Airlift scheduling for the upgraded command and control system of military airlift command.

April 1984This report describes a conceptual design for automation of the scheduling of airlift activities as part of the current upgrade of the MAC C2 System. It defines the airlift scheduling problem in generic terms before reviewing the current procedures used by MAC; and then a new scheduling system aimed at handling a very busy and dynamic wartime scenario, is introduced. The new system proposes "Airlift Scheduling Workstations" where MAC Airlift Schedulers would be able to manipulate symbolic information on a computer display to create and quickly modify schedules for aircraft, crews, and stations. For certain sub-problems in generating schedules, automated decision support algorithms would be used interactively to speed the search for feasible and efficient solutions. Airlift Scheduling Workstations are proposed to exist at each "Scheduling Cell", a conceptual organizational unit which has been given sole and complete responsibility for developing the schedule of activities for a specific set of airlift resources-aircraft by tail number, aircrew by name, and stations by location. A Mission Scheduling Database is located at each cell to support the Airlift Scheduling Workstation, and requires information communicated by Airlift Task Planners, and, Airlift Operators at many other locations. These locations would have smaller workstations with local databases, and database management software to assist Task Planners and Operators in viewing current committed and planned schedule information of particular interest to them, and to allow them to send information to the Mission Scheduling Database. The Command and Control processes for Airlift have been structured into a three level hierarchy in this report: Task Planning, Mission Scheduling, and Schedule Execution. Task Planners deal with Airlift Users and Mission Schedulers, but not Airlift Operators. Task Planning has three sub-processes: Processing User Requests; Assigning Requirements and Resources; and Monitoring Task Status. Task planning does not create missions, schedule the missions, or route aircraft. Mission Schedulers deal with Task Planners and Airlift Operators, but not Airlift Users. Mission Scheduling combines several sub-processes to allow efficient schedules to be quickly generated at the ASW (Airlift Scheduling Workstation). These sub-processes are: Mission Generation, Schedule Map Generation (for each type of aircraft), Crew Mission Sequence Generation, Station Schedule Generation, Management of Schedule Status, and Monitoring Schedule Execution and Resource Status. It is important that all these processes be co-located and processed by the Airlift Scheduling Cell. Schedule Execution is performed by Airlift Operators assigned by the scheduling process. It has three sub-processes: Monitor Assigned Schedules, Report Resources Assigned to Schedule, Report Local Capability Status. The assignment of local resources such as aircraft by tail, and crew by name is actually another scheduling process, but has not been studied in this report. Airlift Operators do not deal with Task Planners, but may deal with Airlift Users to finalize details of the scheduled operations. This three level hierarchy is compatible with the current organizational structures of MAC Command and Control. However, it is clear that both the current organizational structures and procedures of MAC Command and Control for both tactical and strategic airlift will be significantly affected by the introduction of the automated scheduling systems envisioned here. These changes will occur in an evolutionary manner after the upgraded MAC C2 system is introduced.Prepared for the Electronic Systems Division, Air Force Systems Command, USAF, Hanscom Air Force Base, Bedford, M

A Multi-Pass Construction Heuristic for the Aggregated Airlift Problem

To support the capabilities for precision strike, close air support, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, air mobility and air refueling the Air Force has over 26,000 Airmen deployed from over 80 military installations to Forward Operating Locations (FOLs) in over 21 countries. This research creates a multi-pass construction heuristic to solve the aggregated airlift problem associated with the transportation of these 26,000 deployed Airmen. We are given a Time Phased Force Deployment Document (TPFDD) containing a list of personnel scheduled for deployment, their base of origin, Point of Debarkation (POD), FOL, and Required Delivery Date (RDD). The goal is to aggregate the personnel into groups of 100 or more based on region of origin, POD and RDD to generate dedicated airlift for their deployment. The goal of aggregated airlift is to generate dedicated airlift facilitating better In Transit Visibility of personnel moving though the PODs. This, in turn, enables the proper planning and scheduling of intratheater airlift from the POD to the FOL reducing the backlog of personnel and wait times at the POD. The algorithm was tested on several notional and real world TPFDDs and performed well, increasing the effectiveness over the current manual process by more than 20%

An Advanced Tabu Search Approach to Solving the Mixed Payload Airlift Load Planning Problem

This paper presents a new tabu search based two-dimensional bin packing algorithm which produces high quality solutions to the Mixed Payload Airlift Load Planning (MPALP) problem using C-5 and C-17 aircraft. This algorithm, called Mixed Payload Airlift Load Planning Tabu Search (MPALPTS), surpasses previous research conducted in this area because, in addition to pure pallet cargo loads, MPALPTS can accommodate rolling stock cargo (i.e. tanks, trucks, HMMMVs, etc.) while still maintaining aircraft feasibility with respect to aircraft center of balance, mandatory cargo separations, aircraft floor structural limitations, etc. Furthermore, while this research is currently restricted to C-5 and C-17 aircraft, MPALPTS is capable of modeling nearly any type of cargo aircraft and requires a limited number of assumptions thereby making it applicable to operational missions. To demonstrate its effectiveness, the load plans generated by MPALPTS are directly compared to those generated by the Automated Air Load Planning Software (AALPS) for a given cargo set; AALPS is the load planning software currently mandated for use in all Department of Defense load planning. While more time consuming than AALPS, MPALPTS required the same or fewer aircraft than AALPS in all test scenario

