Hugh G. Massey

Processes for determining U. S. Air Force manpower requirements vary across and within the workforces. The primary focus of this report is on quantitative manpower requirements processes and the extent to which they are validated, coordinated, and consistent. For wartime or deployment needs, this report seeks to determine if a common-sight picture of demands is available, particularly for non-operational, non-maintenance activities referred to as agile combat support. It also explores the qualitative side of personnel requirements.

Estimating Air Force manpower requirements can be more complex--both in methodology and policy--for scenarios less extensive than the traditional two theater wars. The Air Force is reexamining how it plans its manpower resources, especially for scenarios less extensive than the tracitional two major theater wars. This report presents and demonstrates a methodology RAND developed to assist in this process, drawing lessons from the recent Total Force Assessment. Among the lessons are the need to beware of double-counting and the wisdom of improving quality control, accountability, and auditing trails.

Analyzes the Air Force's seven medical and professional officer corps the Biomedical Sciences Corps, the Chaplain Corps, the Dental Corps, the Judge Advocate General Corps (attorneys), the Medical Corps (physicians), the Medical Service Corps, and the Nurse Corps with regard to end strengths, accession levels, promotion flow, and attrition since the late 1970s. Recent accession and retention trends have been most adverse in the Nurse Corps."

The Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC) develops, acquires, and maintains most Air Force systems and is tailoring its workforce to adapt to changes in technology, weapons, and battlefield requirements. This volume is a practical guide to the main steps in analytical workforce planning and development: determining workforce demand, describing workforce supply, comparing the demand with the supply, and implementing solutions.

Air Force units have found differences between authorized and actual numbers of personnel, partly because of deployments. Using historical and other data and interviews, the authors assessed the wing-level effects of these disparities including skill levels and personnel tempo. The recommendations include improvements in manpower bookkeeping and requirement determination, use of dynamic simulation models, and implementation of suitable metrics.