Digital Commons Network^™

Air Mobility Future: Evolving Command And Control Relationships In The Information Age, Ian M. Slazinik

Theses and Dissertations

This research paper analyzes information flow through theater Air Mobility Command and Control (C2) organizations. The purpose is to uncover guidelines going forward to adapt organizational structure and processes to increase the speed and reach of information. These guidelines could assist with improving organizational agility and decision making while adapting to future trends in the broader C2 enterprise. To collect data, the researcher conducted interviews with seventeen C2 experts with experience at various levels of C2, from worldwide to theater Air Mobility C2 organizations, from Air Mobility C2 leadership, to experts in non-mobility C2 divisions. Interview subjects shared their perceptions …

The Pilgrimage To Meaning Along The Camino De Santiago, Matthew Carey Greenhalgh

Theses and Dissertations

As Christianity spread throughout the Iberian Peninsula during the Middle Ages, many believers attributed miraculous tales to the Virgin Mary and saints. In Camino de Santiago folklore, the Virgin Mary and Saint James intercede on behalf of pilgrims who cannot resolve a crisis without divine assistance. The Codex Calixtinus, a twelfth-century manuscript, contains such a story that occurs in Toulouse called "The Hanged Pilgrim." In this miracle, an innkeeper frames a pilgrim for theft and the local magistrate sentences the accused to hang as a consequence. However, the Virgin Mary and Saint James spare the pilgrim's life because of his …

Shakespeare, Orson Welles, And The Hermeneutics Of The Archive, Benjamin Lynn Wagner

Theses and Dissertations

This paper examines certain theoretical underpinnings of the historical processes by which Shakespeare's history plays became the de facto collective memory of the events they depict, even when those events are misrepresented. The scholarly conversation about this misrepresentation has heretofore centered on Shakespeare's potential political motivations. I argue that this focus on a political, authorial intent has largely ignored the impact these historical distortions have had over the subsequent 400 years. I propose that, due to Shakespeare's unique place in the historical timeline of the development of collective memory, Shakespeare's historical misrepresentation in the history plays is a byproduct of …

Hezbollah As A Norm Entrepreneur: Reconstructing Resistance And Legitimacy, Ali Elbenhawy

Theses and Dissertations

Using social constructivism, this research analyzes Hezbollah as a norm entrepreneur in the Middle East. My research question is: How does Hezbollah function as a norm entrepreneur in the Middle East or how does Hezbollah create the norm of resistance? Material resistance is created through institutionalized ideas, such as jihad, martyrdom, the oppressed/oppressor dichotomy, and anti-imperialism. Special attention is given to the shifts in Hezbollah’s ideology. These ideas were physically expressed in the 2006 war with Israel and currently in Syria. However, since Hezbollah’s involvement in Syria, Hezbollah’s norm of resistance has waned. Its alternative definition of resistance is not …

United Nations Access Challenges And Non-State Armed Groups In Conflict Situations: The Need For Legal Reform, Omneya Makhlouf

Theses and Dissertations

During situations of armed conflict, United Nations (UN) agencies have been consistently faced with challenges to access vulnerable populations in order to fulfill their humanitarian mandates. This is particularly true in countries such as Yemen, Libya, and Ukraine who have faced prolonged conflict situations from as early as 2010. During these conflicts, UN agencies have been frequently unable to enter areas that are controlled by non-state armed groups. There are several legitimate reasons for these access challenges, one of which includes the inadequate legal framework that governs non-state armed groups. This is not to neglect the operational and executive ineffectiveness …

Alternative Causes Of Civil War Onset – Repression And Signals From External Actors: A Comparative Case Study Of Bahrain And Syria, Katherine Kassanitz

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis looks at alternative causes of civil war onset. Specifically, the role of repression is examined to show how the specific type, being nonviolent or violent, and the target, being indiscriminate or selective, matter and depending on the tactics undertaken can lead to the onset of civil war. It also sheds light on the often understudied role that external actors in the international system can play in escalating an uprising towards the onset of civil war as well.

The Interconnectivity Of Political And Legal Discourses In The Assessment Of The Invasion Of Iraq, Mohamed Hussein Soliman

Theses and Dissertations

As a student of both international relations and international law; I have more often than not come across the same contemporary global issues and had to discuss said issues within a political or legal discourse using their respective vernaculars. I have also, more often than not, found that each discourse relies heavily on aspects of the other to adequately assess a particular phenomenon. he interconnectivity of both discourses is extensive and distinguishing between both proves rather difficult and inconsequential. his is to say that the collaboration of both disciplines within the analysis of a global conflict provides a more in-depth …

Symbiosis Now, Priscilla Fusco

Theses and Dissertations

As we narrow the world’s parameters with our activities, we crowd other organisms that support us. Scientists and philosophers including Charles Sanders Peirce, Lynn Margulis, Thomas Khun and Dave Goulson articulate the role of the biomass, an intelligence that offers fertile dialogue for sculptors.

