Richard Hillestad

Documents a phase-one effort to develop new methods to help ensure that warfighter needs are adequately represented as the Air Force manages its programs and budget. Drawing on previous RAND work on capabilities-based planning and portfolio management, the authors outline a method that considers measures of combat effectiveness, as well as cost-effectiveness from multiple perspectives, in comparing options for accomplishing a given mission.

Efficient movement of freight within the United States and across its borders is a critical enabler of future U.S. economic growth. The authors provide an overview of the freight-transportation system and the problems it faces, concluding with a discussion of key system-modernization issues, including increasing capacity, making the system less vulnerable to disruption, addressing environmental concerns, and building support for funding.

In January 2004, the Military Health System (MHS) began implementation of the Armed Forces Health Longitudinal Technology Application (AHLTA), DoD's global electronic health record. AHLTA will ultimately be used by all providers in the military's direct care system at the point of care. The authors describe a four-part framework they recommend that DoD adopt in measuring AHLTA's contribution to MHS performance.

Because the U.S. Air Force does not have an effective way of allocating limited funding for depot-level repair across weapon systems and calculating the readiness implications of such allocations, this report describes a methodology, the Closed-Loop Planning System, that estimates the effect of depot repair funding allocations on aircraft availability.