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Air Force Institute of Technology

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Articles 661 - 690 of 1164

Full-Text Articles in Business

Improving Performance Analysis Of The Distribution Segment Of The Air Force Logistics Pipeline, Heinz H. Huester Mar 2002

Improving Performance Analysis Of The Distribution Segment Of The Air Force Logistics Pipeline, Heinz H. Huester

Theses and Dissertations

The Army of the future will need to be able to quickly respond to a full spectrum of conflict-from stability and support operations to major theater wars. Today, military leaders have limited options when reacting to the wide range of current threats existing in our world. The nation needs ground combat units that can deploy very rapidly to stabilize a hostile area while possessing combat capabilities able to terminate a threat if necessary. The Army's answer to this requirement is the Interim Brigade Combat Team (IBCT). This study employs an Arena 5.0 discrete-event simulation model to explore the capabilities of …

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Offsets In International Weapons Acquisitions: The Turkish Experience, Ahmet Ilbas Mar 2002

Offsets In International Weapons Acquisitions: The Turkish Experience, Ahmet Ilbas

Theses and Dissertations

Agile Combat Support is focused on providing fast, flexible, responsive, and reliable support as the foundation of all Air Force operations. Combined with the current Air Force focus on ensuring Time Definite Delivery (TDD) and reducing Customer Wait Time (CWT), this new mind-set will place ever-increasing emphasis on supply chain performance as a determining factor in overall campaign effectiveness of future conflicts. An improved methodology for the systematic performance analysis of the distribution segment of the logistics pipeline may aid AFMC transportation personnel (AFMC/LSO) in the quick identification of system bottlenecks, identification of root causes of performance shortfalls, and the …

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Comparative Analysis Of Leasing Versus Buying General Purpose Vehicles (Sedan) In The Korean Air Force, Jung J. Kim Mar 2002

Comparative Analysis Of Leasing Versus Buying General Purpose Vehicles (Sedan) In The Korean Air Force, Jung J. Kim

Theses and Dissertations

Elmendorf Air Force Base (AFB) is one of the two key ERS airfields for the Pacific Theater. The condition of en route airfields has recently come to the attention of the DoD and the GAO. Delays at these airfields may cause personnel and equipment to arrive late in theater. Fuel systems at Elmendorf AFB are currently being improved, but the GAO questions whether these improvements will help the throughput. As well as being an en route airfield, Elmendorf is also an important Interim Brigade Combat Team (IBCT) APOE for Fort Richardson. The IBCT is designed to operate in small-scale contingency …

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Development Of A Method For Assessing The Organizational, Cultural, And Political Considerations Affecting The Insertion Of Siloms Into The Mod, Samir Mustafa Mar 2002

Development Of A Method For Assessing The Organizational, Cultural, And Political Considerations Affecting The Insertion Of Siloms Into The Mod, Samir Mustafa

Theses and Dissertations

United States Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) has a minimal number of aircraft at its disposal. As a result, the aircraft are considered high demand, low-density (small number in Air Force inventory) weapon systems. Any chance to increase aircraft availability would greatly enhance the capability of AFSOC. Isochronal maintenance (ISO) conducted once every 365 days (per AFI for C-130 aircraft) provides the best opportunity to increase aircraft availability by improving the scheduling of tasks and accurately estimating the inspection duration. Scheduled maintenance portrays the characteristics of projects, therefore, this theses proposed that Critical Chain (CC) scheduling, a project management …

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Process Mapping A Diminishing Manufacturing Sources And Materiel Shortages Reactive Management Strategy: A Case Study, Robert E. Overstreet Mar 2002

Process Mapping A Diminishing Manufacturing Sources And Materiel Shortages Reactive Management Strategy: A Case Study, Robert E. Overstreet

