David Schulker

The personnel who operate remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) are crucial in the Air Force, but many in the RPA career field are dissatisfied, and it is difficult to train and retain enough pilots to meet the demand. To assist in building a healthy, sustainable RPA career field, RAND has developed a long-term RPA career field planning model. This report explains the model's main features, content, and data inputs and describes key technical aspects.

Despite the Air Force s efforts to create a force that mirrors the racial, ethnic, and gender differences of the nation s population, minority groups and women are underrepresented in the active-duty line officer population, especially at senior levels (i.e., colonel and above). This report examines the reasons for this, with the goal of identifying potential policy responses."

Comparisons of military wives with a group of similar civilian wives show that military wives have a greater tendency to be underemployed, even after controlling for labor market characteristics. However, there does not seem to be a strong link between their labor force position and satisfaction with their life situation, so the effects of underemployment among military spouses may not be as serious as previously thought.