Grace Falgoust

In line with the Department of the Air Force's (DAF's) objective of enhancing technical capabilities across its civilian workforce, the authors of this report address challenges in determining DAF's science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) talent needs for this workforce, such as tracking the supply of such talent and identifying potential gaps in technical competencies.

U. S. Air Force Special Warfare (AFSPECWAR) careers are among the most physically and mentally demanding jobs in the military, and finding potential recruits who are both qualified and motivated makes AFSPECWAR's recruiting mission particularly challenging. AFSPECWAR also has an arduous selection and training pipeline, which impacts recruiting goals and objectives. The report authors identify ways to improve AFSPECWAR recruiting practices.

This research on National Guard Youth ChalleNGe--a residential, quasi-military program for people aged 16-18 at risk of not completing high school--and Job ChalleNGe--a continuation program focused on job training and workplace acculturation--integrates the perspective of ChalleNGe staff and participants and leverages national demographic data and state education and labor data to provide insights for program leadership to use in decisionmaking.