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Articles 901 - 930 of 1284

Full-Text Articles in Operations Research, Systems Engineering and Industrial Engineering

Forecasting Readiness: Using Regression To Predict The Mission Capability Of Air Force F-16 Fighter Aircraft, Steven A. Oliver Mar 2001

Forecasting Readiness: Using Regression To Predict The Mission Capability Of Air Force F-16 Fighter Aircraft, Steven A. Oliver

Theses and Dissertations

According to many, the readiness of America's forces deteriorated in the 1990s. In the Air Force, the combat readiness of its fighter aircraft has declined. One of its indicators of combat readiness, the mission capable rate, is used to identify the percentage of aircraft unable to perform their missions. From FY94-FY98, the aggregate total not mission capable rate for maintenance steadily increased from 14% to 18.2% while total not mission capable rate for supply increased from 5.5% to 17.5% between FY86 and FY00. The USAF uses the funding/Availability Multi-Method Allocator for Spares model to forecast these rates for its aircraft. …

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The Effects Of Budgetary Constraints, Multiple Strategy Selection, And Rationality On Equilibrium Attainment In An Information Warfare Simulation, Steven W. Tait Mar 2001

The Effects Of Budgetary Constraints, Multiple Strategy Selection, And Rationality On Equilibrium Attainment In An Information Warfare Simulation, Steven W. Tait

Theses and Dissertations

Information warfare (IW) has developed into a significant threat to the national security of the United States. Our critical infrastructures, linked together by information systems, are increasingly vulnerable to information attack. This study seeks to understand some of those factors which affect the ability of an individual to make accurate decisions in an IW environment. The study used game theory to analyze the behavior of decision-makers within an IW simulation. The IW game model is based on a set of games known as infinitely repeated games of incomplete information. It uses the Bayesian Nash equilibrium concept to determine the strategy …

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Influence Of Feedback And Comment Labels On Information Sharing In A Computer Mediated Collaborative Environment, Gary D. Denney Mar 2001

Influence Of Feedback And Comment Labels On Information Sharing In A Computer Mediated Collaborative Environment, Gary D. Denney

Theses and Dissertations

A group support system (GSS) uses a combination of networked personal computers, software, and human facilitation to improve the group decision-making process. Group support Systems are being used in the Air Force today in a variety of capacities and in particular by the Warner-Robins Air Logistics Center (WR-ALC) to assess acquisition risks. Prior GSS research has found that certain structural and social dimensions of GSS designs might influence whether optimal process improvements take place. However, the dimensions that positively influence group performance have continued to be a matter of debate. This thesis looked at several structural and social contingencies to …

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Using Statistical Process Control Methods To Classify Pilot Mental Workload, Terence Y. Kudo Mar 2001

Using Statistical Process Control Methods To Classify Pilot Mental Workload, Terence Y. Kudo

Theses and Dissertations

The problem of classifying pilot mental workload is important to the United States Air Force. Pilots are more subject to errors and G-induced loss of consciousness during periods of mental overload and task saturation. Often the result is the loss of aircraft, and in extreme cases, the loss of the pilot's life. Current research efforts use different psychophysiological features to classify pilot mental workload. These include cardiac, ocular, respiratory, and brain activity measures. The focus of this effort is to apply statistical process control methodology on different psychophysiological features in an attempt to classify pilot mental workload. The control charts …

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A Methodology For Simulating The Joint Strike Fighter's Prognostics And Health Management System, Michael E. Malley Mar 2001

A Methodology For Simulating The Joint Strike Fighter's Prognostics And Health Management System, Michael E. Malley

Theses and Dissertations

The Autonomic Logistics System Simulation (ALSim) model was developed to provide decision makers a tool to make informed decisions regarding the Joint Strike Fighter's (JSF) Autonomic Logistics System (ALS). The ALS provides real-time maintenance information to ground maintenance crews, supply depots, and air planners to efficiently manage the availability of JSF aircraft. This thesis effort focuses on developing a methodology to model the Prognostics and Health Management (PHM) component of ALS. The PHM component of JSF monitors the aircraft status. To develop a PHM methodology to use in ALSim a neural network approach is used. Notional JSF prognostic signals were …

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A Verification And Validation Assessment Of Rapid Availability Prototyping For Testing Operational Readiness, Gurhan Tarman Mar 2001

A Verification And Validation Assessment Of Rapid Availability Prototyping For Testing Operational Readiness, Gurhan Tarman

