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An Application Of Social Network Analysis On Military Strategy, System Networks And The Phases Of War, Thomas S. Furman
An Application Of Social Network Analysis On Military Strategy, System Networks And The Phases Of War, Thomas S. Furman
Theses and Dissertations
The research developed in this study will utilize Social Network and Graph Theory terminology and methodology applied to groups of systems, rather than individuals within a given system, in order to shape strategic level goals. With regard to military operations, Social Network Analysis has been used to show that enemy networks and relationships can be accurately represented using weighted layers with weighted relationships in order to identify the key player(s) that must be influenced and/or removed so that a particular effect on the enemy might be realized. Social Network Analysis is therefore a significant tool concerning tactical level of operations …
Modeling Attitude Variance In Small Unmanned Aerial Systems For Acoustic Signature Simplification Using Experimental Design In A Hardware-In-The-Loop Simulation, Mitchell N. Gillespie
Modeling Attitude Variance In Small Unmanned Aerial Systems For Acoustic Signature Simplification Using Experimental Design In A Hardware-In-The-Loop Simulation, Mitchell N. Gillespie
Theses and Dissertations
The role and use of unmanned aerial systems (UASs) by the Department of Defense has been on the rise over the past decade. The majority of these systems are being utilized in environments where the UAS's acoustic stealth is frequently of greater importance than radio frequency or visual stealth. Additionally, missions involving these types of systems tend to involve dynamic mission planning requirements rather than preplanned routing. Therefore, an acoustic model capable of providing real-time probability of detection information is desired. However, with present-day technology and existing acoustic models, real-time calculation of the complete acoustic signature for a small UAS …
Cascading Effects Of Fuel Network Interdiction, Jeffrey T. Painter
Cascading Effects Of Fuel Network Interdiction, Jeffrey T. Painter
Theses and Dissertations
This thesis develops the Fuel Interdiction and Resulting Cascading Effects (FI&RCE) model. The study details the development and experimental testing of a framework for assessing the interdiction of a refined petroleum production and distribution network. FI&RCE uses a maximum flow mathematical programming formulation that models the transit of fuels from points of importation and refinement through a polyduct distribution network for delivery across a range of end user locations. The automated model accommodates networks of varying size and complexity. FI&RCE allows for parameters and factor settings that enable robust experimentation through implementation in MATLAB 2014 and the commercial solver CPLEX …
Hyperspectral Imagery For Large Area Survey Of Organophosphate Pesticides, Daniel R. Baseley
Hyperspectral Imagery For Large Area Survey Of Organophosphate Pesticides, Daniel R. Baseley
Theses and Dissertations
Current detection of organophosphate pesticides in residential settings involves taking swipe samples at locations of potential contamination and conducting lab analysis. This method provides results that are applicable only to the points where samples were taken. A standoff detection method utilizing hyperspectral imaging would allow for analysis of a larger area without the need for lab analysis. This report demonstrates a proof of concept experiment that shows the applicability of hyperspectral imaging for the detection of organophosphates. The differences in detection on reflective and non-reflective surfaces are also explored. To the author s knowledge, this research is the first to …
Functionality, Complexity, And Approaches To Assessment Of Resilience Under Constrained Energy And Information, Jason B. Clark
Functionality, Complexity, And Approaches To Assessment Of Resilience Under Constrained Energy And Information, Jason B. Clark
Theses and Dissertations
While system functions, functionality, and complexity are widely used concepts in systems engineering, there is significant diversity in their definitions and no unified approach to measurement. This research establishes a method for measuring impacts to functionality in dynamic engineered systems based on changes in kinetic energy. This metric is applied at particular levels of abstraction and system scales, consistent with the established multiscale nature of systems. By measuring system behavior in context with expected scenarios, it is possible to estimate expected functionality or set bounds on a system's maximum functionality. Functionality and system effectiveness is heavily influenced by the amount …
Detection And Characterization Of Malathion Adherence To Piping Materials Used In Water Distribution Systems, William D. Flemings
Detection And Characterization Of Malathion Adherence To Piping Materials Used In Water Distribution Systems, William D. Flemings
Theses and Dissertations
Protection of the public water supply is a national security priority, and as such, it is important to better understand the fate of a chemical weapons agent injection into a public water distribution system. This study investigated the adherence of malathion to pipe materials that are used in public water distribution systems, with malathion serving as a chemical representative of the organophosphorus nerve agent VX. Copper and iron specimen were exposed to malathion solutions for periods of 4, 8, and 24 hours and then tested for evidence of chemical adherence to the metal surfaces. Nonlinear desiccation profiles revealed total mass …
Implementing Cooperative Behavior & Control Using Open Source Technology Across Heterogeneous Vehicles, Stefan L. Hardy
Implementing Cooperative Behavior & Control Using Open Source Technology Across Heterogeneous Vehicles, Stefan L. Hardy
Theses and Dissertations