Theses and Dissertations

In order to handle its obligations, the Brazilian Ministry of Defense (MoD) will need an information system capable of managing logistics information from all military services. A project to develop an integrated information system to fit the requirements of different, but connected, organizations has inherent challenges. Differences in the organizational structures, cultures and political aspects, are key issues to be observed before the development to assure the project's success. The same is applicable when trying to adapt an already existing information system to fill the needs of another organization. In the new organization, it is mandatory to assess the feasibility …

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Advanced Planning And Scheduling In The United States Air Force Depot-Level Maintenance, Shenn-Rong Shyong Mar 2002

Advanced Planning And Scheduling In The United States Air Force Depot-Level Maintenance, Shenn-Rong Shyong

Theses and Dissertations

In the post cold war environment, the rapid deployment of combat capability is critical. Deployment lift capability is limited, however, so the real-time selection of the optimal combat asset mix that balances capability provided and sustainment required has become paramount. In this model, the value of a force mix is determined by the sum of the individual weapon system "suitabilities" against their assigned missions. The value is constrained by the numerical limits on the items required to create and support the force mix, and the lift required to move these items. The research considered heuristic and complete enumeration methods against …

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Modeling Aerospace Ground Equipment (Age) Usage In Military Environments, Ilhan Kaya Mar 2002

Modeling Aerospace Ground Equipment (Age) Usage In Military Environments, Ilhan Kaya

Theses and Dissertations

There is a wide array of multi-attribute decision analysis methods and associated sensitivity analysis procedures in the literature. However, there is no detailed discussion of sensitivity analysis methods solely relating to additive hierarchical value models. The currently available methodology in the literature is unsophisticated and can be hard to implement into complex models. The methodology proposed in this research builds mathematical foundations for a robust sensitivity analysis approach and extends the current methodology to a more powerful form. The new methodology is easy to implement into complex hierarchical value models and gives flexible and dynamic capabilities to decision makers during …

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Analyzing Differences Between Public And Private Sector Information Resource Management: Chief Information Officer Challenges And Critical Technologies, Scott M. Mitchell Feb 2002

Analyzing Differences Between Public And Private Sector Information Resource Management: Chief Information Officer Challenges And Critical Technologies, Scott M. Mitchell

Theses and Dissertations

The United States Air Force (AF) has experienced a downward trend in retention of information systems (IS) workers over the past five years. This research draws on the employee turnover model proposed by Mobley et al. (1979) and the work of Schein (1987) to measure the career anchors, job satisfaction, and turnover intention of AF IS workers to determine if those whose job type and career anchor match report higher satisfaction and lower turnover intention than those with a mismatch. A portion of the AF IS workforce (AFSCs 3C0X1, 3C0X2, and 3C2X1; N = 10,133) was surveyed through an online …

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Integer Approximation Of Real Valued Preference Curves, Richard M. Antoine May 2001

Integer Approximation Of Real Valued Preference Curves, Richard M. Antoine

Theses and Dissertations

A primary challenge of the AFIT Mission Resource Value Assessment Tool is to approximate a given preference curve with integer valued mission ready resources. This thesis evaluated four candidate methods of accomplishing this approximation. The thesis evaluated the implementation of the integer estimation approximation from a purely mathematical perspective. The models were measured against six quality and error measurement standards: convergence on an endpoint, convergence on any interior integer points, characterization of the overall error between the sequence of integer coordinates and the real valued linear function and characterization of the error in each individual dimension of the problem space. …

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Identification Of Preferred Operational Plan Force Mixes Using A Multiobjective Methodology To Optimize Resource Suitability And Lift Cost, David J. Wakefield Jr. Mar 2001

Identification Of Preferred Operational Plan Force Mixes Using A Multiobjective Methodology To Optimize Resource Suitability And Lift Cost, David J. Wakefield Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

