Developing U.S. Army Officers' Capabilities for Joint, Interagency, Intergovernmental, and Multinational Environments

Abstract : Law, policy, and, most importantly, ongoing operations require the Department of Defense and the Army to develop a cadre of officers skilled in the integration of joint, interagency, intergovernmental, and multinational (JIIM) capabilities into military operations. The Army is responsible for developing the specific officer management policies to provide enough officers with the right capabilities to meet this demand. Developing such policies requires an understanding of the knowledge, skills, and abilities appropriate to the JIIM domains, identification of experiences that develop these capabilities, and assessment of the feasibility of different career paths in developing the required degree of proficiency. The U.S. Army Human Resources Command's Officer Personnel Management System (OPMS) Task Force is responsible for developing officer management policy to meet the needs of the future Army and future joint force. Consonant with that responsibility, the OPMS Task Force asked RAND Arroyo Center to identify and describe the knowledge, skills, and abilities required to integrate JIIM capabilities into full-spectrum operations and to develop a framework that will enable the Army to better track and manage the inventory of officers who possess these capabilities. Our research team combined job analysis with inventory modeling to determine what capabilities Army officers require in the JIIM domains, what jobs develop those capabilities, and whether the Army could produce enough officers with the right capabilities to meet anticipated future demand.