Finding the balance between schoolhouse and on-the-job training / Thomas Manacapilli [et al.].

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Manacapilli, Thomas.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Aeronautics, Military--Study and teaching--United States.

Aeronautics, Military.

United States. Air Force. Air Education and Training Command--Evaluation.

United States.

Physical Description:

xxivi, 124 pages : illustrations

Place of Publication:

Santa Monica, CA : RAND Corporation, 2007.

Summary:

The Air Force typically trains 30,000 to 40,000 new airmen in some 300 specialties each year. It utilizes two methods for training its enlistees: centralized initial skills training (IST, or "schoolhouse" training) and decentralized on-the-job training (OJT). All too often, only IST costs are considered when "pricing" training, seriously underestimating the overall cost to train an airman. When all the costs are considered, including those of OJT, decisions related to the length of IST can be better informed. To determine the most cost-effective combination of IST and OJT, the authors developed a methodology based on a cost-benefit analysis of seven Air Force specialties. From a statistical analysis of data taken from surveys of senior enlisted personnel, they were able to assess how productivity changes when IST course length changes and to make recommendations concerning the IST course lengths that would produce the most productive airmen for the least possible cost.

Contents:

Introduction Review of the literature A survey to determine productivity and effectiveness Calculating total cost Cost-effective course lengths Recommendations and conclusions Appendix A: Air Force specialty code descriptions Appendix B: Survey instrument Appendix C: Defining "fully mission-effective" or "mission-ready" airmen Appendix D: Data cleaning Appendix E: Statistical results Appendix F: Productivity curves Appendix G: Comments on adding/deleting content from ISTAppendix H: Cost-productivity results for seven AFSCs