AFIT research in support of the Advanced Logistics Project is directed at developing a Mission-Resource Value Assessment Tool for rationally assigning relative value to resources and identifying alternative force mixes to logistics and operational planners. Research of factors that affect force mix composition has been strictly limited to how the operating environment of USAF combat aircraft influences their performance in specified aerospace missions. In contrast, this research makes use of an aircraft's designed suitability to perform specified aerospace missions in order to examine the tradeoff between mission suitability and the amount of lift needed to deploy and operate the asset. …

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Jp-8+100lt: A Low Cost Replacement Of Jpts As The Primary Fuel For The U-2 Aircraft, Christian G. Simms Mar 2001

Jp-8+100lt: A Low Cost Replacement Of Jpts As The Primary Fuel For The U-2 Aircraft, Christian G. Simms

Theses and Dissertations

The Air Force currently spends approximately $ 10 million dollars annually on fuel support for the U-2 aircraft. The U-2 has used a jet fuel known as JPTS since the aircraft's development in the 1950's. JPTS is a specialty fuel used only by the U-2 and is produced by two oil refineries in the United States. As such, it has limited worldwide availability and costs over three times the per-gallon price of the Air Force's primary jet fuel, JP-8. Recent research performed at the Air Force Research Laboratory Propulsion Directorate suggests that additives could be added to JP-8, which would …

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United States Air Force Graduate Degrees From 1990 To 2000: A Comparison, Jonathan G. Downing Mar 2001

United States Air Force Graduate Degrees From 1990 To 2000: A Comparison, Jonathan G. Downing

Theses and Dissertations

Throughout its history, the United States Air Force has been concerned with technical graduate education. In 1947, the Ridenour Report stated the importance and need of Air Force officers with technical graduate degrees. This emphasis has served the Air Force well, but there is concern among senior Air Force leaders that there has been an erosion of these technical skills and graduate education. This research will examine the issues surrounding technical graduate education in the Air Force and will address the possible loss of such technical education. The results of this research provide specific statistical data and analysis on the …

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Predicting Software Development Cost For Command And Control Systems, Anthony W. Fife Mar 2001

Predicting Software Development Cost For Command And Control Systems, Anthony W. Fife

Theses and Dissertations

In the past, the Department of Defense (DoD) has relied upon commercial software estimating tools. However, these tools are somewhat unreliable when it comes to estimating military systems, particularly Command and Control Systems. The purpose of this study was to develop a parametric model using linear regression to estimate software development costs for DoD Command and Control systems. The developed model is unique in a few ways. First, the model is derived from Department of Defense command and control data. Second, while traditional models require volumes of variables to create estimates, the developed model only requires a few key variables …

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Analysis Of The Effect Of Centralizing Management Of Mobility Readiness Spares Package Assets, Ian R. Hester Mar 2001

Analysis Of The Effect Of Centralizing Management Of Mobility Readiness Spares Package Assets, Ian R. Hester

Theses and Dissertations

Air Force supply doctrine requires the management of large numbers of spare parts in Mobility Readiness Spares Packages (MRSPs). The MRSPs are designed to support deployed aircraft for the first 30 days of a conflict, and can be quite large. When units from several bases deploy to the same operating location, they each bring their full MRSP. This results in a large logistics footprint that may be reduced by taking a system-level approach. This thesis examined the impact of centralized MRSP management on kit size and cost. The Aircraft Sustainability Model (ASM) computer program was used to evaluate MRSPs for …

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Factors Influencing The Air Force Cycle Ergometry Fitness Assessment, Heather M. Hunn Mar 2001

Factors Influencing The Air Force Cycle Ergometry Fitness Assessment, Heather M. Hunn

Theses and Dissertations

This research investigated the influence of exercise activities, situational factors, and personality on the Air Force submaximal cycle ergometry test (SCET). Data were collected via a questionnaire administered to 209 active duty students and faculty assigned to the Air Force Institute of Technology during their required annual SCET. Stepwise multiple regression and ANOVA were used to find the proportion of variance explained by the significant predictors of SCET results for various subsets of the sampled population. For the group as a whole, self-reported test anxiety explained 24% of the variance in SCET results, while reported aerobic caloric expenditure during exercise …