Hohoemigaeshi (Smiling Back), Takayuki Kubota

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the work, Hohoemigaeshi, the author’s journey to smile back to the things he has come across - in order to say good-bye.

Statement, Elektra Kuznetsova Blanco

Theses and Dissertations

Elektra KB's statement of art practice. Her work uses a utopic-dystopic narrative construct between documentary and fantasy as a platform to investigate and reflect upon power struggles, sense of place, migration, gender, oppression, violence, and the spectaclist technological society. It draws a tension between different ‘realities’ aiming to deconstruct the language of neo-liberalism. The theocratic Republic of Gaia, an alternative world created as a safe space of resistance, and inhabited by its rebel autonomous counterparts The Catharas, is experiencing great social, geological and political upheaval.

Photographing The "Uncelebrated" Truth: The Newspaper Pm, New York 1940-1942, Nancy Wechter

Theses and Dissertations

The left-liberal NYC newspaper, PM, used photography with unprecedented transparency as a crucial element in its mission to inform ordinary working people, teach them to be literate about the photographic message, and encourage them to be a participating audience during the tense period just before World War II.

Investigating The Utility Of Age-Dependent Cranial Vault Thickness As An Aging Method For Juvenile Skeletal Remains On Dry Bone, Radiographic And Computed Tomography Scans, Kelly R. Kamnikar

Theses and Dissertations

Age estimation, a component of the biological profile, contributes significantly to the creation of a post-mortem profile of an unknown set of human remains. This goal of this study is to: (1) refine the juvenile age estimation method of cranial vault thickness (CVT) through MARS modeling, (2) test the method on known age samples, and (3) compare CVT and dental development age estimations. Data for this study comes from computed tomography (CT) scans, radiographic images, and dry bone. CVT was measured at seven cranial landmarks (nasion, glabella, bregma, vertex, vertex radius, lambda and opisthocranion). Results indicate that CVT models vary …

A Biogeochemistry Approach To Geographic Origin And Mortuary Arrangement At The Talgua Cave Ossuaries, Olancho, Honduras, Monica Michelle Warner

Theses and Dissertations

Isotopic assays, including stable carbon, stable oxygen, and radiogenic strontium were measured for 37 individuals from the Talgua cave ossuaries to understand human movement and mortuary practice during Formative Period Honduras. Likelihood assignment models demonstrated that the individuals had diverse childhood geographic origins within the surrounding valleys. This shows that different kin or ethnic groups from diverse geographic origins were utilizing the ossuaries. Five possible ‘non-local’ individuals were identified from the radiogenic strontium and stable oxygen isotope datasets, suggesting minimal human movement into northeast Honduras from outside Lower Central America. The low number of ‘non-local’ individuals at Talgua Caves also …

Bystanders Or Pedagogues? Voter Preferences And Senator Voting Behavior, Steven M. Richardson

Theses and Dissertations

The recent political atmosphere in America has reflected a perceived lack of constituent representation in the political process leading to a volatile 2016 Presidential race. This paper examines voter preferences and their effect on senator voting behavior and finds that depending on the party, voter preferences have different levels of effect on Senators. Republicans struggle between meeting the demands of their more numerous moderate statewide constituency and their smaller yet more extreme core supporters which reflect contemporary attitudes expressed by conservative constituents and Republican candidates. Democrats do not suffer this problem, being mindful of their statewide constituency while being able …

Visual-Ins Using A Human Operator And Converted Measurements, Turner J. Montgomery

Theses and Dissertations

A method human operated INS aiding is explored in which the pilot identifies and tracks a ground feature of unknown position over a short measurement epoch using an E/O sensor. One then refers to Visual-INS. In contrast to current research trends, a human operator is entrusted with visually tracking the ground feature. In addition, a less conventional measurement linearization technique is applied to generate “converted” measurements. A linear regression algorithm is then applied to the converted measurements providing an estimate of the INS horizontal velocity error and accelerometer biases. At the completion of the measurement epoch, the INS is corrected …

Heterogeneous Air Defense Battery Location: A Game Theoretic Approach, Nicholas T. Boardman

Theses and Dissertations

The Unites States and its allies confront a persistent and evolving threat from missile attacks as nations around the world continue to invest and advance their current capabilities. Within the air defense context of a missile-and-interceptor engagement, a challenge for the defender is that surface to air interceptor missile batteries often must be located to protect high-value targets dispersed over a vast area, subject to an attacker observing the disposition of batteries prior to developing and implementing an attack plan. To model this scenario, we formulate a two-player, three-stage, perfect information, sequential move, zero-sum game that accounts for, respectively, a …

