RAND researchers compared military and civilian pay for 2016, following up on comparisons for 2009 and 1999, and assessed how recruit quality changed as military pay rose relative to civilian pay afte
Social-behavioral modeling is famously hard. This report examines shortcomings and obstacles—some inherent to complex adaptive systems broadly and some due to current methods and practices&mdash
This report focuses on the effectiveness of monetary incentives, known as special and incentive pays, for U.S. Special Operations Forces commissioned officer retention.
This report examines the Department of Homeland Security’s chemical and biological defense research and development portfolio to identify priorities for future investments to effectively address
This report analyzes China’s interests and behavior to evaluate both the recent history of its interactions with the postwar international order and possible future trajectories. It also draws implica
Every military activity has informational aspects, but the information environment (IE) is not well integrated into military planning, doctrine, or processes. Better understanding of the IE will impro
The report examines the cultural characteristics, primary institutional goals, and competitive strategies exhibited by the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and U.S. Special Operations Command.
This report explores the history and politics behind the post–Cold War history of defense reviews to understand how they evolved, what they can and cannot accomplish, and how the services and th
Empirically assesses how U.S. military presence—in particular, U.S. troop presence and military assistance—is associated with the interstate and intrastate conflict behavior of states and
A new report from RAND explores the views of key workers’ compensation stakeholders. The study presents challenges and priorities to be addressed in reforming workers’ compensation systems
This report recommends methods for comparing and contrasting alternative organizational concepts for command and control of joint air operations in the Pacific in different scenarios.
This report addresses the vulnerability to flooding, saltwater intrusion, and related issues in Southeast Florida and describes a model and decision support tool to help regional planners and decision
This report summarizes the results of a follow-on evaluation of the Department of Immigration and Border Protection and informs the upcoming transition to an Australian Department of Home Affairs.
This report examines the key drivers behind China’s strategic bomber flights throughout the Asia-Pacific region, and report recommends specific responses for consideration by the U.S. Air Force,
Analyzes how political warfare is practiced today and identifies the most effective ways that the U.S. government, along with its allies and partners, can respond to or engage in this type of conflict
This report aims to disseminate the findings—throughout the U.S. Air Force (USAF) and the wider U.S. security policymaking community—of a project on the nature of USAF and Pakistan Air For
The Office of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation is required to perform a broad set of cost analysis duties related to major defense acquisition programs but does not always have the resources to
This report addresses challenges for implementing new approaches to Air Force high-demand, high-attrition specialty recruiting, screening, and development processes, and takes a holistic approach to i
To assist Air Force efforts to prevent and respond to sexual assault, this report focuses on providing a better understanding of sexual assaults committed by airmen, including suspect characteristics
Religion has become increasingly important in the sociopolitical life of countries in the former Soviet Union. This volume of essays examines how religion affects conflict and stability in the region
This report describes the current defense planning process used by the U.S. Department of Defense, with a focus on how scenarios are developed and employed to support defense planning.
The authors review special and incentive pays and the potential to convert some into a wage differential, finding pays with an incentive to select a longer military obligation more cost-effective and
This report offers actions to improve the efficacy, effectiveness, and ability to plan for the future of the Department of Homeland Security Joint Requirements Council.
USAF leaders are concerned that their force presentation construct is lacking. This report presents historical analysis and recommendations to inform USAF deliberations regarding future force presenta
This report, part of RAND’s Gun Policy in America initiative, describes results from a survey of gun policy experts to identify where there are shared or divergent beliefs about gun policies and