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Pitfalls Of The A-76 Process, Justin W. Lavadour Mar 2001

Pitfalls Of The A-76 Process, Justin W. Lavadour

Theses and Dissertations

The DoD and the Air Force have turned to outsourcing support functions as a way to reduce both costs and the number of soldiers required to provide Support for combat forces. The process used to determine whether it is economically feasible to outsource a function is called A-76, after the circular that describes the process. Outsourcing, like any other tool, must be used in the right way, in the correct environment if the desired goal to be reached. To understand what these goals are, it is necessary to examine past case studies where outsourcing has worked, to determine why outsourcing …

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Requirements-Based Methodology For Determining Age Inventory Levels, James A. Mackenna Mar 2001

Requirements-Based Methodology For Determining Age Inventory Levels, James A. Mackenna

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to illuminate crucial areas in analyzing AGE needs on an operational flightllne and assist in determination of AGE inventory levels. Further refinements could result in more objective and accurate assessments of actual flightline AGE needs and associated risks involved with reduction of AGE inventory levels. The research in this thesis consists of a discrete event simulation to determine desired AGE inventory level through an analysis of aircraft launches and wait time for AGE support by varying AGE (mean time between failure) MTBF and AGE inventory. Stochastic inputs for aircraft failures, AGE delivery times, and …

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Analysis Of Factors Influencing Tolerance Of Fraternization, George J. Matusak Iii Mar 2001

Analysis Of Factors Influencing Tolerance Of Fraternization, George J. Matusak Iii

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores several factors that might explain discrepancies in the tolerance level of fraternization among company grade officers within the Air Force. Factors that may influence implementation may include the nature of the relationship (platonic or sexual), the sex of the participants (same or different gender or gender of the senior person), whether the incident occurred between people in the same chain of command, and whether the survey respondent was ever stationed at a remote location. This research used a survey sent out to a population of company grade officers and comprising of scenarios that varied the combination of …

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Predictability, Work-Family Conflict, And Intent To Stay: An Air Force Case Study, Patrick J. Obruba Mar 2001

Predictability, Work-Family Conflict, And Intent To Stay: An Air Force Case Study, Patrick J. Obruba

Theses and Dissertations

A survey was completed by 362 active duty Air Force members in December 2000 regarding their perceptions of schedule predictability, work-family conflict, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and intent to stay with the Air Force. Theory suggests that a program designed to create schedule predictability, the Expeditionary Aerospace Force (EAF), would moderate the relationship between predictability and intent to stay. Using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), plausible evidence was found to support the idea that schedule predictability plays a role in intentions to stay via work-family conflict, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment. Additional evidence supported the theory that the path relationships generated …

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Organizational Design Of Most Efficient Organization Air Force Civil Engineer Operations Flights, Jeffrey A. Payne Mar 2001

Organizational Design Of Most Efficient Organization Air Force Civil Engineer Operations Flights, Jeffrey A. Payne

Theses and Dissertations

This research explored how two MEO Operations Flights were structured and what type of operations management practices they were utilizing. The research involved performing site visits at the 17th Civil Engineer Squadron at Goodfellow AFB, and the 14th Civil Engineer Squadron at Columbus AFB. Data was collected through the use of the case study methodology in the form of interviews and organizational records. Data was organized to describe the two MEO's structures and management practices as well as compare the organizations to the Objective Operations Flight, the traditional Air Force Operations Flight. The data showed that both MEO's have taken …

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Revising R & D Program Budgets When Considering Funding Curtailment With A Weibull Model, Paul H. Porter Mar 2001

Revising R & D Program Budgets When Considering Funding Curtailment With A Weibull Model, Paul H. Porter

Theses and Dissertations

This research develops an analytical technique to estimate the impact of funding curtailment on an R&D program. The method quickly produces a revised budget by year for an on-going R&D program when funding in one year is reduced. We assume program requirements remain unchanged. The program duration may be unchanged or "stretched" to a later completion date. We use the Rayleigh and Weibull functions to model expenditure profiles, which forms basis of the analytical approach. Our proposed methodology accounts for budget outlay rates and inflation. We validate the proposed analytical technique using historical cost data from several programs.

