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Whose Story? His-Story., Meghan E. O'Donnell

SURGE

The essay instructions finally landed in front of me. I passed the extra sheets on and quickly glanced over the page, hoping that the prompt would be inspiring. There were two open-ended options from which to choose: military and social/political aspects of the war. My eyes first fell upon the social option and I pondered using this opportunity to shed light on the experiences of women during the war. I’d done this before – used assignments to explore history’s untold stories – and found it interesting. Then, in a fit of frustration that erupted out of nowhere, I thought to …

Isolation, Identification And Biological Characteristics Of A Bacteriocin-Producing Lactic Acid Bacteria Strain Isolated From Fermented Soybean Processing Wastewater, Yin Lebin, Zhang Chenfei, Sun Jing, Kong Xiaoting, Xia Qiuliang, Zhou Xinxing, Du Yan, Lai Han, Zhao Liangzhong

Food and Machinery

A bacteriocin-producing lactic acid bacteria strain designated as NLB-3 was isolated from natural fermentation broth of a soybean plant. By excluding the disturbances of organic acids and H₂O₂ to antibacterial activity of indicator bacteria, and after the fermentation broth protein stability analysis, the antibacterial substance was determined as bacteriocin. On the basis of the colonies, cells morphology, dissolved calcium circle, physiological and biochemical characteristics, strain NLB-3 was preliminary identified as Lactobacillus sp.. The biological characteristics of strain NLB-3 showed that, its optimum growth temperature was at 35 ℃, after 16 hours fermentation, the pH value reached 3.45 …

Active Shooter Security At The University Of Nebraska: The Case For Training And Door Locks, Randall Bowdish

Department of Political Science: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Active shooter security at the University of Nebraska is lax. Simple fixes in the way of training and the installation of classroom door locks can help provide a safer environment for students and faculty.

Emotional Intelligence And Self-Efficacy In Military Leaders, Kelly A. Hudson

Dissertations

\Purpose: This quantitative study was conducted for the purpose of determining the relationship between emotional intelligence and self-efficacy in military leaders.

Methodology: This quantitative, correlational study measured emotional intelligence and self-efficacy in military leaders to determine the relationship between them. The study involved differentiating between non-commissioned officers and commissioned officers in order to determine if a difference exists between the types of leaders in the military.

Findings: The findings from this research illustrate that there is a relationship between the leaders’ emotional intelligence and self-efficacy.

Conclusions: The study supported the hypothesis that the higher a leader’s emotional intelligence, the higher …

An Analysis Of Factors Affecting The Royal Air Force Contribution To The Raid On Dieppe, 1942, David Stubbs

Canadian Military History

This paper seeks to explain the limited options available to Air Marshal Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory when planning the Royal Air Force (RAF) portion of the combined operation raid on Dieppe in 1942. It proposes that a number of constraining influences, some self-imposed, reduced the air support options, so that only an air umbrella over the attacking forces could be provided. It argues that these influences were a consequence of the RAF’s cultural and conceptual environment, which perpetuated Trenchardian notions of offensive spirit in RAF doctrine, together with the refusal to consider options to extend the range of its fighter aircraft. …

"Valour Road (Book Review)" By John Nadler, Craig Leslie Mantle

Canadian Military History

Review of Valour Road. John Nadler. Toronto: Viking, 2014. pp. 360.

"In Peace Prepared: Innovation And Adaptation In Canada's Cold War Army (Book Review)" By Andrew B. Godefroy, Caroline D'Amours

Canadian Military History

Review of In Peace Prepared: Innovation and Adaptation in Canada's Cold War Army. Andrew B. Godefroy. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 2014. Pp. 292.

"Death Or Deliverance: Canadian Courts Martial In The Great War (Book Review)" By Teresa Iacobelli, Alyssa Cundy

Canadian Military History

Review of Death or Deliverance: Canadian Courts Martial in the Great War. Teresa Iacobelli. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 2013. Pp. 175.

