Research for Modernization

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November 1, 1998
Since the inception of the All-Volunteer Force in 1973, the military personnel system has shown a remarkable ability to deal with a diverse range of challenges. The purpose of this paper is to examine the challenges ahead and propose how the military personnel system will have to adapt to continue to prosper. We start our discussion with a review of four potential problem areas in the future: demographic, economic, and social change; new military concepts and missions; the revolution in business affairs; and technology. Within these broad areas, we focus on specific issues and the challenges they could present for the current military personnel system. The paper also identifies four areas that need major reforms to meet these challenges: recruiting, career management, compensation, and training.
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March 1, 1996
This research memorandum is part of a study sponsored by the Commander, Seventh Fleet, to assess the security environment of the Asia-Pacific Region (APR) between now and 2010. It focuses on the most probable evolutionary trends for China during this period. China's emergence as a major regional power will be one of the principal factors affecting the security, politics, and economies of Asia and the Pacific between now and 2010. The forces shaping China's emergence are primarily internal, but include such important external factors as Beijing s perceptions of the intentions of its neighbors and of the United States. Much of the uncertainty about China's future course and impact on the region center on whether, and how, China accepts the norms of the international systems that have grown since World War II - norms that have not yet been tested by the rapid rise in national power of a large non-Western country. Alternative scenarios emerging from the rapid changes underway in China could have widely varying implications for this and other issues.
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April 1, 1993
The Gulf War was an impressive demonstration of air power in action. Coalition air forces seized control of the air in the first hours, then devastated military facilities in Iraq and Iraqi forces in the field -- paving the way for the remarkable 100-hour victory by coalition ground forces. Airpower did not win the war by itself, but it was the foundation for projecting U.S. military power and overcoming numerical disadvantages on the ground. Airpower is likely to play a similar key role in the next major regional conflict. Thus, the U.S. must maintain its superiority in airpower despite rising costs and declining budgets. The issues are complex and controversial, but ignoring issues will not make them go away. This paper discusses policy and concept issues that need debate and examines two broad strategies for dealing with affordability problems.
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