Theses and Dissertations

Throughout the world, new techniques are developed to test and evaluate systems. The Department of Defense and the US Air Force conduct numerous studies into the reliability and maintainability of current and future weapons systems in an effort to understand the reliability, maintainability, and availability (RM&A) costs of these systems. Furthermore, they must verify RM&A characteristics of systems, which are still in the development phase. The Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center (AFOTEC) is responsible for testing new equipment to ensure their RM&A characteristics meet specifications. Rapid Availability Prototyping for Testing Operational Readiness (RAPTOR) is the software tool developed …

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Minimum Distance Estimation For Time Series Analysis With Little Data, Hakan Tekin Mar 2001

Minimum Distance Estimation For Time Series Analysis With Little Data, Hakan Tekin

Theses and Dissertations

Minimum distance estimate is a statistical parameter estimate technique that selects model parameters that minimize a good-of-fit statistic. Minimum distance estimation has been demonstrated better standard approaches, including maximum likelihood estimators and least squares, in estimating statistical distribution parameters with very small data sets. This research applies minimum distance estimation to the task of making time series predictions with very few historical observations. In a Monte Carlo analysis, we test a variety of distance measures and report the results based on many different criteria. Our analysis tests the robustness of the approach by testing its ability to make predictions when …

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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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A Reactive Tabu Search Metaheuristic Extension Of The Air Refueling Tanker Assignment Problem, Umit Hilmi Tekelioglu Mar 2001

A Reactive Tabu Search Metaheuristic Extension Of The Air Refueling Tanker Assignment Problem, Umit Hilmi Tekelioglu

Theses and Dissertations

The Combined Mating and Ranging Planning System (CMARPS) is the system used by AMC to schedule air refueling for deployments from the continental U.S. to other parts of the world. The tool developed by Capehart (2000) got results similar to CMARPS in less time. Capehart's tool allows AMC to input several receiver groups consisting of various aircraft types and numbers. Each receiver group contains a point of origin and destination, with the option of providing one waypoint along the path, a ready to load date (RLD) and required delivery date (RDD). The user is also able to specify the locations …

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A Case Study Analysis Of The Overhead Rate Impact Model Used During The C-5 Maintenance Source Selection, William N. Ward Mar 2001

A Case Study Analysis Of The Overhead Rate Impact Model Used During The C-5 Maintenance Source Selection, William N. Ward

Theses and Dissertations

The Overhead Rate Impact (ORI) model was used during the C-5 Maintenance source selection to evaluate the impact the new workload would have on the existing overhead rates. The objectives of this research study were to evaluate the ORI model and to identify the lessons learned from this source selection. To accomplish these objectives, interviews were conducted with members of the source selection team who were on the Cost Integrated Product Team (IPT). The experts were asked to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the ORI model and to make recommendation on how to improve the model. This study identified …

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A Force Structuring Model For A Moderately-Sized Nato Country, Hakan Bal Mar 2001

A Force Structuring Model For A Moderately-Sized Nato Country, Hakan Bal

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research is to develop a mathematical model which will aid the decision-makers of a moderately-sized NATO country to develop their future force structure composition. As the number of alternatives grows, and as the consequences become more important and more uncertain, the force structuring decision becomes increasingly difficult. The valuable lessons of past experience cannot be ignored. However, when one considers the high rotation rates of most countries' air forces, the rapid change in technology and the vast array of options available, even the most experienced leaders need some assistance. Hence, decision support tools are needed to …

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The Distributer's Three-Dimensional Pallet-Packing Problem: A Human Intelligence-Based Heuristic Approach, Erhan Baltacioglu Mar 2001

The Distributer's Three-Dimensional Pallet-Packing Problem: A Human Intelligence-Based Heuristic Approach, Erhan Baltacioglu

Theses and Dissertations

The Distributor's Pallet Packing Problem is to load a set of distinct boxes with given dimensions on pallets or in containers to maximize volume utilization. This problem is still in its early stages of research, but there is a high level of interest in developing effective models to solve this NP-hard problem to reduce the time, energy and other resources spent in packing pallets. In its search to improve operations, the Air Force is also making an effort to solve this problem. Building an analytical model and developing a genetic algorithm approach have been tried, but the problem needs more …

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Multiple Model Adaptive Estimation For Time Series Analysis, Ibrahim Dulger Mar 2001

