve the management of its cyber forces. The authors describe the basis for each practice, the benefits it conveys, and how it could be implemented by USAF.

In response to a requirement in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021, the authors examine the strengths and vulnerabilities of China's defense industrial base (DIB) by designing and applying a comparative analytic structure that could be used to assess any country's DIB. They assess six areas: economics; governance and regulations; research, development, and innovation; workforce, labor, and skills; manufacturing; and raw materials.

Policymakers have increased emphasis on national security risks deriving from globalization of weapon system supply chains. This report addresses the challenges the U.S. Air Force faces in mitigating the effects of these risks and suggests ways to improve how it addresses such risks in source selection and other decisions.

This report provides select results from a RAND Project AIR FORCE (PAF) project titled Reducing Operating and Support Costs for the Mobility Air Forces sponsored by AMC/A5/8 and AMC/A4. This report examines the cost and readiness implications of consolidating maintenance occupational specialties for new and legacy mobility fleets. Implications are derived from an assessment conducted for the KC-135 fleet.