RAND Project Air Force and the Air Force Senior Leader Management Office undertook a study to help improve the development of senior Air Force personnel. This report provides background information to put the methods developed into context and describes how the methods were developed and used to address the need for an improved leadership development program. The authors established a competency framework, ascertained competency requirements for individual positions, determined optimal competency mixes in the inventory of senior leaders, and examined the effects of making the usage boundary between general officers and Senior Executive Service members more flexible.

"Prepared for the United States Air Force"--T.p. "Project Air Force"--T.p.

Background -- Understanding the competency requirements of USAF senior leader jobs -- Modeling career progression -- The GO/SES boundary -- Objective force analysis -- A decision support system to facilitate utilization and development of senior leaders -- Conclusions and recommendations -- Appendix A: job characteristics and factors in the GO survey -- Appendix B: flow model specifications.