This thesis describes the research effort into implementing cooperative behavior and control across heterogeneous vehicles using low cost off-the-shelf technologies and open source software. Current cooperative behavior and control methods are explored and improved upon to build analysis models. These analysis models characterize ideal factor settings for implementation and establish limits of performance for these low cost approaches to cooperative behavior and control. The research focused on latency and position accuracy as the two measures of performance. Three different ground control station (GCS) software applications and two types of vehicles, rover ground vehicles and aerial multi-rotors, were used in this …
The Fate Of Malathion On Copper And Iron Piping Within A Water Distribution System, Walter R. Lee
The Fate Of Malathion On Copper And Iron Piping Within A Water Distribution System, Walter R. Lee
Theses and Dissertations
Thermogravimetry, the study of mass loss as a function of temperature, has been used for oxidation, decomposition, and solid-state studies. This research used a thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA) coupled with Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy in the study of copper and iron specimens exposed to malathion. Exposure to the malathion solution created a visible silver coating on copper and graphite-flake particles on iron specimens. Thermogravimetric mass loss curves revealed linear and nonlinear decomposition stages associated with mass loss reactions. Copper specimens exposed to malathion exhibited lower activation energy (Ea) values (2.28 to 4.40 kJ mol-1) than for copper specimens exposed to …
The Effect Of Malathion On The Activity And Performance Of Activated Sludge, Erik G. Rauglas
The Effect Of Malathion On The Activity And Performance Of Activated Sludge, Erik G. Rauglas
Theses and Dissertations
Decontamination activities following a chemical weapons incident may generate significant quantities of contaminated wash water that may enter the wastewater collection system either intentionally or accidentally. This raises concerns about the effect of chemical warfare agents (CWAs) on the operation of a biological wastewater treatment plant. The goal of the study was to evaluate the effect of malathion on the activity and performance of activated sludge. Malathion is an organophosphate (OP) and is considered an environmental surrogate for VX. This study employed respirometry, short term batch tests, and long term exposure experiments to investigate the effects of different concentrations of …
Optimized Flight Path For Localization Using Line Of Bearing, Namkyu Kim
Optimized Flight Path For Localization Using Line Of Bearing, Namkyu Kim
Theses and Dissertations
This research develops optimized flight paths for localization of a target using LOB measurements. The target area is expressed as an error ellipse using the measurement errors of the LOBs. The optimization approach is focused on minimizing the size of the error ellipse. The algorithm for the optimized path is generated and compared with typical flight paths. The optimization routine is based on the results revised from previous similar research in the literature. A geometrical method to estimate the error ellipse is combined with optimal control in this research. Each LOB gives a possible target area and this target area …
Tactical Ai In Real Time Strategy Games, Donald A. Gruber
Tactical Ai In Real Time Strategy Games, Donald A. Gruber
Theses and Dissertations
The real time strategy (RTS) tactical decision making problem is a difficult problem. It is generally more complex due to its high degree of time sensitivity. This research effort presents a novel approach to this problem within an educational, teaching objective. Particular decision focus is target selection for a artificial intelligence (AI) RTS game model. The use of multi-objective evolutionary algorithms (MOEAs) in this tactical decision making problem allows an AI agent to make fast, effective solutions that do not require modification to the current environment. This approach allows for the creation of a generic solution building tool that is …
Examining The Return On Investment Of Test And Evaluation, Nathan C. Smith
Examining The Return On Investment Of Test And Evaluation, Nathan C. Smith
Theses and Dissertations
This research examined the return on investment of Department of Defense test and evaluation. The thesis analyzed the return on investment of the cost avoidance achieved if an issue discovered late in the program had been discovered and corrected during developmental test and evaluation. The methodology utilized two case study examples from the Joint Primary Training Aircraft System to calculate the potential cost avoidance and the potential return on investment if the program had discovered and corrected the issues during developmental test and evaluation. The result of one case was a 9,260% return on investment. The other case results ranged …
Unified Behavior Framework For Discrete Event Simulation Systems, Alexander J. Kamrud
Unified Behavior Framework For Discrete Event Simulation Systems, Alexander J. Kamrud
Theses and Dissertations
Intelligent agents provide simulations a means to add lifelike behavior in place of manned entities. Generally when developed, a single intelligent agent model is chosen, such as rule based, behavior trees, etc. This choice introduces restrictions into what behaviors agents can manifest, and can require significant testing in edge cases. This thesis presents the use of the UBF in the AFSIM environment. The UBF provides the flexibility to implement any and all intelligent agent models, allowing the developer to choose the model he/she feels best fits the experiment at hand. Furthermore, the UBF demonstrates several key software engineering principles through …
Counter Weapon Control, Brian J. Roadruck
Counter Weapon Control, Brian J. Roadruck
Theses and Dissertations
In this work, pursuit-evasion differential game theory is applied to the target defense scenario. The targets, attackers, and the defenders positional information is assumed to be known to the players. With positional information, a computational efficient method of strategy synthesis can be derived applying a differential game theory approach. We demonstrate that when non-optimal strategies are employed by one of the players, e.g. Line Of Sight guidance, the outcome will favor the players that employ the optimal strategy given by the solution of the pursuit-evasion differential game.
