This report explores the applicability of neighborhood theory and social indicators research to understanding the quality of life in and around military bases. It also highlights gaps in neighborhood study methodology that need to be addressed in future research. Finally, it outlines how a more in-depth neighborhood analysis of military installations could be conducted.
To better understand sexual harassment and gender discrimination in the Army, RAND Arroyo Center researchers created profiles of active-component soldiers' most serious sexual harassment and gender discrimination experiences. This report describes the most common types of behaviors that occur, characteristics of (alleged) perpetrators, most common times and places in which sexual harassment and gender discrimination occur, and differences between high-risk and non-high-risk installations. Women's and men's experiences of sexual harassment and gender discrimination look broadly the same at high-risk installations compared with non-high-risk installations, and they do not appear to differ across high-risk installations. However, men's and women's experiences of sexual harassment and gender discrimination in the active-component Army are very different. Women are more likely than men to experience gender discrimination, repeated attempts to establish an unwanted romantic or sexual relationship, and sexual comments about their appearance, whereas men are more likely than women to be told that they do not act like a man is supposed to act. Soldiers often experience multiple forms of sexual harassment and gender discrimination; women experience more types of behaviors, on average, than men do. What women's and men's experiences have in common is that they frequently take place at work during the workday and involve exposure to offensive or persistent discussion of and jokes about sex.
Morale, Welfare, and Recreation (MWR) programs are key to building resilient and ready Airmen and families. The authors develop a resilience and readiness model, compare it to target outcomes of MWR services, and suggest next steps for evaluation.
This report explores the applicability of neighborhood theory and social indicators research to understanding the quality of life in and around military bases. It also highlights gaps in neighborhood study methodology that need to be addressed in future research. Finally, it outlines how a more in-depth neighborhood analysis of military installations could be conducted.
In 2016, the Air Force began an effort to revitalize squadrons, aimed at promoting the readiness and resilience of the force. In light of this effort, the Air Force Services Center established the UNITE Initiative and hired Community Cohesion Coordinators (C3s) across participating installations to plan programs, activities, and events that directly support unit cohesion, leveraging Force Support Squadron activities along with resources and activities in the local community. Previous research suggests that providing units with opportunities to participate in group activities could serve to improve cohesion. However, the Air Force lacks data that demonstrate a correlation between the use of these activities and expected outcomes. In this report, the authors examine this connection by conducting an initial evaluation of the UNITE Initiative. The authors accomplish this evaluation by conducting interviews with C3s and reviewing post-event feedback from C3s, units, and airmen participants to understand how the program was implemented and identify successes, limitations, and lessons learned. The authors also use two post-event surveys, completed by airmen roughly two and six weeks after participating in a UNITE event, to examine whether participation was associated with perceptions of unit cohesion.
For Marine and Family Division (MF) programs and services to remain meaningful, credible, and practical, their effectiveness must be able to be demonstrated. Assessing their offerings will help the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) to surge and contract the portfolio as resources wax and wane. This program evaluation toolkit is designed to help those responsible for implementing MF programs to determine whether those programs are effective-achieving their intended goals-and ultimately to guide efficient use of scarce resources. This toolkit is composed of two interrelated documents: this User's Guide and a set of Microsoft Excel workbooks that correspond to material presented in the User's Guide about collecting and analyzing data. This toolkit is based on the program evaluation literature and program evaluation toolkits produced by other RAND researchers. A review of relevant Marine Corps Orders; discussions with headquarters, branch, and program staff in MF; and reviews of publicly available websites provided additional background for the specific context of MF, USMC. The contents of this toolkit should be of particular interest to MF and staff in the five branches within the scope of this study: Behavioral Health, Family Care, Family Readiness, Personal and Professional Development, and Semper Fit. It may also be of interest to those who manage or oversee similar programs that provide support to service members and their families.
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