Evaluating alternative maintenance manpower force structure concepts for the F-35A / Anna Jean Wirth, Thomas Light, Daniel M. Romano, Shane Tierney, Ronald G. McGarvey, Moon Kim, Michael J. Lostumbo, Amanda Nguyen, Paul Emslie, John G. Drew.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Wirth, Anna Jean.

Contributor:

Light, Thomas (Economist)

Romano, Daniel M.

Tierney, Shane.

McGarvey, Ronald G.

Kim, Moon, Dr.

Lostumbo, Michael.

Nguyen, Amanda.

Emslie, Paul.

Drew, John G., 1956-

Project Air Force (U.S.). Resource Management Program.

Rand Corporation.

United States. Air Force.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

United States. Air Force--Equipment--Maintenance and repair.

United States.

United States. Air Force--Personnel management.

United States. Air Force.

F-35 (Military aircraft)--Maintenance and repair.

F-35 (Military aircraft).

Armed Forces--Equipment and supplies--Maintenance and repair.

Armed Forces--Personnel management.

Personnel management.

Physical Description:

xiv, 99 pages : illustrations ; 28 cm

Place of Publication:

Santa Monica, CA : RAND, [2020]

Summary:

The U.S. Air Force (USAF) has a goal of reducing the life cycle operating and support (O&S) costs of the F-35A. Maintenance manpower is a significant driver of O&S costs, and consolidation and reorganization of maintenance career fields could reduce manpower and training costs. Such consolidations might also apply to other objectives, including reducing aircraft downtime due to maintenance, improving combat resiliency, and developing a maintenance workforce that can be employed in leaner, more-mobile adaptive basing concepts. The authors of this report evaluate the costs and benefits of six F-35A maintenance manpower force structures that merge maintenance career fields in different ways, including two alternatives that are being explored by the USAF at the time of publication: the Blended Operational Lightning Technician (BOLT) and the Lightning Integrated Technician (LIT). In addition to quantifying impacts to O&S costs if merged Air Force Specialty (AFS) concepts are adopted, the authors discuss the applicability of such concepts to future basing concepts and identify implementation challenges. The analysis finds that some-but not all-merged AFS concepts offer the potential to increase readiness through increased sortie-generation capability or lower O&S costs through manpower efficiencies, but significant barriers to implementation exist. If the USAF adopts merged AFS concepts, only those that are aggressive mergers of career fields-such as BOLT and LIT-should be pursued. Additionally, before adopting merged career field concepts, the USAF should further explore implementation barriers identified in the analysis, particularly those related to maintainer proficiency and training.

Contents:

Machine generated contents note: 1. Introduction

Objective

Approach

Outline of This Report

2. Approaches for Organizing and Training F-35A Maintainers

Baseline F-35A Maintenance AFS Concept

F-35A Experimental AFS Concepts Being Tested by USAF

PAF-Developed AFS Concepts

Summary of AFS Concepts

3. Technical School Times and Costs Under Alternative Air Force Specialty Concepts

Technical School Times Under the Current F-35A Training Concept

Technical School Times for Merged AFS Concepts

Technical School Costs

Assumptions and Caveats of This Analysis

4. Maintainer Availability Under Alternative Maintenance Manpower Force Structure Concepts

Estimating Maintainer Availability Under the Baseline F-35A AFS Concept

Maintainer Availability Under AFS Consolidation Concepts

Adjusting for Retention Rates

Caveats of This Analysis

5. Sortie-Generation Capability and Costs of Alternative AFS Concepts

How LCOM Is Used in This Analysis

Findings from the LCOM Manpower Analysis

Some Merged AFS Concepts Offer the Opportunity for Manpower Savings, Even When Availability Reductions Due to Training Are Considered

If Some Merged AFS Concepts Are Adopted, O&S Costs Can Decrease

6. Performance of Merged AFS Concepts Under Alternative Combat Operational Concepts

The Threat to Air Bases

USAF Adaptation to the Threat

7. Implementation Challenges of Merged AFS Concepts

Methodology

Implementation Challenges

8. Summary of Conclusions and Recommendations

Conclusions

Recommendations.

Notes:

Title from PDF document (title page; viewed August 31, 2020).

"RAND Project AIR FORCE."

"Prepared for the United States Air Force."

"The research was conducted within the Resource Management Program of RAND Project AIR FORCE"--Preface (page iii).

Includes bibliographical references (pages 94-99).

ISBN:

9781977405340

1977405347

OCLC:

1198249867