Air Force Manpower Determinants: Options for More-Responsive Processes

Abstract

The Air Force has long-standing processes and resources in place to develop determinants of the manpower required for Air Force activities. These processes often entail extensive measurement of work and workload in order to determine the appropriate relationships between workforce size and expected workloads. The validity of the derived relationships at the time they are developed is generally considered acceptable. However, the level of effort required to develop them is extensive. Given resource limitations, the processes currently in use are unable to keep up with the demand for new determinants and update of existing determinants necessitated by changes in mission and technology. Moreover, longstanding methods and conventions warrant periodic review to identify potentially more-accurate assessments of manpower needs. The purpose of this project is to identify and evaluate options to increase the responsiveness of these processes or, if sufficient options are not available, to depict the increased resources needed to meet the demand. The research reported here was commissioned by the Deputy Under Secretary of the Air Force, Management and the Deputy Chief of Staff for Manpower, Personnel, and Services, U.S. Air Force and conducted within the Manpower, Personnel, and Training Program of RAND Project AIR FORCE as part of a fiscal year 2018 project, Air Force Manpower Availability and Determinant Factors. This report should be of value to members of the Air Force human resource management community concerned with determination of manpower requirements and to commanders, functional managers, and others whose missions depend critically on appropriate sizing of their workforces.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2020
Accession Number
AD1103290

Entities

People

  • Alberta A. Robbert
  • David Schulker
  • Gary Massey
  • John S. Crown
  • Lisa M. Harrington
  • Louis T. Mariano
  • Paul Emslie
  • Sean Mann
  • Susan A. Resetar

Organizations

  • RAND Corporation

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Cyber
  • Engineered Resilient Systems
  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Business Administration
  • Computer Programming
  • Delphi Method
  • Employment
  • Engineers
  • Health Services
  • Industrial Engineering
  • Information Science
  • Information Systems
  • Management Personnel
  • Military Science
  • Organizational Structure
  • Personnel Management
  • Systems Engineering
  • Warfare

Fields of Study

  • Engineering

Readers

  • Aerospace logistics and air mobility.
  • Defense Acquisition Program Management
  • Naval Personnel Management