The Mobile Striking Force and Continental Defence, 1948–1955

The need to project land force power within the confines of the northern portion of the North American continent may appear, at first glance, ridiculous in today’s world. In the early years of the Cold War, both Canada and the United States gave credibility to a land supported air threat to North America and took steps to meet such a contingency. The Canadian response was to configure the small, almost token, active Canadian Army into an airtransportable formation called the Mobile Striking Force (MSF). Some have suggested that the creation of the MSF and its operations in the 1948–1955 period was not only a waste of resources but distracted the Canadian Army from training for other, more important tasks which would become apparent in the 1950s.1 This may be an accurate assessment, but only in hindsight. The MSF did provide many positive benefits within the greater context of post-1945 Canadian defencec policy. The aim of this study is to examine the MSF’s organization, mission and planning in order to provide insight into these positive benefits

CFB Goose Bay and Operation “Desert Shield”

Canada committed forces to the American-led Coalition in the 1990–1991 campaign to liberate Kuwait (Operation DESERT SHIELD and Operation DESERT STORM). The Navy played an important role in the naval portion in this campaign known as Operation DESERT STORM. Canadian CF-18s provided defensive combat air patrols over the Persian Gulf region (less Kuwait and Iraq). Canadian soldiers helped guard prisoners of war, defend airfields and provide security for the 1st Canadian Field Hospital that provided additional health service support. While all of these were important contributions, Canada also provided assistance for Operation DESERT SHIELD. A number of states deployed forces to Saudi Arabia to aid in that Kingdom’s defence should Iraqi forces have attacked. Some Canadian contributions to this operation remain unacknowledged. The massive victory in DESERT STORM was a direct result of the efforts expended in DESERT SHIELD. The two operations comprise the 1991 Gulf Campaign. Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Goose Bay played a little known but remarkable role in Operation DESERT SHIELD in August 1990. It was, in fact, the first unit of the Canadian Forces to support the 1990–1991 Gulf Campaign by acting as a transit station for the US Air Force’s Military Airlift Command (MAC) as well as other US Air Force formations during Operation DESERT SHIELD

Technology options for an enhanced air cargo system

A view of potential enhancements to the air cargo system through technology application is provided. NASA's role in addressing deficiencies of the current civil and military air cargo systems is outlined. The evolution of conventional airfreighter design is traced and projected through the 1990's. Also, several advanced airfreighter concepts incorporating unconventional design features are described to show their potentials benefits. A number of ongoing NASA technology programs are discussed to indicate the wide range of advanced technologies offering potential benefits to the air cargo system. The promise of advanced airfreighters is then viewed in light of the future air cargo infrastructure predicted by extensive systems studies. The derived outlook concludes that the aircraft technology benefits may be offset somewhat by adverse economic, environmental, and institutional constraints

Potential applications of simulation modelling techniques in healthcare: lessons learned from aerospace and military

The Aerospace and Military areas are to do with complex missions and situations. Modelling and Simulation (M&S) has been applied in many areas of defence ranging from space sciences, satellite engineering to multi-warfare (air warfare, undersea warfare), air & missile defence, acquisition, tactical military trainings & exercises, national security analysis and strategic decision making & planning, etc. The application of simulation modelling techniques in healthcare would improve the provision of healthcare services; however, their application has been much relatively feeble in the healthcare sector as compared to the defence sector. This paper presents results from a systematic literature survey on applications of modelling simulation techniques in the Aerospace & Military. The knowledge gained or lessons learned from the survey were finally used to analyze the potential applications of the simulation modelling techniques to the healthcare sector. Results show that in the defence sector, Distributed Simulation has now become a widely adopted technique. However, System Dynamics (SD) and Discrete Event Simulation (DSE) have also gained relative attention. From this survey it becomes clear that various simulation modelling techniques are useful for specific purposes and have potential applications in the healthcare sector

Transport aircraft loading and balancing system: Using a CLIPS expert system for military aircraft load planning

The requirement for improving aircraft utilization and responsiveness in airlift operations has been recognized for quite some time by the Canadian Forces. To date, the utilization of scarce airlift resources has been planned mainly through the employment of manpower-intensive manual methods in combination with the expertise of highly qualified personnel. In this paper, we address the problem of facilitating the load planning process for military aircraft cargo planes through the development of a computer-based system. We introduce TALBAS (Transport Aircraft Loading and BAlancing System), a knowledge-based system designed to assist personnel involved in preparing valid load plans for the C130 Hercules aircraft. The main features of this system which are accessible through a convivial graphical user interface, consists of the automatic generation of valid cargo arrangements given a list of items to be transported, the user-definition of load plans and the automatic validation of such load plans

An outlook for cargo aircraft of the future

An assessment is provided of the future of air cargo by analyzing air cargo statistics and trends, by noting air cargo system problems and inefficiencies, by analyzing characteristics of air-eligible commodities, and by showing the promise of new technology for future cargo aircraft with significant improvements in costs and efficiency. NASA's proposed program is reviewed which would sponsor the research needed to provide for development of advanced designs by 1985