In this report, the authors make recommendations for organizational roles, responsibilities, authorities, and acquisition processes of the U.S. Space Force operational test and training infrastructure (OTTI) acquisition enterprise, within the context of recent organizational changes. This report informs the development of the acquisition enterprise needed to support the OTTI vision and to improve guardian readiness.

U.S. Space Force Operational Test and Training Infrastructure (OTTI)

Recommendations for Organizational Roles, Responsibilities, and Authorities

Timothy Marler, Laurinda L. Rohn, Mark Toukan, Gwen Mazzotta, Stephanie Young, Eddie Ro, Matthew Sargent, Matt Strawn, Mack Rodgers

ResearchPublished May 7, 2025

Cover: U.S. Space Force Operational Test and Training Infrastructure (OTTI)
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Across the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), there is a need to accelerate training effectiveness and increase readiness. Accordingly, the U.S. Space Force (USSF) must update its training system focus from operations in a benign space environment to allowing guardians to experience contested space scenarios in a peer conflict. It needs training system requirements and acquisition processes that are tailored to its needs and objectives. This effort includes consideration of the USSF's relatively small size, the prevalence of software-based weapon systems, and the opportunity to develop new structures, processes, and governance, unencumbered by past practices. To achieve these goals, the USSF stood up the operational test and training infrastructure (OTTI) program executive office (PEO), providing a system-of-systems architecture for USSF test and training.

As the USSF OTTI enterprise matures, there is a need to clarify and codify governance activities and structures across all primary stakeholders. Thus, as the primary objective for this report, the authors make recommendations for organizational roles, responsibilities, organizational structure, and processes within the USSF OTTI acquisition enterprise, within the context of recent organizational changes.

Key Findings

  • Across the USSF, and DoD more broadly, there is an inconsistent perception of the USSF OTTI vision, definition, and scope.
  • Common standards for training systems, environments, and threat models will be critical to meeting multiple OTTI needs, and such standards will have to be stipulated and tested.
  • There are inherent silos in the OTTI enterprise as a result of the underlying organizational structure, and there is potential for duplication of effort among organizations participating in the development of test and training (T/T) capability and system requirements and acquisitions.
  • Communication across structural silos and among OTTI stakeholders will be critical, and PEO OTTI is helping provide this crosstalk.
  • Additional opportunities exist for improving coordination among OTTI stakeholders and the role that PEO OTTI can play to address these needs.
  • Centralized data, personnel, and requirements management are critical, and PEO OTTI may be able to help support these elements.
  • Although PEO OTTI does not necessarily play a formal role in the capability requirements process, it can act as a conduit, helping aggregate and influence T/T capability requirements early in the acquisition process.
  • PEO OTTI risks being stressed by multiple organizations serving an authority role: Space Training and Readiness Command (STARCOM), Space Operations Command (SpOC), and the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Space Acquisition and Integration (SAF/SQ).
  • PEO OTTI may not have the policy levers to facilitate coordination, including influence over written policy and doctrine, distribution of significant funding, and authority to track and enforce policy.

Recommendations

  • The USSF Chief Operations Officer, in coordination with the Chief Strategy and Resourcing Officer and STARCOM, should allocate funding specifically for OTTI integration and interoperability, managed by PEO OTTI.
  • SAF/SQ should set up and chair an OTTI integration steering group to drive coordination among PEOs on OTTI.
  • SAF/SQ should consider increasing the rank of OTTI program executive officer to a general officer or civilian equivalent. This should include the increased resources mentioned above that are needed to champion and manage cross-functional integration and interoperability.
  • PEO OTTI should refine and publish the scope of USSF OTTI to include data analytics, learning management systems, data standards, and competency models.
  • PEO OTTI should continue to engage in and encourage informal communication across inherent silos and during the acquisition life cycle.
  • In collaboration with SpOC, PEO OTTI should lead the creation of a marketplace to facilitate the real-time communication between the USSF OTTI community and various contractors.
  • In collaboration with the Chief Technology and Innovation Officer and the Space Systems Integration Office, PEO OTTI should be empowered to coordinate the development, implementation, and testing of data standards.
  • In collaboration with PEO OTTI, SAF/SQ should develop a process and define a higher-level decisionmaking authority to determine when enterprise solutions do or do not make sense and which PEO should be responsible for acquisition.

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Marler, Timothy, Laurinda L. Rohn, Mark Toukan, Gwen Mazzotta, Stephanie Young, Eddie Ro, Matthew Sargent, Matt Strawn, and Mack Rodgers, U.S. Space Force Operational Test and Training Infrastructure (OTTI): Recommendations for Organizational Roles, Responsibilities, and Authorities. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2025. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA3173-1.html.
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The research reported here was commissioned by the U.S. Space Force (USSF) Headquarters, Chief Operations Officer (COO), and conducted within the Workforce, Development, and Health Program of RAND Project AIR FORCE.

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