Multiple Model Adaptive Estimation For Time Series Analysis, Ibrahim Dulger

Theses and Dissertations

Multiple Model Adaptive Estimation (MMAE) is a Bayesian technique that applies a bank of Kalman filters to predict future observations. Each Kalman filter is based on a different set of parameters and hence produces different residuals. The likelihood of each Kalman filter's prediction is determined by a magnitude of the residuals. Since some researchers have obtained good forecasts using a single Kalman filter, we tested MMAE's ability to make time series predictions. Our Kalman filters have a dynamics model based on a Box-Jenkins Auto-Regressive Moving Average (ARMA) model and a measure model with additive noise. The time-series prediction is based …

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Evaluation Of Strategy-Structure Fit Of Space And Missile Systems Center Detachment 11, Tommy M. Gates Mar 2001

Evaluation Of Strategy-Structure Fit Of Space And Missile Systems Center Detachment 11, Tommy M. Gates

Theses and Dissertations

Activated June 1,1998, Space and Missile Systems Center Detachment 11, located in Colorado Springs, integrates system support management for the Satellite Launch Control System (SLCS), MlLSTAR, the Defense Meteorological Support Program (DMSP), the Space Based Infrared System (SBlRSl, and the Global Positioning System (GPS). The Detachment performs operational software maintenance, satellite systems engineering, space testing and evaluation, and technology master planning. Contemporary management theory asserts that the appropriate match of strategy and structure determines an organization's level of performance. The Detachment is currently organized programmatically. The current programmatic organizational structure represents the physical manifestation of the Integrated Weapon System Management …

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An Analysis Of The Acquisition Process For Simplified Acquisition Of Base Engineering Requirements (Saber) Contracts And Its Potential Impact On Contractor Performance, Brian J. Heaps Mar 2001

An Analysis Of The Acquisition Process For Simplified Acquisition Of Base Engineering Requirements (Saber) Contracts And Its Potential Impact On Contractor Performance, Brian J. Heaps

Theses and Dissertations

The Simplified Acquisition of Base Engineering Requirements (SABER) contract's main purpose is to expedite contract award of civil engineer requirements through the issuance of individual delivery orders. The contract contains a collection of detailed task specifications that include most types of real property maintenance, repair, and construction work. The Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition's Operational Contracting Division (SAF/AQCO) identified a number of failed SABER contracts. The problem statement designed for this research effort was: There are a large number of SABER contractors that are failing during the performance period on their SABER contracts. SAF/AQCO is trying to …

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Weapon System Environmental Life Cycle Cost Methodologies And Models, William H. Kale Iii Mar 2001

Weapon System Environmental Life Cycle Cost Methodologies And Models, William H. Kale Iii

Theses and Dissertations

Major Defense Acquisition Programs (MDAP) cost billions of dollars and have 30 to 50 year life spans. Numerous (federal, state, etc.) laws, Environmental Protection Agency regulations, and Executive Orders have driven DoD to develop and implement significant environmental policies within the past ten to fifteen years. Congressional mandate now requires each MDAP to evaluate its environmental life cycle cost (ELCC) to minimize these costs. This research focuses on the current methodologies and models used to predict and calculate the ELCC of a MDAP. This thesis analyzed the difficulties associated with using ELCC methodologies and models and examined several case studies …

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Malicious Hackers: A Framework For Analysis And Case Study, Laura J. Kleen Mar 2001

Malicious Hackers: A Framework For Analysis And Case Study, Laura J. Kleen

Theses and Dissertations

Recent years have seen an increase in the number and severity of Information Operations (IO) attacks upon DoD resources. At a higher level, the US as a whole has come under cyber attack by individuals and groups seeking thrills, monetary gain, publicity for their causes, and myriad other goals. This effort develops a first cut model of individual hacker mentality that can be utilized to improve threat assessment, mitigate Information Assurance (IA) vulnerabilities, and improve risk assessment. Further, it is a first step toward automated characterization of Information Warfare (IW) attacks based upon hacker types. All hackers are not the …

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Gss Technology As A Moderator Of Influence And Perceived Expertise, Kevin V. Thompson Mar 2001

Gss Technology As A Moderator Of Influence And Perceived Expertise, Kevin V. Thompson

Theses and Dissertations

Group Support System (355) research has found this content and process anonymity influence problem solving groups. However, previous studies report mixed results on how OSS technology changes social influence processes and recognition of expertise which affect group performance. This thesis explored content and process anonymity's affect on influence and perceived expertise using three treatments to derive possible explanations for the mixed results found in previous GSS research. The study developed a theoretical model of influence, perceived expertise, and performance. Using structural equation modeling the study tested the relationships between expertise and participation rates, and overall group performance. An experiment was …