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Estimating C-17 Operating And Support Costs: Development Of A System Dynamics Model, Christopher D. Purvis Mar 2001

Estimating C-17 Operating And Support Costs: Development Of A System Dynamics Model, Christopher D. Purvis

Theses and Dissertations

This research provides justification for experimenting with system dynamics (SD) for performing Operation and Support Cost estimates. For the C-17 Globemaster III cargo aircraft, these costs could exceed $64 billion dollars. Also, many of our weapon systems are beginning to reach the end of their effective life span, and discussions about the impact of aging, on aircraft, has become a hot topic in the literature. System Dynamics is a modeling methodology developed in 1958, but never used extensively for cost estimating. SD offers unique capabilities to the cost estimator, including the ability to model causal relationships. This capability offers the …

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Factors Affecting Exchange Relationships Among Subordinates And Supervisors: A Study Of Military Officers, Laurie K. Richter Mar 2001

Factors Affecting Exchange Relationships Among Subordinates And Supervisors: A Study Of Military Officers, Laurie K. Richter

Theses and Dissertations

This research examined the effect of organizational structure on the relationships between subordinates and their supervisors using measures of leader-member exchange (LMX), mentoring effectiveness, perceived organizational support (POS), perceived opportunities for promotion, job satisfaction, affective commitment, and intent to remain. The sample obtained included 147 subordinate Air Force traditional Civil Engineer officers, Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) officers, Bioenvironmental Engineer officers, and 27 squadron commanders at 19 Air Force bases. The methods of multiple analysis of variance and structural equation modeling were used to evaluate five research questions and nineteen hypotheses. Overall, no differences were found between the types of subordinate …

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Knowledge Management In The Cost Analysis Knowledge Domain: Generating, Organizing, And Developing Knowledge For Crosschecking Cost Estimates, Ryan J. Rueve Mar 2001

Knowledge Management In The Cost Analysis Knowledge Domain: Generating, Organizing, And Developing Knowledge For Crosschecking Cost Estimates, Ryan J. Rueve

Theses and Dissertations

Two problems the Aeronautical Systems Center's Acquisition Cost Division (ASC/FMC) is encountering with its Life Cycle Cost/Lean Process Initiative (LCC/LPI) efforts are (Marshall and Seibel. 2000): (1) a high proportion of inexperienced to experienced cost analysts which makes access to valuable expertise limited, and (2) knowledge loss due to turnover of experienced cost analysts. To address these problems, this thesis presents a four-step tailored methodology to identity tasks or processes important to the functioning of an organization, capture knowledge from experts pertaining to those tasks (generate content), convert that knowledge into a flowchart (organize content), and have experts critique the …

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Air Mobility Command Passenger Reservation System Analysis, Robert E. Tuttle Mar 2001

Air Mobility Command Passenger Reservation System Analysis, Robert E. Tuttle

Theses and Dissertations

The Department of Defense (DoD) has undergone a massive downsizing in an effort to comply with President Clinton's directive to 'reinvent' government making it more efficient. Therefore, the DoD revamped its $3.5 billion annual official business travel program. The core of this project is the Defense Travel System (DTS), an Internet based solution providing personally arranged travel, largely circumventing the base transportation offices. This thesis looks at DTS's Air Mobility Command passenger reservation management. This program is comprised of four geographically separated Passenger Reservation Centers located in Scott AFB IL, Japan, Germany and Hawaii. The objective of this study was …

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Relating Initial Budget To Program Growth With Rayleigh And Weibull Models, Eric J. Unger Mar 2001

