Air Force Officer Management Flexibilities Modeling Potential Policies

"The Air Force faces both internal and external challenges to move toward greater flexibility in managing its active-duty military workforce. The research underlying this report assessed the impact that proposed military human resource management flexibilities could have on Air Force officer accessions, promotions, separations, and other force management outcomes. The assessments identified flexibilities that would benefit the Air Force and characterized subsets of the military workforce to which they could be advantageously applied. Research included interviews with Air Force career field managers and developing and exercising optimization models to estimate the impacts of new flexibilities. The research examined policies, such as moving away from up-or-out separations following promotion nonselection, extending maximum career lengths from 30 to 40 years, and increasing the midcareer entries to the active officer force from either civilian or reserve status. The authors also estimated declines in promotion opportunity or, alternatively, additional grade ceilings required to avoid these impacts"--Publisher's description