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Identifying Demand Indicators For Air Force Recruiting Service With Discriminant Analysis, Jason L. Williams Mar 2001

Identifying Demand Indicators For Air Force Recruiting Service With Discriminant Analysis, Jason L. Williams

Theses and Dissertations

A changing public disposition towards military service has all four military branches rethinking recruiting practices. This Air Force is reacting to this new recruiting climate by increasing the bonuses for new recruits, pumping up advertising budgets, and bolstering recruiting personnel levels. This thesis provides a new tool for assessing how to allocate these new resources. Discriminant Analysis is used to identify population characteristics that categorize recruiting locations. A methodology is constructed that can discriminate between communities where interest is high in military service and where recruiting efforts will not be productive.

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An Analysis Of Total System Performance Responsibility In Air Force Acquisitions, Christopher P. White Mar 2001

An Analysis Of Total System Performance Responsibility In Air Force Acquisitions, Christopher P. White

Theses and Dissertations

This research examined how well the goals and objectives of total system performance responsibility (TSPR) are being met. The research was sparked by the rise of implementing TSPR as an element of an acquisition strategy in many weapon and information systems. Acquisition professionals use TSPR to decrease total ownership cost, improve system performance, and optimize public-private support capabilities while maintaining operational flexibility. However, while the number of programs that use or plan to implement TSPR or some form of contractor support and sustainment continues to increase, little research has been conducted concerning the effectiveness of TSPR as an element of …

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Estimating Budget Relationships With A Leontief Input-Output Model, Guenever L. R. Shariff Dec 2000

Estimating Budget Relationships With A Leontief Input-Output Model, Guenever L. R. Shariff

Theses and Dissertations

Forty years ago, the Office of the Secretary of Defense proposed using the Leontief input-output model to assess tradeoffs in the Department of Defense's (DoD) budget. We demonstrate that the Leontief input-output model can assess tradeoffs in the Air Force's budget. To increase one part of the Air Force's budget, we need to know the interrelationships between that budget area and the other areas. In this research, we look at different methods of how the functional areas might interact. We demonstrate our methodology on two data sets - DoD and the Air Force aggregate budget data. By looking at how …

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Covalidation Of Dissimilarly Structured Models, Samuel A. Wright Dec 2000

Covalidation Of Dissimilarly Structured Models, Samuel A. Wright

Theses and Dissertations

A methodology is presented which allows comparison between models constructed under different modeling paradigms. Consider the following situation: Two models are constructed to study different aspects of the same system. One model simulates a fleet of aircraft moving a given combination of cargo and passengers from an onload point to an offload point. A second model is a linear programming model that optimizes the aircraft and route selection required for the same scenario. We develop a methodology to structure the comparison between large-scale models such as these. Models that compare favorably using this methodology are deemed covalid. Models that perform …

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Computer-Based Methods For Constructing Two-Level Fractional-Factorial Experimental Designs With A Requirement Set, Steven L. Forsythe Dec 2000

Computer-Based Methods For Constructing Two-Level Fractional-Factorial Experimental Designs With A Requirement Set, Steven L. Forsythe

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation developed four methodologies for computer-aided experimental design of two-level fractional factorial designs with requirement sets (DOE/RS). The requirement sets identify all the experimental factors and the appropriate interaction terms to be evaluated in the experiment. Taguchi graphs and similar manual methods provide techniques for solving the DOE/RS problem. Unfortunately, these methods are limited because they become difficult to use as the number of factors or interaction terms exceeds ten. This research showed that the DOE/RS problem belongs to a class of difficult-to-solve problems known as NP-Complete. It is the combinatorial nature of NP-Complete problems that causes them to …

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Global Positioning System (Gps) Error Source Prediction, Marcus G. Ferguson Mar 2000

Global Positioning System (Gps) Error Source Prediction, Marcus G. Ferguson

Theses and Dissertations

With the initiation of the navigation accuracy prediction algorithm used to estimate the amount of GPS solution (location and time) error for receivers, the capability to accurately predict solution errors due to the major GPS error sources is growing. Although some sources of error within the GPS solution have been previously analyzed, modeled, and/or accounted for within various modeling efforts, a formal evaluation of the seven major error sources that distort GPS activity has not been officially conducted up until this point. This research offers a logical assessment of all the major GPS error sources and their definitive impact on …

