Sean Mann

This report examines the use of the Commander's Emergency Response Program (CERP) in Afghanistan. It explores the effectiveness of CERP in supporting tactical operations in Afghanistan during the counterinsurgency-focused 2010-2013 time frame using both qualitative and quantitative methods and describes CERP's origins, history, and existing research on the effectiveness of CERP in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Most U.S. Air Force (USAF) medical personnel care for patients with ailments far less complex or urgent than the trauma-related injuries they would see in war, and the USAF must ensure that these personnel receive the training and experience they need for high-casualty environments. The authors present findings, recommendations, and a prototype framework to suggest readiness activities and policies that could be employed to prepare personnel for war.

The U.S. Department of the Air Force (DAF) must develop and sustain mission-critical knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) among airmen, guardians, and civilians. Yet training and education is costly. This report describes how computational cognitive models can deliver personalized and adaptive training that enhanced learning gains and reduced training time for mission-critical KSAs, with emphasis on second-language learning, for the DAF.

The authors examine the process the Air Force uses to determine manpower requirements, compare it with processes used in other services and organizations, and evaluate options for increasing the efficiency of the Air Force process.

This report examines U.S. Army security cooperation (SC) processes in the Pacific Command area of responsibility to forge stronger links between strategic and tactical levels in the planning and execution of SC activities. Researchers developed a framework to link tactical-level SC activities with strategic goals and found ways to identify information requirements for units executing SC activities and improve evaluations of SC events.

In this report, RAND researchers analyze options to improve the sustainability of security sector assistance (SSA) in the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) area of responsibility, deriving insights from the development community. They recommend changes to overall SSA structures and specific practices to enhance the sustainability of partner capacity gains.

The United States has sought to combat security threats in Africa principally by supporting partner governments, and security sector assistance (SSA) has been one of the primary tools it has used. A RAND Corporation study used statistical models to evaluate the impact that U.S.-provided SSA has had on political violence in Africa--in particular, the incidence of civil wars and insurgencies, terrorist attacks, and state repression.

Without stabilization, successful warfighting often does not produce desired political outcomes. Yet warfighters are not the most capable actors for many stabilization tasks. This report supports Department of Defense efforts to update its stabilization guidance by assessing recent history and evaluating the roles for the U.S. military and its ability to execute them in conjunction with interagency and other key partners.

This report presents findings from an examination of six historical case studiesa "in Iraq, Jordan, Pakistan, the Philippines, Uganda, and Yemena "in which the mission of special operations forces in each of the six countries transitioned over time to include some level of inclusion in the U.S. embassya (TM)s Security Cooperation Office, with a focus on what lessons these experiences offer for the transition of SOF in Afghanistan.