Improving Development Teams to Support Deliberate Development of Air Force Officers

From their commissioning, Air Force officers mature into midlevel and senior leaders by gaining experience over time in positions of increasing responsibility and by participating in a number of developmental education and assignment opportunities. Once, the development activities in which individuals engaged were determined in part by recommendations from mentors, more-senior officers in specific career fields, and by the officers' own understanding about what it would take to progress as an Air Force officer. A new concept for leadership and force development was implemented in 2004. That concept included something called the development team (DT). A DT focuses on professional development, meeting regularly to review officers' plans and performance assessments, compare these against requirements for the career field, recommend education or special duties accordingly, and provide feedback to both the officer and his or her supervisor. DTs are also responsible for identifying candidates for command positions. After nearly nine years of experience with DTs, the Air Force asked RAND to review the role of DTs, exploring whether these teams should continue to operate and, if so, how.