C O R P O R A T I O N KIRSTEN M. KELLER, DAVID E. THALER, KATHLEEN REEDY, CAROLINE BAXTER, RYAN HABERMAN, WILLIAM MACKENZIE, MIRIAM MATTHEWS, PHILLIP PADILLA, YULIYA SHOKH Human Aspects of Air Force Operations The Roles of Social, Cultural, and Political Knowledge and Skill in the Full Spectrum of Multidomain Operations For more information on this publication, visit www.rand.org/t/RR3221 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available for this publication. ISBN: 978-1-9774-0548-7 Published by the RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, Calif. © Copyright 2020 RAND Corporation R® is a registered trademark. Cover image: DVIDS/Staff Sgt. Patrick Evenson Limited Print and Electronic Distribution Rights This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law. This representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for noncommercial use only. Unauthorized posting of this publication online is prohibited. Permission is given to duplicate this document for personal use only, as long as it is unaltered and complete. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of its research documents for commercial use. For information on reprint and linking permissions, please visit www.rand.org/pubs/permissions. The RAND Corporation is a research organization that develops solutions to public policy challenges to help make communities throughout the world safer and more secure, healthier and more prosperous. RAND is nonprofit, nonpartisan, and committed to the public interest. RAND’s publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors. Support RAND Make a tax-deductible charitable contribution at www.rand.org/giving/contribute www.rand.org Preface Countering emerging threats is not based solely on defeating a nation-state’s military forces by conventional, kinetic means. Fundamentally, these threats are met by understanding and manipulating the human aspects that drive the adversary’s ideological narrative within the target population and are an important consideration in influencing their actions. For example, as Russian manipulation of American social media and Chinese use of information warfare demonstrate, understanding how local populations and foreign governments will read and react to different stimuli is essential to operating in the competition space These types of threats demand that the U.S. military understand the human aspects of military. operations, or the social, cultural, physical, informational, and psychological elements that determine our partner nations’ and adversaries’ motivations, thinking, influence, activities, and recruitment. This report explores whether there is a need for a joint warfighting domain focused on human aspects of military operations and considers how sociocultural knowledge and skills related to human aspects of war could be better integrated into conventional Air Force multi-domain operations. The research reported here was commissioned by Air Force Special Operations Command and conducted within the Manpower, Personnel, and Training Program of RAND Project AIR FORCE as part of a fiscal year 2018 project, “Integrating the Human Domain into Air Force Multi-Domain Operations.” RAND Project AIR FORCE RAND Project AIR FORCE (PAF), a division of the RAND Corporation, is the Department of the Air Force’s (DAF’s) federally funded research and development center for studies and analyses. PAF provides the DAF with independent analyses of policy alternatives affecting the development, employment, combat readiness, and support of current and future air, space, and cyber forces. Research is conducted in four programs: Strategy and Doctrine; Force Modernization and Employment; Manpower, Personnel, and Training; and Resource Management. The research reported here was prepared under contract FA7014-16-D-1000. Additional information about PAF is available on our website: www.rand.org/paf/. This report documents work originally shared with the Department of the Air Force in September 2018. The draft report, issued on September 27, 2018, was reviewed by formal peer reviewers and DAF subject-matter experts. iii Contents Preface ........................................................................................................................................... iii Tables ............................................................................................................................................. vi Summary ....................................................................................................................................... vii Is There a Need for a Human Domain? ................................................................................... viii How Can the Air Force Improve Integration of Human Aspects into Multi-Domain Operations? ................................................................................................... ix Recommendations ...................................................................................................................... ix Acknowledgments ........................................................................................................................ xii Abbreviations .............................................................................................................................. xiii 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 1 The Human Element in U.S. Military Concepts of Operation ..................................................... 2 Study Objective and Approach .................................................................................................... 3 Organization of the Report .......................................................................................................... 5 2. Precedent and Need for a Human Domain .................................................................................. 6 Recent Precedents for Establishing a Separate Warfighting Domain ......................................... 6 Is a Human Domain Needed? ...................................................................................................... 8 Incorporation of Human Aspects in the Application of Air, Space, and Cyber Power ............. 10 3. Current Status of Human-Focused Capabilities in the U.S. Air Force ...................................... 13 Air Force Special Operations .................................................................................................... 13 Strategic and Operational Planning ........................................................................................... 15 Intelligence ................................................................................................................................ 19 Security Cooperation ................................................................................................................. 24 Cyberspace ................................................................................................................................ 28 Space .......................................................................................................................................... 29 Other Air Force Missions That Engage in Human Aspects of Military Operations ................. 31 Broader Institutional Challenges in Incorporating Human Aspects into Air Force Operations ... 33 Summary .................................................................................................................................... 34 4. Frameworks for Integrating Human-Aspects Considerations from Other U.S. Military Services and Foreign Military Partners ................................................................................... 35 Human Aspects in the U.S. Military ......................................................................................... 35 Frameworks for Human Aspects from International Military Partners ..................................... 44 Summary .................................................................................................................................... 49 5. Deepening Understanding of Human Aspects in Military Operations Within the Air Force ... 51 Training and Education ............................................................................................................. 51 Modeling and Simulation .......................................................................................................... 59 iv Wargaming ................................................................................................................................ 61 Summary .................................................................................................................................... 62 6. Conclusion and Recommendations ........................................................................................... 64 Institutional Recommendations ................................................................................................. 64 Training and Education Recommendations ............................................................................... 66 Recommendations for Developing Regional Human-Aspects Expertise .................................. 67 Concluding Thoughts ................................................................................................................ 67 Appendix A. Interview Methods and Participants .......................................................................