Projecting Air Force Rated Officer Inventory Across the Total Force: Total Force Blue Line Model for Rated Officer Management
Abstract
The U.S. Air Force must carefully manage the flow of its rated officers into and out of the force. Traditionally, the Air Force has largely focused personnel management efforts on rated officers in the Regular Air Force, but many of the rated officer career fields in all three components are experiencing shortages in personnel, increases in demand and operational tempo, and a decline in retention. The reduction in the number of aircraft in the Air Force has further exacerbated an already complex personnel management issue, as there are fewer aircraft for training, which, in effect, restricts the number of rated officers the Air Force can train and the amount of experience gained by these officers during their careers. Thus, the Air Force needs to manage the rated officer force from a total life cycle perspective while accounting for the interactions across the Total ForceRegular Air Force, Guard, and Reserve. However, it has lacked the tools to do that in an integrated and effective manner. Moreover, other factors complicate management of the rated force. These factors include (1) the Total Force manned-aircraft pilot shortage, mostly felt in the fighter pilot career field; (2) increased hiring of military pilots by commercial airlines at rates never seen before, which is likely to continue for the next five to ten years; (3) a shortage of maintenance and career enlisted aviators; and (4) rapidly increasing demand for pilots in the emerging remotely piloted aircraft pilot career field. This report documents our efforts to develop a long-term career field planning model, the Total Force Blue Line model, which can be used to manage rated officers across the Total Force amid the current turbulence.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2019
- Accession Number
- AD1086552
Entities
People
- James H. Bigelow
- Jeremy M. Eckhause
- Michael Mcgee
- Paul Emslie
- Tara L. Terry
Organizations
- RAND Corporation