Date of Award

9-1998

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

First Advisor

Karen Currie, Lt Col, USAF

Second Advisor

William L. Scott, Major, USAF

Abstract

Joint operations will likely continue to become more prevalent in the future due to defense spending cuts and the nature of modem warfare. Currently, Air Force O-3 (Captain) logisticians, working in the joint operations environment, receive little if any initial training. Exploratory research, by the authors, indicated that these members felt uncertain about their jobs and how they related to the organization, which has been described in the literature as role ambiguity. Consequently, this research project was designed to determine if AF O-3 logisticians serving in the joint operations environment experience more role ambiguity than their counterparts serving in the single service AF environment. With this aim in mind, a mail survey was administered to all Air Force Captains in the Supply, Transportation and Logistics Plans career fields. Of the 695 surveys distributed, 380 were returned (resulting in a 55% return rate), including 332 non-joint and 48 joint responses. Data analysis of joint returns revealed that role ambiguity responses exhibited a bimodal distribution, based on previous joint operations exercise experience. Those members with no exercise experience exhibited statistically higher levels of role ambiguity than their single service counterparts, while those with exercise experience exhibited significantly lower levels.

AFIT Designator

AFIT-GTM-LA-98S-01

DTIC Accession Number

ADA354237

Comments

Co-authored thesis presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Logistics and Acquisitions Management.

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