Relating Initial Budget To Program Growth With Rayleigh And Weibull Models, Eric J. Unger

Theses and Dissertations

Previous research on completed defense R&D shows that contract expenditures can be fit well with a Rayleigh model. With fixed outlay rates, as prescribed by the OSD comptroller, the budget profile must have most of the funds in the early years to produce Rayleigh-distributed expenditures. R&D programs with more delayed funding profiles may also produce expenditures that a Rayleigh model fits through schedule slips and cost overruns. This research tests how well the initial funding profile produces Rayleigh-distributed expenditures that can be related to the program's final cost overrun and schedule slips. Based only on the initial budget profile, we …

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Changing Organizations: A Meta-Analysis Of Change Implementation Strategies' Effects On Organizational Outcomes, Jay A. Welborn Mar 2001

Changing Organizations: A Meta-Analysis Of Change Implementation Strategies' Effects On Organizational Outcomes, Jay A. Welborn

Theses and Dissertations

This research represents a meta-analysis of 24 empirical studies that explored and identified which organizational factors moderated the relationships between facilitation strategies and change adoption The results indicate two key facilitation strategies, participation and communication that produced significant results. Participation resulted in a positive impact on job satisfaction, organizational commitment, performance, and turnover rates, while communication resulted in a positive impact on job satisfaction, organizational commitment, change adoption, and intent to remain. Contrary to many research studies, participation strategy was a non-significant moderator for change adoption. The identified strategies and outcomes were then analyzed for potential moderators. Due to the …

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Effects Of Alternative Performance Criteria Upon Composition Of Air Transportable Spare Parts Kits, Murat V. Buyukacar Mar 2001

Effects Of Alternative Performance Criteria Upon Composition Of Air Transportable Spare Parts Kits, Murat V. Buyukacar

Theses and Dissertations

Airlift capacity is a definitive factor in the success of large-scale military operations. History proves that the demand for airlift soon exceeds its capacity during simultaneous deployment of forces. Therefore good solutions to the airlift capacity problem are important. This thesis contributes to the resolution of this problem by seeking ways to reduce readiness spare parts packages (RSPs) deployed for Air Force squadrons through addition of airlift criteria into the RSP selection process. We find that item cost, weight, and volume are three important criteria for RSP computations. We then offer a method for implementing these three criteria in the …

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Analysis And Evaluation Of The Macroscopic Organizational Structure Of Red Horse, Lance D. Clark Mar 2001

Analysis And Evaluation Of The Macroscopic Organizational Structure Of Red Horse, Lance D. Clark

Theses and Dissertations

The primary contingency engineering capability within the United States Air Force is provided by Rapid Engineer Deployable, Heavy Operations Readiness Squadron, Engineer (RED HORSE). This thesis examines the macroscopic organizational structure of RED HORSE; that is, the manner in which RED HORSE resources (personnel and equipment) are organized collectively, above the unit (squadron or flight) level. It builds on the findings of the Air Combat Command - sponsored RED HORSE 2010 Strategic Study, and focuses on issues of geographic location and chain of command above the unit level, as the study found these two topics were found to be vital …

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An Analysis Of The Interaction Between The J3 And J4 War Planning Staffs During The Phases Of Crisis Action Planning, Michael J. Colvard Mar 2001

An Analysis Of The Interaction Between The J3 And J4 War Planning Staffs During The Phases Of Crisis Action Planning, Michael J. Colvard

Theses and Dissertations

A principal operational concept of Joint Vision 2020 is that of Focused Logistics, which promotes a merger of information and logistics technologies. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's Advanced Logistics Project (ALP) supports this concept of Focused Logistics and seeks to leverage information technologies to obtain control over the logistics pipeline. The current campaign planning process is limited by the information made available to the decision-makers. In order for ALP to assist the decision-maker in selecting a single optimal deployment plan, the founding assumptions of alternatives considered must be valid. Logistical issues are major constraints in the war planning process. …

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