As the United States creates the Space Force as a service within the Department of the Air Force, RAND assessed which units to bring into the Space Force, analyzed career field sustainability, and drew lessons from other defense organizations. The report focuses on implications for effectiveness, efficiency, independence, and sense of identity for the new service.

The authors evaluate wargaming tools as the U.S. Marine Corps invests its next-generation wargaming concept. The authors describe wargaming processes, facilities, and skill sets and recommend courses of action.

The authors identified disputes among roles, missions, and functions (RMF) that have endured as problems for the U.S. Air Force and crafted a framework for analyzing the RMF implications of strategic-level guidance and emerging operational concepts.

This report, which outlines four battles within Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR) and reviews U.S. ground force contributions to those battles, is intended to address gaps both in analysis and in the common understanding of OIR.