Fingerprinting Software Defined Networks And Controllers, Zachary J. Zeitlin
Fingerprinting Software Defined Networks And Controllers, Zachary J. Zeitlin
Theses and Dissertations
SDN transforms a network from a calcified collection of hardware into a logically centralized and programmable method of interconnectivity. Changing the networking paradigm shifts a networks security posture. Changes visible to a host connected to the network include small latency differences between a traditional network environment and an SDN environment. This thesis aims to reliably distinguish SDN environments from traditional environments by observing latency behavior. Additionally, this thesis determines whether latency information contributes to the unique fingerprint of SDN controllers. Identifying the controller software gives an adversary information contributing to a network attack. An SDN and traditional network environment consisting …
Indicators Of Terrorism Vulnerability In Africa, Raymond J. Hill
Indicators Of Terrorism Vulnerability In Africa, Raymond J. Hill
Theses and Dissertations
Terrorism in Africa has increased more than six-fold since 1997, with an increase in lethality as well. The U.S. government has spent billions of dollars to counter this increase in terrorism; however, terrorism in Africa has increased seemingly unabated. Furthermore, these methods used to counter-terrorism have been reactionary as opposed to preventative. To address the terrorism threat to a country, we must first understand which characteristics make a country vulnerable to such a threat. A confirmatory analysis bridges the inter-discipline gap between quantitative and qualitative fields through as assessment of observational findings about the causes of terrorism. An exploratory analysis …
Integrating Agile Combat Support Within Title 10 Wargames, Daniel A. Krievs
Integrating Agile Combat Support Within Title 10 Wargames, Daniel A. Krievs
Theses and Dissertations
Air Force (AF) Concept Development and Experimentation (CD&E) continually progresses the evolution of AF while achieving national security and military objectives. CD&E experiments on future challenges, procurement of new weapon systems and tests existing/innovative strategies as potential solutions. The primary tool that CD&E utilizes in conducting these experiments is wargaming. This thesis provides a foundation to incorporate logistics into Air Force Title 10 wargames. More specifically, we capture Air Force Materiel Command's (AFMC) Agile Combat Support (ACS) within an unclassified general wargame scenario. Logistics has been omitted from wargames for a multitude of reasons throughout the years. We develop a …
A Game Theoretic Model For The Optimal Disposition Of Integrated Air Defense System Assets, Chan Y. Han
A Game Theoretic Model For The Optimal Disposition Of Integrated Air Defense System Assets, Chan Y. Han
Theses and Dissertations
We examine the optimal allocation of Integrated Air Defense System (IADS) resources to protect a country's assets, formulated as a Defender-Attacker-Defender three-stage sequential, perfect information, zero-sum game between two opponents. We formulate a trilevel nonlinear integer program for this Defender-Attacker-Defender model and seek a subgame perfect Nash equilibrium, for which neither the defender nor the attacker has an incentive to deviate from their respective strategies. Such a trilevel formulation is not solvable via conventional optimization software and an exhaustive enumeration of the game tree based on the discrete set of strategies is intractable for large problem sizes. As such, we …
Non-Rated Air Force Line Officer Attrition Rates Using Survival Analysis, Jill A. Schofield
Non-Rated Air Force Line Officer Attrition Rates Using Survival Analysis, Jill A. Schofield
Theses and Dissertations
The Air Force structures its workforce around rank structure and work specialty codes (Air Force Specialty Codes (AFSCs)). The challenge is to grow and manage personnel to fill a variety of skill sets at a variety of ranks over a 20-30 year planning horizon. To ensure that the missions are accomplished while adhering to congressionally-mandated force allocations, the Air Force is continually attempting to \right size its force by maintaining the correct balance of personnel in each career field. The Air Force conducts its force structure management responsibility by comparing historical attrition rates to current manpower requirements for each AFSC …
Statistical Observations Of Positioning, Navigation, And Timing In A Combat Simulation, Matthew G. Thomas
Statistical Observations Of Positioning, Navigation, And Timing In A Combat Simulation, Matthew G. Thomas
Theses and Dissertations
