Air Force Manpower Requirements and Component Mix: A Focus on Agile Combat Support

Abstract : Processes for determining U.S. Air Force manpower requirements vary considerably across and within the variety of workforces employed to meet Air Force missions. The relevant workforces include active duty military personnel, full-time and part-time Air Force Reserve (AFR) and Air National Guard (ANG) military personnel, civilian employees, and contractors. Distinctive processes have been developed for quantifying needs for operational, maintenance, and non-maintenance agile combat support workforces. Prioritization among requirements is reached through the programming and budgeting processes of the Air Force Corporate Structure, but that structure depends on the development of manpower standards, manpower modeling, and other similar processes to identify the unconstrained manpower costs of executing and supporting various missions. Our primary focus in this report is on those quantitatively oriented manpower requirements processes and the extent to which they are validated, coordinated, and consistent. We also explore the qualitative side of personnel requirements, whereby, through specialty classification standards and other related processes, the required competencies of various workforces are specified.