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 …

Deception In Game Theory: A Survey And Multiobjective Model, Austin L. Davis

Theses and Dissertations

Game theory is the study of mathematical models of conflict. It provides tools for analyzing dynamic interactions between multiple agents and (in some cases) across multiple interactions. This thesis contains two scholarly articles. The first article is a survey of game-theoretic models of deception. The survey describes the ways researchers use game theory to measure the practicality of deception, model the mechanisms for performing deception, analyze the outcomes of deception, and respond to, or mitigate the effects of deception. The survey highlights several gaps in the literature. One important gap concerns the benefit-cost-risk trade-off made during deception planning. To address …

Effectiveness Based Design Of A Tactical Tanker Aircraft, Andrew K. Petry

Theses and Dissertations

An approach to drive conceptual aircraft design using mission effectiveness parameters is described and applied to an operational scenario. The scenario includes traditional aircraft refueling tankers and a proposed tactical tanker concept supporting fighter aircraft conducting offensive (OCA) and defensive (DCA) counter air patrols. Traditional conceptual design methodologies were used to generate a baseline design for a tactical tanker aircraft, which was evaluated using a MATLAB-based model to investigate Measures of Effectiveness (MOE). The model holds the traditional tanker and fighter capabilities constant, while varying the tactical tanker's specific fuel consumption, lift-to-drag ratio, fuel payload, mass fraction, and proximity to …

Neutron Radiation Effects On Ge And Gesn Semiconductors, Christopher T. O'Daniel

Theses and Dissertations

Two different semiconductor materials received neutron radiation for assessment of radiation damage. The two materials are undoped bulk Ge and epitaxial Ge_0.991Sn_0.009, which is doped heavily with phosphorous. At room temperature, the Ge sample has direct and indirect bandgaps at 0.78 eV and 0.66 eV, respectively. The Ge_0.991Sn_0.009 sample has direct and indirect bandgaps at 0.72 eV and 0.63 eV, respectively. Two samples of each material were exposed to research reactor neutrons, delivering a 1 MeV equivalent neutron fluence of 2.52 × 10¹⁵ n/cm². In order to assess the radiation …

A Simulation-Based Analysis Of Chemical And Radiological Hazard Zones Adapted To Physical Boundaries, Mickie J. Sundheim

Theses and Dissertations

In the United States, industrial and terrorist use of chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) materials pose a risk to public safety. During the initial phase of typical CBRN incidents, emergency responders establish hazard zones based on standard distances from published guidelines and recommendations. This research investigates how standard hazard zones change in a real world environment that accounts for physical boundaries. Using a python simulation in ArcGIS®, new hazard zones were created by expanding standard hazard zones to follow nearby roads, railroads, and rivers. The new and standard zones were compared by calculating the population and area affected by …

Jamming Cognitive Radios, Travis J. Freeman

Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this thesis is to identify and evaluate weaknesses in the rendezvous process for Cognitive Radio Networks (CRNs) in the presence of a Cognitive Jammer (CJ). Jamming strategies are suggested and tested for effectiveness. Methods for safe- guarding the Cognitive Radios (CRs) against a CJ are also explored. A simulation is constructed to set up a scenario of two CRs interacting with a CJ. Analysis of the simulation is conducted primarily at the waveform level. A hardware setup is constructed to analyze the system in the physical layer, verify the interactions from the simulation, and test in a …

Airborne Directional Networking: Topology Control Protocol Design, Barry C. Geise

Theses and Dissertations

This research identifies and evaluates the impact of several architectural design choices in relation to airborne networking in contested environments related to autonomous topology control. Using simulation, we evaluate topology reconfiguration effectiveness using classical performance metrics for different point-to-point communication architectures. Our attention is focused on the design choices which have the greatest impact on reliability, scalability, and performance. In this work, we discuss the impact of several practical considerations of airborne networking in contested environments related to autonomous topology control modeling. Using simulation, we derive multiple classical performance metrics to evaluate topology reconfiguration effectiveness for different point-to-point communication architecture …