Agnes Gereben Schaefer

Assessing the Implications of Allowing Transgender Personnel to Serve Openly

Abstract : U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) policies have rendered both the physical and psychological aspects of transgender conditions as disqualifying conditions for accession and allow for the administrative discharge of service members who fall into these categories. However, in July 2015, Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter announced that DoD would create a working group to study the policy and readiness implications of welcoming transgender persons to serve openly. In addition, he directed that decision authority in all administrative discharges for those diagnosed with gender dysphoria1 or who identify themselves as transgender be elevated to the Under Secretary of Defense (Personnel and Readiness), who will make determinations on all potential separations (DoD, 2015b).It is against this backdrop that DoD is considering allowing transgender personnel to serve openly. To assist in identifying the potential implications of such a change in policy, the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness asked the RAND National Defense Research Institute to conduct a study to (1) identify the health care needs of the transgender population, transgender service members potential health care utilization rates, and the costs associated with extending health care coverage for transition-related treatments; (2) assess the potential readiness implications of allowing transgender service members to serve openly; and (3) review the experiences of foreign militaries that permit transgender service members to serve openly. This report documents the findings from that study. This research should be of interest to DoD and military service leadership, members of Congress, and others who are interested in the potential implications of allowing transgender personnel to serve openly in the U.S. armed forces.

Strategies to improve global influenza surveillance: A decision tool for policymakers

BackgroundGlobal pandemic influenza preparedness relies heavily on public health surveillance, but it is unclear that current surveillance fully meets pandemic preparedness needs.MethodsWe first developed a conceptual framework to help systematically identify strategies to improve the detection of an early case or cluster of novel human influenza disease during the pre-pandemic period. We then developed a process model (flow diagram) depicting nine major pathways through which a case in the community could be detected and confirmed, and mapped the improvement strategies onto this model. Finally, we developed an interactive decision tool by building quantitative measures of probability and time into each step of the process model and programming it to calculate the net probability and time required for case detection through each detection pathway. Input values for each step can be varied by users to assess the effects of different improvement strategies, alone or in combination. We illustrate application of the tool using hypothetical input data reflecting baseline and 12-month follow-up scenarios, following concurrent implementation of multiple improvement strategies.ResultsWe compared outputs from the tool across detection pathways and across time, at baseline and 12-month follow up. The process model and outputs from the tool suggest that traditional efforts to build epidemiology and laboratory capacity are efficient strategies, as are more focused strategies within these, such as targeted laboratory testing; expedited specimen transport; use of technologies to streamline data flow; and improved reporting compliance. Other promising strategies stem from community detection – better harnessing of electronic data mining and establishment of community-based monitoring.ConclusionOur practical tool allows policymakers to use their own realistic baseline values and program projections to assess the relative impact of different interventions to improve the probability and timeliness of detecting early human cases or clusters caused by a novel influenza virus, a possible harbinger of a new pandemic. Policymakers can use results to target investments to improve their surveillance infrastructure. Multi-national planners can also use the tool to help guide directions in surveillance system improvements more globally. Finally, our systematic approach can also be tailored to help improve surveillance for other diseases.

Implications of Integrating Women into USMC Infantry

Abstract : On January 24, 2013, the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff announced the rescission of the 1994 Direct Ground Combat Definition and Assignment Rule (DGCDAR). The effect of this decision will be consideration of opening previously closed occupationsincluding those within the United States Marine Corps (USMC) infantryto women who can meet validated occupation-specific, gender-neutral standards of performance. In response to this change in policy, the Marine Corps Combat Development Command asked RAND to help identify issues that may arise if women are integrated into the Marine Corps infantry, describe efforts that have been successful in addressing these issues in the past, and estimate the potential costs associated with integration. To do so, RAND researchers undertook four tasks: review of research on integration of women into ground combat and other physically demanding occupations, interviews with representatives of organizations in physically demanding occupations, estimate of the costs of potential initiatives to promote successful gender integration, and development of an approach for monitoring implementation of gender integration of the infantry. This brief summarizes the researchers findings on cohesion, critical mass, lessons learned from the experiences of foreign militaries as well as from U.S. fire and police departments, costs associated with integration, development of a monitoring framework, and cross-cutting implications and recommendations.

Defense Planning in a Time of Conflict: A Comparative Analysis of the 2001–2014 Quadrennial Defense Reviews, and Implications for the Army

Among the Key Trends for the Department of Defense: • The order of release of National Security Strategy, National Defense Strategy, and National Military Strategy reports shows a lack of orderly, top-down strategy development, and this irregular timing may be further complicating an already complicated QDR process. • Force-planning constructs were adapted over the successive QDRs to better address an increasingly complex portfolio of threats and challenges that required forces and capability development. However, only the 2010 QDR addressed the steady-state requirements of planned or potential smaller-scale contingency operations, while none of the QDRs addressed the potentially large ground force requirements for operations to eliminate weapons of mass destruction.

An Assessment of Fiscal Year 2013 Beyond Yellow Ribbon Programs

Abstract : The Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program (YRRP) is a Department of Defense (DoD) initiative established in 2008 to provide deployment cycle information, resources, programs, services, and referrals to reserve-component personnel and their families. YRRP offers a series of events for personnel and their families that occur throughout the deployment cycle, from predeployment, during deployment, and 30, 60, and 90 days postdeployment. These events provide information and services to support guard and reserve personnel and their families. The goals of the program are to maximize successful transitions as personnel move between their military and civilian roles and to create strong, resilient military families.1 In fiscal year (FY) 2011, Congress appropriated

Review of the Provision of Job Placement Assistance and Related Employment Services to Members of the Reserve Components

16 million to expand YRRP outreach and reintegration services across the country, and this supplemental appropriation has been termed Beyond Yellow Ribbon (BYR) funding. Initially, eight states were provided BYR supplemental funding (Colorado, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington), and in FY12 that number expanded to 12 states and one territory (adding Florida, Guam, Nevada, West Virginia, and Wyoming). In FY13, ten states received BYR funding (California, Colorado, Florida, Indiana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Oregon, Tennessee, Vermont, and Washington). States receiving BYR funding use this resource to provide a variety of support to personnel returning from deployment, including those related to employment, behavioral health counseling, and suicide prevention.

Hurricane Katrina: Lessons for Army Planning and Operations

Abstract : The Office of the Secretary of Defense asked RAND to conduct a congressionally mandated study, which, in Section 583 of the 2015 National Defense Authorization Act, requires that the Secretary of Defense . . . conduct a review of the feasibility of improving the efforts of the Department of Defense to provide job placement assistance and related employment services directly to members in the National Guard and Reserves. The aim of this study was to identify the current universe of federal employment programs and resources available to reserve component members, assess the gaps and overlaps in those programs and resources, and develop recommendations for how the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and the federal government as a whole can improve efforts to provide job placement assistance and related employment assistance to reserve component members. This study consisted of three tasks:(1) review the literature on federal job placement assistance and related employment services for reserve component members, (2) conduct informational discussions with managers of federal programs designed to provide job placement assistance and related employment services to reserve component members, and (3) assess the feasibility of improving DoD efforts to provide job placement assistance and related employment services to reserve component members. The study was carried out over the course of 11 weeks, from March 11, 2015, to May 27, 2015.This research should be of interest to federal policymakers, managers of federal employment programs, and others concerned with how to improve employment assistance to members of the reserve components.