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The Evaluation Of Competing Classifiers, Stephen G. Alsing Mar 2000

The Evaluation Of Competing Classifiers, Stephen G. Alsing

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation research makes contributions towards the objective evaluation of competing classifiers, i.e., classification systems (CSs) or pattern recognition algorithms. Automatic CSs have been under development for almost 40 years in a wide range of military and medical applications. During this period, scientists and engineers have developed extensive theory and algorithms for classification, but by comparison have focused little on the testing and evaluation of their systems. Classifier evaluation is very important in the fields of automatic target recognition (ATR) and pilot workload classification. In order for military operators to be confident in new CSs, they must have an objective …

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A Combined Inventory And Delivery Model For Repairable Items, Bahtiyar Eren Mar 2000

A Combined Inventory And Delivery Model For Repairable Items, Bahtiyar Eren

Theses and Dissertations

Traditionally, logistics analysts have treated the delivery problem separate from the inventory and repair problems. In other words, each of these three problems-delivery, inventory, and repair-are treated individually. We combine the vehicle routing problems and inventory allocation problems in a single formulation. Furthermore, lateral re-supply is considered, in that supplies are not only available from the main depot, but also from other bases. After we get the lateral re-supply information, we set a delivery allocation plan out of the main depot. Such allocations are then delivered via vehicles stationed at the main depot. There is a repair capability for each …

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Using Rsm, Doe, And Linear Regression To Develop A Metamodel To Predict Cargo Delivery Of A Time Phase Force Deployment Document, Kenneth S. Browne Mar 2000

Using Rsm, Doe, And Linear Regression To Develop A Metamodel To Predict Cargo Delivery Of A Time Phase Force Deployment Document, Kenneth S. Browne

Theses and Dissertations

Air Mobility Command (AMC) uses the Airlift Flow Model as their primary tool to estimate the amount of cargo delivered in a Time Phase Force Deployment Document (TPFDD). The primary objective of this research was an exploratory investigation in the development of a metamodel to predict the amount of cargo delivered from a TPFDD by AMC into a theater. In creating a valid metamodel the analyst would be able to quickly provide the decision-maker with accurate insights should input parameters change. This would save valuable time and replace the need to physically change the input parameters and re-run the simulation. …

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Toward Validating Vertical Aggregation In Object Oriented Simulation, George W. Johnson Jr. Mar 2000

Toward Validating Vertical Aggregation In Object Oriented Simulation, George W. Johnson Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

Recent interest in studying the nonlinear effects of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance in combat models has prompted researchers to employ vertical aggregation in object-oriented simulations. Traditional horizontal aggregation falls short for its inability to provide accurate means for nonlinear functions. Averaging a group of objects that exhibit nonlinear behavior provides a linear approximation to the mean, which is not necessarily the expected value of the underlying nonlinear function. Vertical aggregation explicitly models individual objects, thus preserving their nonlinear behaviors. In this research, a validation procedure is derived to study the aptness of vertical aggregation methods. Validation is carried out by …

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A Validation Assessment Of The Storm Air-To-Air Prototype Algorithm, David M. Pugh Mar 2000

A Validation Assessment Of The Storm Air-To-Air Prototype Algorithm, David M. Pugh

Theses and Dissertations

A validation assessment of the new STORM air-to-air prototype algorithm is accomplished using structural and output validation techniques. In the structural validation phase, the algorithms, code, and assumptions are evaluated to determine if the implementation of the model will match the intent of the designers. The components of the algorithm are compared to its predecessor, THUNDER, to evaluate if the prototype nnproves upon the weaknesses of THUNDER. In the output validation phase, the results of the model are evaluated to determine the extent to which the implementation of the model matches expected outcomes. Sensitivity analysis is presented to provide insight …

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Locating Search And Rescue Stations In The Aegean And Western Mediterranean Regions Of Turkey, Melih M. Basdemir Mar 2000

Locating Search And Rescue Stations In The Aegean And Western Mediterranean Regions Of Turkey, Melih M. Basdemir

Theses and Dissertations

The service of present Search and Rescue (SAR) stations in the Aegean and the Western Mediterranean regions of Turkey are not sufficient to meet the demands of the Turkish Air Force. This research seeks to find the optimum location of new SAR stations. The number of SAR stations required to cover all areas of operation becomes a very decisive element in finding the optimal coverage of the operation area by these stations. The problem of finding the optimum SAR locations can he modeled as a maximal covering location problem (MCLP). Additional constraints are added to set standards on various issues …

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