The Global Positioning System (GPS) has become an important asset in the lives of civilians and defense organizations. GPS uses include positioning, navigation, timing, as well as many other daily applications. With such dependence, protection against attacks on the system is paramount to continue its effectiveness. Attacks on its signal is the easiest way for enemies to degrade and harm not only everyday functioning for civilians, but a nation's defense as well. Jamming interference and spoofing are the two most frequent attacks on GPS signals. Could these two attacks cause significant effect on military operations? We use a System Effectiveness …
Effect Of Malathion On The Microbial Ecology Of Activated Sludge, Seth K. Martin
Effect Of Malathion On The Microbial Ecology Of Activated Sludge, Seth K. Martin
Theses and Dissertations
Decontamination activities may cause the release of contaminated washwater into the wastewater that eventually flows into a wastewater treatment facility. This raises concerns about the effect of chemical warfare agents (CWAs) on the microbial consortia that are responsible for cleaning the wastewater. This study investigated the impact of malathion on the microbial ecology of laboratory scale activated sludge communities. The Simpson Reciprocal Index decreased for three bioreactors operated in the absence of malathion, which showed that the microbial assemblage became less diverse during the course of the study. The species identified in the bioreactors belonged to well-known groups of heterotrophic …
A Delphi Study Using Value-Focused Thinking For United States Air Force Mission Dependency Index Values, Matthew J. Nichols
A Delphi Study Using Value-Focused Thinking For United States Air Force Mission Dependency Index Values, Matthew J. Nichols
Theses and Dissertations
Recently, the Air Force Civil Engineer Center (AFCEC) identified that the Mission Dependency Index (MDI) had issues with reflecting the criticality of some mission sets. The MDI is a constructed value assigned to assets that reflects the consequence of failure. The primary mission sets having MDI issues were non-flightline assets. The current Air Force MDI metric relies on data collected using the Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) methodology and adapts the data by using facility categorization codes. The result is a method that compares alternatives to each other to develop an individual asset's MDI value. As a corrective measure to …
Reflections Of A Wave: An Analysis Of Photonic Doppler Velocimetry Systems, Brian K. Lagrange
Reflections Of A Wave: An Analysis Of Photonic Doppler Velocimetry Systems, Brian K. Lagrange
Theses and Dissertations
Munitions are one of the Air Force's most effective weapons in eliminating targets, but also one of the most expensive. Due to the inherent high-cost in deploying munitions, munition shock wave detonation must be better observed and quantified for munitions to be more cost-efficient. PDV systems have the potential to achieve this quantification of shock wave properties on a molecular scale during solid-against-solid impacts. The overall goal of this research was to determine whether the current photonic Doppler velocimetry (PDV) system at Eglin Air Force Base is prepared for future explosive sensitivity testing. This determination was done through an uncertainty …
Evaluation Of The Military Utility Of Employing An Angle Of Arrival Payload Hosted On A Cubesat As An Augmentation To Existing Geolocation Systems, Nicholas S. Schmidt
Evaluation Of The Military Utility Of Employing An Angle Of Arrival Payload Hosted On A Cubesat As An Augmentation To Existing Geolocation Systems, Nicholas S. Schmidt
Theses and Dissertations
This research models the performance of the proposed augmentation system as well as three and four-ball TDOA satellite systems and AOA and three-ball TDOA airborne systems individually, and performs geolocation estimate fusion via a variety of techniques to determine the increase in performance due to geolocation estimate fusion in operationally representative scenarios. It also introduces a high fidelity surface of the earth constraint based upon a digital elevation model across all geolocation algorithms. The results from this research show that the proposed augmentation system does have military utility when combined with other geolocation systems of similar or worse individual performance. …
2014 Annual Report Of The Graduate School Of Engineering And Management, Air Force Institute Of Technology, Office Of Research And Sponsored Programs, Graduate School Of Engineering And Management, Afit
2014 Annual Report Of The Graduate School Of Engineering And Management, Air Force Institute Of Technology, Office Of Research And Sponsored Programs, Graduate School Of Engineering And Management, Afit
AFIT Documents
The Graduate School's Annual Report highlights research focus areas, new academic programs, faculty accomplishments and news, and provides top-level sponsor-funded research data and information.
