Global Response Force Outload Decision Support Tool

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Zachary Horowitz, Tyler Maeker, Marissa Malta, and Thomas SchaferAdvisor: Major David Beskow

Problem Definition

Develop an Out-load Decision Support Tool (ODST) that builds/adjusts the Vehicle List (PVL) and optimizes vehicle

to various types of aircraft.

Priority

assignment

Agenda

• Introduction• Prioritization• Assignment• Range• Visualization• Implementation• Questions

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Introduction GRF

N-hour N-hour +18

A lot has to happen here

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Introduction to Our Problem

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Functional Hierarchy

Prioritization

Prioritization– Multi–Objective Decision Analysis (MODA): Creating a value model

that takes multiple criterion into account and weighs their importance based on stakeholder’s needs to give each vehicle a value which can in turn be used to rank them.

– We explored using War Fighting Functions, Echelon, and Company Level Units as criteria for a value function

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)()(1

xvw ii

n

ii

xv

Which of these is more Important

for a given mission?

Did Not Adequately approximate commander’s

prioritization

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• The ODST allows prioritization by capability rather than vehicle

• This allows for the commander to have greater flexibility when various missions arise

Prioritization as Implemented

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How do we optimally assign

vehicles to Aircraft???

Linear Programming

Heuristic Algorithmor

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Linear Programming

Aa Vv

vavAa

aAa Vv

avav feetvehXfeetavailprefpvlX ...min

(4) }1 ,0{

(3) . .

(2) . .

(1) 1 subject to

av

Vvavav

Aaavav

Aaav

X

AaweightavailweightvehX

AafeetavailfeetvehX

VvX

Vehicles Available ofSet

Aircraft Available ofSet

:Sets

Vv

A a

aapvl.pref

vveh.weight

vveh.feet

ahtavail.weig

aavail.feet

av

v

v

a

a

Aircraft to Vehiclefor Preference PVL

Vehicle of Weight

Vehiclefor Platform ofLength

Aircraft for Weight Available

Aircraft for Feet Linear Available

:Data

avX av Aircraft to Vehicle of AssignmentBinary

:VariableDecision

Formulation:

Minimize Empty SpaceMinimize

Deviations from

Priority List

Implemented in Excel using OpenSolver http://opensolver.org/

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Heuristic Algorithm

• Heuristic Algorithm is an intuitive approach created to logically and simply solve a complex problem.

• Begin by assigning prioritized vehicles to aircraft. If a vehicle doesn’t fit, check each previous aircraft available space before moving to a new one.

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Comparison of Assignment Methods

Heuristic Algorithm

Optimization Tool

Number of AC 26 26

Empty space 48 ft 48 ft

Sum of Deviations from PVL

34 486

• Comparison showing performance example when assigning 26 aircraft.

• Empty space measure shows that both methods perform at the same level.

• The heuristic does much better in comparison to the linear programming method as the alterations from the commander’s PVL are significantly less. Deviation of 2

1 2 3 4

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ODST Outputs

•This graphic provides a visualization of combat build by warfighting function.

•The independent variable is flight numbers, and the dependent variable is cumulative vehicles by warfighting function.

•This graphic allows commanders to visualize the total number of vehicles by category available at various times during the mission, stimulating re-prioritization if the mix of vehicles is not appropriate for a given time frame.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 240

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Cumulative Combat Power Build by WFF

Protection Intel Fires Mission Command Sustain Movement and Maneuver

Chalk Number

Num

ber o

f Veh

icles

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Range Calculations

•We collected data from the Institute for Defense Analyses for aircraft range as a function of payload for C17 and C130 aircraft

•Used a polynomial fitting function to represent the relationship for both

•Implemented this in the tool to using the assigned payloads to calculate range of mission aircraft

0 10000 20000 30000 40000 500000

5001000150020002500300035004000

Lockheed C-130 Hercules

Pa

ylo

ad

(s

ho

rt t

on

s)

Range (Nautical miles)

0 50000 100000 150000 2000000

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

Boeing C-17 Globemaster

Range (Nautical Miles)

Payl

oad

(sho

rt to

ns)

Demo

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The 2nd Brigade Combat Team will test and evaluate the ODST as they prepare to take over responsibilities of the GRF. The 2nd BCT is the first brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division to transition to the new “Brigade Combat Team 2020.”

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Implementation and Way Ahead

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Problem: Prioritization and Assignment currently take weeks to manually

produce and are inflexible when complete

Solution: With ODST this prioritization is

accomplished in hours and is flexible enough to adapt to multiple

mission profiles

Questions?

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References

Clarke, Richard D. "Global Response Force in the Ranger Regiment." Personal interview. 12 Nov. 2013.

Department of the Army. Response Standing Operation Procedures. Ft Bragg, 2013.Dyer, James S. "Remarks on the analytic hierarchy process." Management science 36.3 (1990): 249-258.Firesmith, Donald. "Prioritizing Requirements." Journal of Object Technology 3.8 (2004): 35-48.Greene, Christopher. "Global Response Force in the Ranger Regiment." Personal interview. 09

Oct. 2013.Karlsson, Joachim, and Kevin Ryan. "A cost-value approach for prioritizing requirements." Software, IEEE 14.5

(1997): 67-74.Karlsson, Joachim, Claes Wohlin, and Björn Regnell. "An evaluation of methods for prioritizing software

requirements." Information and Software Technology 39.14 (1998): 939-947.Parnell, Gregory S., Patrick J. Driscoll, and Dale L. Henderson. Decision Making in Systems

Engineering and Management. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2011. Print.Powell, Stephen G., and Kenneth R. Baker. Management Science. Danvers, MA: John Wiley &

Sons, 2010. Print.Y. K., Kevin. “A Multicriteria Optimization Approach to Aircraft Loading”. Operations

Research 40(6): 1200-1201. Zahedi, Fatemeh. "The analytic hierarchy process—a survey of the method and its applications." interfaces 16.4

(1986): 96-108.

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Backup Slides

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