Kristin Van Abel

This report summarizes the findings of research on U.S. and other armed forces' capabilities in the Arctic, the extent to which non-U.S. entities are operating where U.S. forces cannot, and how those operations might affect U.S. national interests. The authors found that the United States is lacking in capacity and, to a lesser extent, capability and that this creates risk for U.S. security.

The Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) is designed to enhance security at U.S. ports. It demonstrates that the holder has passed a Transportation Security Administration security threat assessment and is required of anyone with unescorted access to a secure area at a regulated facility. This report provides the findings from an assessment of the TWIC program, along with the assessors' recommendations.

For the purposes of capability development planning, RAND Project AIR FORCE focuses on analytical methods that can be used for decisionmaking under conditions of deep uncertainty about the future threat environment, rate of technological advancement, and budgeting. Such methods can also inform investment trades across warfighting domains and functional areas, as well as other responsibilities of the Air Force Warfighting Integration Capability.

To explore lessons learned from nondeclared-disaster events, researchers explain six case studies from diverse community contexts, considering innovations that support recovery in underserved communities and metrics for assessing nonprofits' role in socioeconomic recovery. Recommendations address data limitations with near- and longer-term efforts to capture nonprofits' activities and roles through systematic qualitative and quantitative methods.

In 2018, law enforcement agencies gained access to a national, interoperable first responder broadband communications network that was supposed to result in simple solutions for interoperability. For various reasons, this has not happened. In this report, RAND researchers present practical knowledge to inform agencies about available broadband options and opportunities, governance issues, funding options, costs, and barriers to implementation.

he authors of this report consider the exposure of Department of the Air Force (DAF) installations to flooding, high winds, and wildfires?hazards that have affected DAF installations in the recent past. The authors characterize exposure using three different types of data: base boundaries, geospatial data on airfield and select electric power infrastructure that supports DAF installations, and publicly available data on natural hazards.

This report documents a research project that focused on identifying priority potential Arctic capability gaps with respect to U.S. Coast Guard operations in the region in the present and in the 2030s. It is becoming increasingly important to determine how to operate in the region, given changing conditions and the potential for increasing activity that will drive demand for more frequent U.S. government presence across a spectrum of roles.

The government of Puerto Rico submitted a recovery plan to Congress in 2018 describing a strategic approach to recover from the 2017 hurricane destruction. HSOAC input provides a summary of damage to public buildings and the basis for 12 courses of action to repair hurricane damage and modernize the public building infrastructure to increase resilience to natural hazards, improve energy efficiency, and improve functionality and user experience.

The U.S. Coast Guard's motto is Semper Paratus--always ready. But for what? This report describes an approach to developing scenarios to aid in decisionmaking under deep uncertainty through the Evergreen strategic foresight initiative. The scenarios presented here focus on readiness, but the approach can be adapted for other contexts.

The Air Force lacks a comprehensive tool or methodology for integrated deployment planning that can rapidly explore trade-offs among capability (or risk), speed, and cost to achieve lean force packages for use in contested, degraded, and operationally limited environments. This report describes a methodology and prototype tool--called the Lean Strategic Tool for the Analysis of Required Transportation (Lean-START)--that fills the void.

This report examines potential transformations that could alter Russia's current cooperative stance in the Arctic. It analyzes current security challenges related to climate and geography, economy, territorial claims, and military power, suggests some ways in which these could undermine Arctic cooperation, and offers recommendations for the U.S. government to manage the risks to cooperation.

The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) sought to determine whether any administrative activities paid for with funding that was not congressionally appropriated could be consolidated and, if so, whether consolidation would save costs. A DoD task force listed several areas for improvement, ranging from contracting to information technology. RAND reviewed the work of the task force and assessed specific recommendations."