An Examination Of Economic Metrics As Indicators Of Air Force Retention, Helen L. Jantscher

Theses and Dissertations

Fluctuations in the economy can cause military recruitment and retention plans to go awry. By focusing on various economic metrics, it is possible to anticipate changes in retention rates for specific Air Force Specialty Codes (AFSCs). To address the challenge of maintaining a robust and mission capable Air Force, a correlation analysis is employed to determine the relationship between certain economic indicators and AFSC retention rates. As one might suspect, retention rates follow the trend of decreasing when the economy is strong. Of interest, we found two AFSCs which go against this trend. Namely, the retention rates for officers in …

Modeling The Components Of An Economy As A Complex Adaptive System, Richard J. Mickelsen

Theses and Dissertations

Complex systems science is a relatively new discipline and has not been widely applied to the field of economics. Much of current economic theory relies on principles of constrained optimization and often fails to see economic variables as part of an interconnected network. While tools for forecasting economic indicators are based primarily on autoregressive techniques, these techniques are not always well-suited to predicting the future performance of highly volatile data sets such as the stock market. This research portrays the stock market as one component of a networked system of economic variables, with the federal funds rate acting as an …

Modeling And Economy’S Dynamics And External Influences Through A System Of Differential Equations, Thomas M. Dickey

Theses and Dissertations

This research proposes a methodology to develop models for the greater understanding of the application of the economic instrument of national power through a selection of factors that define the economic condition of a country. The major components of an economy are identified as GDP per capita, a treasury bond yield, and a major stock market index. The components have interconnected dynamics along with external influences from the United Stated Federal Funds Rate and foreign direct investment. These connections are considered through a metamodel in the form of a system of differential equations which is solved as an inverse problem. …

A Logistic Regression And Markov Chain Model For The Prediction Of Nation-State Violent Conflicts And Transitions, Nicholas Shallcross

Theses and Dissertations

Using open source data, this research formulates and constructs a suite of statistical models that predict future transitions into and out of violent conflict and forecasts the regional and global incidences of violent conflict over a ten-year time horizon. A total of thirty predictor variables are tested and evaluated for inclusion in twelve conditional logistic regression models, which calculate the probability that a nation will transition from its current conflict state, either In Conflict or Not in Conflict, to a new state in the following year. These probabilities are then used to construct a series of nation-specific Markov chain models …

Application Of Non-Rated Line Officer Attrition Levels And Career Field Stability, Christine L. Zens

Theses and Dissertations

The Air Force monitors the strength of its active duty officer force and attempts to achieve the difficult challenge of employing a diversity of talent among career specialties and experience levels. This study completes two objectives, predicting future manning levels for 23 career fields, and providing a statistical framework to assess the stability of these fields. The first part of the study applies regression and survival analysis to subpopulations within the active duty Air Force officer corps, and then aggregates them by year to forecast future personnel levels. Four career fields are considered, including Acquisitions (ACQ), Logistics (LOG), Support (SPT), …

Capturing Atmospheric Effects On 3-D Millimeter Wave Radar Propagation Patterns, Richard D. Cook

Theses and Dissertations

The need to model millimeter wave (MMW) radar propagation is imperative to proper design of aeronautical, civil, and military systems. Traditional radar propagation modeling is done using a path transmittance with little to no input for weather and atmospheric conditions. As radar advances into the MMW regime, atmospheric effects, such as attenuation and refraction, become more pronounced than at traditional radar wavelengths. The DoD High Energy Laser Joint Technology Offices High Energy Laser End-to-End Operational Simulation (HELEEOS), in combination with the Laser Environmental Effects Definition and Reference (LEEDR) code, is a powerful tool for simulating laser propagation and effects tied …

Evaluation Of Verification Approaches Applied To A Nonlinear Control System, Kerianne H. Gross

Theses and Dissertations

As the demand for increasingly complex and autonomous systems grows, designers may consider computational and artificial intelligence methods for more advanced, re- active control. While the performance gained by such increasingly intelligent systems may be superior to traditional control techniques, the lack of transparency in the systems and opportunity for emergent behavior limits their application in the field. New verification and validation methods must be developed to ensure the output of such controllers do not put the system or any people interacting with it in danger. This challenge was highlighted by the former Air Force Chief Scientist in his 2010 …

Civil Engineer Company Grade Officer Training Needs Analysis For Contingency Operations, Brian S. Greszler

