Miriam Matthews

This report reviews previous research on sexual assault against men and describes results from RAND researchers' interviews with military service providers and civilian experts. These interviews addressed victim needs, reporting, resources, public perceptions, outreach, and service provider training. The report concludes with recommendations for improving support to male sexual assault victims in the U.S. military.

The Air Force's special operations and combat support specialties in the enlisted force are among the highest in demand by the service yet have persistently high rates of attrition in initial skills training. This report addresses challenges for implementing new approaches to these high-demand, high-attrition specialties' recruiting, screening, and development processes, and takes a holistic approach to identifying methods to fill process gaps.

A top priority for Gen David Goldfein, chief of staff of the Air Force, is to revitalize the squadron as the warfighting core of the Air Force. The present study used a variety of data sources and interviews with 75 squadron, group, and wing commanders to develop recommendations for how the Air Force can do this by addressing squadron commander responsibilities, improving commander preparation, and refining resource monitoring.

This report documents the results of a qualitative study designed to better understand the factors that female Air Force officers consider when deciding whether to remain in the active duty Air Force. It describes the key retention factors identified through focus groups and provides recommendations for improving Air Force policies and programs to help address potential barriers and improve female officer retention.

The RAND Program Evaluation Toolkit for Countering Violent Extremism uses checklists, worksheets, and templates to help program staff design an evaluation that is appropriate for their program type, resources, and expertise and offers guidance on analyzing the resulting data to inform improvements. This report is a companion to the toolkit and provides background on its development and testing.

This report reviews various employment screening policies and procedures to assess how helpful these may be for Air Force sexual assault prevention efforts. Reviewed measures include self-reporting of behaviors, background checks, and personality tests. The report concludes with specific recommendations for improving existing Air Force procedures.

Integrating women into special operations forces poses potential challenges for unit cohesion. The integration of women raises issues of effectiveness, in terms of physical standards and ensuring the readiness, cohesion, and morale essential to high-performing teams. This report assesses those challenges and provides analytical support for validating occupational standards for positions controlled by U.S. Special Operations Command.

This report aims to assist the Air Force in its continued efforts to combat sexual assault perpetration within its ranks by examining the existing empirical literature on adult perpetrators who commit sexual assault against other adults, with a particular focus on research published in 2000 or later. The literature search focused on the current state of scientific knowledge and was not limited to studies focusing on military populations.

This report documents research focused on helping the Department of Defense build a more-systematic approach to hazing prevention and response. The report documents theory and research on the root causes of hazing and findings and recommendations regarding how best to define hazing, practices to prevent and respond to incidents of hazing, and how the armed forces can improve the tracking of hazing incidents.

The U.S. Department of Defense has struggled to assess the progress and effectiveness of its efforts to inform, influence, and persuade audiences in support of key national security objectives. Best practices and examples from a range of sectors can guide the assessment of these activities, ensuring that they support broader military campaign goals while saving time and limited resources.