Which problem did the RAND Corporation contract aim to solve?

• A. To figure out which service should develop all the nation's rockets.
• B. The loss of intellectual talent that occurred after WWII ended.
• C. The Navy was getting an unfair share of the Defense budget after WWII.
• D. The War Department didn't know how to distribute military aircraft across the services once the Air Force achieved its independence.

Answer: (B)

The main idea being tested is understanding why RAND was founded to study how to keep advanced talent engaged for national security after the war. After World War II, there was a real concern that many scientists and skilled personnel would leave military and defense-related work as the country demobilized. RAND was contracted to examine this “loss of intellectual talent” and figure out how to organize, retain, and effectively use that talent in the postwar era, ensuring a continued scientific and analytical capability for national defense.

That focus makes the chosen option the best fit: the contract targeted the problem of losing skilled people once the war ended, which could undermine long-term defense planning and innovation. The other scenarios—deciding which service should develop rockets, questioning budget shares among services, or how to distribute aircraft after the Air Force became independent—were not the central issue RAND was brought in to address initially.