Harry J. Thie

As part of a broader research effort examining officer education and development in joint matters, the authors use data analysis and complex modeling to identify billets that that provide and/or require joint experience; and determine whether there are sufficient numbers of officers with joint experience to fill such billets.

The nature of recent challenges and the types of missions the U.S. Department of Defense has undertaken highlight the need for it to consider ways to help the military prepare to work with other government agencies, international organizations, private and non governmental organizations, and foreign militaries. Current training programs aimed at headquarters staffs need to be revamped to focus on high-priority tasks that are amenable to training.Integrated operations require the U.S. military to work with other government agencies, organizations, and foreign militaries. Current headquarter-staff training needs to be revamped to focus on high-priority tasks.

The Department of Defense has suggested that "blending" active component and reserve component workforces in military units must be implemented more broadly for a more flexible, capable force. This report examines existing organizational designs that facilitate integration of the reserve and active workforces, to ascertain whether changed personnel management practices are needed to further implement these designs.

Can the U.S. military better meet its personnel needs by allowing more recruits to enter laterally into military service from civilian life? The U.S. military constantly evaluates its personnel system to find optimal ways to obtain the types of personnel to execute its missions most efficiently. Will it get better results if it expands its program to allow civilians with appropriate education and experience to enter the military laterally? The authors analyzed occupations in the Army, Air Force, and Navy and concluded that pursuing a policy of large-scale lateral entry did not show promise. They recommended that the Army and Navy leave their lateral entry programs intact for possible expansion, should future conditions warrant it.

The relationships among stakeholders involved in manpower, personnel, and training processes for managing the U.S. Navy information systems technician rating are discussed. The authors examine the effects of these different stakeholders on efficiency and effectiveness measures for the information technician community in general and the Consolidated Afloat Networks and Enterprise Services program specifically.

"Prepared for the Office of the Secretary of Defense."

Sending officers to graduate schools is costly to the services. While officers incur specific service requirements in return, does that recoup the investment? The authors found that, in the U.S. Navy, breaking even financially is not always realistic. But the skills and general knowledge that officers gain in the process extend the value of their degrees beyond their majors, particularly in careers leading to flag rank.

Analyses of data on service academy entrants show that, although the percentages of women and nonwhite entrants have increased, these groups tend to graduate and complete their initial service obligation at lower rates than their counterparts. However, in recent cohorts, these groups showed improved graduation rates. The study resulted in several recommendations for the U.S. Department of Defense to support service efforts to increase diversity.

The computer networks, systems, and applications used on Navy ships are an amalgam of disparate hardware and software systems that were developed and introduced onboard largely independent from one another. This report assesses the manpower, personnel, and training implications associated with the introduction of the Consolidated Afloat Networks and Enterprise Services (CANES)--a common computing environment--to U.S. Navy ships.

This research, part of a larger project examining the preparation and support of leaders in the medical field, evaluates the need for and feasibility of qualifying health care officers as "joint" officers. An extensive policy review and assessment of data from the 2005 Joint Officer Management survey suggest that such officers are indeed serving in billets that need and provide joint duty experience for which they should receive credit.

To reduce costs and increase interoperability of the military services, a joint medical education and training campus is being established at Fort Sam Houston, Texas with a view to consolidating training across the services. A methodology is outlined for defining and implementing a common standard of practice for a given specialty and its use illustrated through an application to the medical surgical technologist specialty.

Constrained budgets and increasing costs have forced the U.S. Navy to search for ways to reduce the annual operating costs of the fleet. One expensive driver of those costs is underway training of surface combatant ship crews. Focusing on the DDG-51 Arleigh Burkeclass of surface combatants, RAND examines whether and how increased use of simulators could be substituted for underway training without any decrease in readiness.The U.S. Navy is looking for ways to reduce the annual operating costs of the fleet. RAND examines whether and how an increased use of simulators could reduce costly underway training days for DDG-51class ships while sustaining readiness.

This title presents the results of a short-term review of 27 publicly available manpower studies to discover methods that other organizations could use to make fiscally informed manpower decisions. The studies exhibit varying methods for determining manpower requirements; however, the method used may not be as important as other attributes, such as the direct involvement of a senior decision maker.

An analysis of whether the Department of Defense manpower, resources, and personnel systems are aligned to provide the personnel inventory necessary to meet changing military readiness and operational requirements effectively and efficiently.

Outlines a strategic approach to reserve joint officer management that addresses the requirements for, and the supply of, joint officers and also accounts for the unique constraints and challenges involved in joint officer management for reserve active status list officers. The authors estimate the supply of joint reserve officers and make several recommendations to help implement this strategic approach.

Many of the laws and policies that govern officer career management (often referred to as "DOPMA," after the Defense Officer Personnel Management Act of 1980) may not meet the requirements of the future operating environment. One criticism of DOPMA is that it does not allow for much variety in career paths because it is time-driven. The authors demonstrate how a competency-based system could provide more flexibility in preparing officers for the wide-ranging roles and missions of the 21st century military.

The Department of Defense has an identified need to update the practice, policy, and law applied to Joint Officer Management and Joint Professional Military Education. As a lead-in to this study, the 2005 Joint Officer Management Census survey polled officers serving in billets. The authors examine the extent to which officers believe their jobs provide them with joint experience or require joint education or experience and examine how respondents' answers differ across organizations.