Space Separatism: Degree Of Differentiation, Luke R. Stover, Alan A. Johnson
Space Separatism: Degree Of Differentiation, Luke R. Stover, Alan A. Johnson
Faculty Publications
Space is so important that the DOD recognizes it as one of five domains in which US forces operate (the other four are land, sea, air, and information). In 2001 Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld designated the Department of the Air Force (DAF) the “Executive Agent for Space for the DOD.” Given the national importance of space activities, the formation of a separate space force has been a topic of persistent discussion in academic and doctrinal circles ever since the United States first entered the space age. Proponents of a separate force argue that because space is an inherently unique …
Dynamic Bayesian Networks As A Probabilistic Metamodel For Combat Simulations, Clayton T. Kelleher
Dynamic Bayesian Networks As A Probabilistic Metamodel For Combat Simulations, Clayton T. Kelleher
Theses and Dissertations
Simulation modeling is used in many situations. Simulation meta-modeling is used to estimate a simulation model result by representing the space of simulation model responses. Metamodeling methods are particularly useful when the simulation model is not particularly suited to real-time or mean real-time use. Most metamodeling methods provide expected value responses while some situations need probabilistic responses. This research establishes the viability of Dynamic Bayesian Networks for simulation metamodeling, those situations needing probabilistic responses. A bootstrapping method is introduced to reduce simulation data requirement for a DBN, and experimental design is shown to benefit a DBN used to represent a …
Investigating Time And Spectral Dependence In Neutron Radiation Environments For Semiconductor Damage Studies, Matthew R. Halstead
Investigating Time And Spectral Dependence In Neutron Radiation Environments For Semiconductor Damage Studies, Matthew R. Halstead
Theses and Dissertations
As legacy neutron irradiation facilities are shut down due to security and financial constrictions, a growing need arises for alternatives that can provide the same or similar radiation environments using methods and/or fuels that do not pose the same risks. For this reason, facilities that provide much lower neutron fluxes and different spectral shapes are being leveraged over longer irradiation intervals to meet this need. However, the question arises as to whether the use of these types of facilities provide a valid comparison to the legacy systems' results. To this end, a model using a system of coupled, non-linear ordinary …
Nation-Building Modeling And Resource Allocation Via Dynamic Programming, Cade M. Saie
Nation-Building Modeling And Resource Allocation Via Dynamic Programming, Cade M. Saie
Theses and Dissertations
Dynamic programming is used in many military and industrial applications to solve sequential decision making problems. This research proposes the development of a model and approach to address the application of dynamic programming in nation-building modeling. Through the creation of component indices to capture the state of operational variables: Political, Military, Economic, Social, Infrastructure, and Information (PMESII), a functional form of a system of differential equations is developed to account for the interactions between the state indices and instruments of national power: Diplomatic, Informational, Military, and Economic (DIME). Solving this problem with dynamic programming provides an improved sequence which describes …
Measurements Of Dna Damage And Repair In Bacillus Anthracis Sterne Spores By Uv Radiation, Chelsea C. Marcum
Measurements Of Dna Damage And Repair In Bacillus Anthracis Sterne Spores By Uv Radiation, Chelsea C. Marcum
Theses and Dissertations
Spores of Bacillus anthracis (Ba) sterne were irradiated with 267nm UV light using small light emitting diodes. The pRB373 plasmid with a red fluorescent protein was transformed into Ba sterne cells prior to irradiation. Following irradiation, germination media was added and the spores were incubated for various times, to allow for DNA repair. The pRB373 plasmid was isolated and analyzed using real-time PCR. Primers were designed across the RFP in the plasmid yielding two amplicons, 245bp and 547bp long. PCR amplification was not achieved for germinated samples. Spore samples isolated using bead beating methods were amplified. Results indicate a quicker …