About Us

About Block One

Our nation’s All-Volunteer Force forms the bedrock of American military advantage

IDA’s recognized experts in military personnel policy take pride in providing the U.S. Department of Defense with the highest level of analytic rigor in our human capital policy and workforce analyses.

About Block Two

IDA’s strength lies in its innovative research scientists, policy experts, and operational professionals

Our multi-disciplinary teams combine expertise in economics, data science, psychology, policy, and science disciplines, with a deep familiarity in military life, culture, and practices to provide actionable results.

About Block Three

Recent contributions include

  • Personnel retention prediction for modern talent management
  • Best practices for recruiting STEM civilians to the DoD workforce
  • Diversity, inclusion, and minority representation
  • Prevention of and response to harmful behaviors (e.g., suicide, hazing)
  • Forecast demand for military critical skills training
  • Cyber workforce roles and military/civilian/contractor alternatives
  • Readiness distractors in Special Operations and elite units
  • Operationalizing DoD data architectures and governance
  • Improving readiness and reducing costs in the military health system
  • Personnel management policies and organizational reform
  • Readiness payoffs to various full-time personnel staffing levels
  • Support for Quadrennial Reviews of Military Compensation
About Block Four

IDA leverages technical expertise to provide objective analysis for U.S. security and policy challenges

We are a private, nonprofit corporation headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C.

About Block Five

Since 1956, IDA has been a trusted DoD partner for analyzing sensitive national security issues

We safeguard our access to sensitive information, and we do not share our work without approval from the government sponsors of our research.