Theses and Dissertations

In terms of active duty personnel, the USAF is the smallest it has ever been since its creation in 1947. With fewer personnel to accomplish essential tasks, the training of Airmen is more important than ever. Outdated and irrelevant training can lead to gaps in the knowledge of trainees. The purpose of this research was to analyze the training needs of Civil Engineer (CE) Company Grade Officers (CGOs) in the contingency environment. This was done by first conducting a Job Analysis (JA). The JA resulted in a list of 36 critical tasks and 58 important Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs). …

Mission Dependency Index Of Air Force Built Infrastructure: Knowledge Discovery With Machine Learning, Clark W. Smith

Theses and Dissertations

Mission Dependency Index (MDI) is a metric developed to capture the relative criticality of infrastructure assets with respect to organizational missions. The USAF adapted the MDI metric from the United States Navy’s MDI methodology. Unlike the Navy’s MDI data collection process, the USAF adaptation of the MDI metric employs generic facility category codes (CATCODEs) to assign MDI values. This practice introduces uncertainty into the MDI assignment process with respect to specific missions and specific infrastructure assets. The uncertainty associated with USAF MDI values necessitated the MDI adjudication process. The MDI adjudication process provides a mechanism for installation civil engineer personnel …

Cyberspace And Organizational Structure: An Analysis Of The Critical Infrastructure Environment, Michael D. Quigg Ii

Theses and Dissertations

Now more than ever, organizations are being created to protect the cyberspace environment. The capability of cyber organizations tasked to defend critical infrastructure has been called into question by numerous cybersecurity experts. Organizational theory states that organizations should be constructed to fit their operating environment properly. Little research in this area links existing organizational theory to cyber organizational structure. Because of the cyberspace connection to critical infrastructure assets, the factors that influence the structure of cyber organizations designed to protect these assets warrant analysis to identify opportunities for improvement.

This thesis analyzes the cyber‐connected critical infrastructure environment using the dominant …

An Openeaagles Framework Extension For Hardware-In-The-Loop Swarm Simulation, Derek B. Worth

Theses and Dissertations

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) swarm applications, algorithms, and control strategies have experienced steady growth and development over the past 15 years. Yet, to this day, most swarm development efforts have gone untested and thus unimplemented. Cost of aircraft systems, government imposed airspace restrictions, and the lack of adequate modeling and simulation tools are some of the major inhibitors to successful swarm implementation. This thesis examines how the OpenEaagles simulation framework can be extended to bridge this gap. This research aims to utilize Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) simulation to provide developers a functional capability to develop and test the behaviors of scalable and …

A Service Oriented Architecture Approach For Global Positioning System Quality Of Service Monitoring, Stuart A. Everson

Theses and Dissertations

This research focuses on the development of a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) for monitoring the Global Positioning System (GPS) Standard Positioning Service (SPS) in near real time utilizing a Mobile Crowd Sensing (MCS) technique. A unique approach to developing the MCS SOA was developed that utilized both the Depart- ment of Defense Architecture Framework (DoDAF) and the SOA Modeling Language (SoaML) guidance. The combination of these two frameworks resulted in generation of all the architecture products required to evaluate the SOA through the use of Model Based System Engineering (MBSE) techniques. Ultimately this research provides a feasibility analysis for utilization …

Measuring The Effectiveness Of Us Military Humanitarian Construction Projects Through Geospatial Analysis Of Public Opinion In Belize, Arthur Z. Dietrich

Theses and Dissertations

As part of broader US foreign policy efforts the Department of Defense (DoD) increasingly conducts complex operations which focus on efforts to influence local populations. These \hearts and minds" operations often include humanitarian and development construction projects. The wider impact on US foreign policy effort from the US military's participation in projects traditionally conducted by civilian agencies is not well understood. This research examined the effects on local public opinion from two US Air Force led \Operation New Horizons" Humanitarian and Civic Assistance (HCA) missions conducted in the nation of Belize in 2013 and 2014. The study specifically looked for …

A Comparative Analysis Of Ieee 802.15.4 Adapters For Wireless Range Finding, Andrew P. Seitz

Theses and Dissertations

ZigBee wireless networks have become increasingly prevalent over the past decade. Based on the IEEE 802.15.4 low data rate wireless standard, ZigBee offers low-cost mesh connectivity in hospitals, refineries, building automation, and critical infrastructure. This thesis explores two ZigBee Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI)-based rangefinding tool sets used for assessing wireless network security: Z-Ranger and Zbfind. Z-Ranger is a new tool set developed herein for the Microchip Zena Wireless Adapter that offers configurable distance estimating parameters and a RSSI resolution of 256 values. Zbfind is an application developed for the Atmel RZUSBstick with no configurable distance estimating parameters and a …