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The shift to a US Air Force structured for expeditionary operations has presented the Air Force with a number of challenges in planning, executing, and support operations involving resources such as munitions, fuel, engines, avionics, and war reserve material. In an expeditionary world, the logistics support processes must be capable of responding to rapidly deployed forces, either by deploying along with the fighting units or by connecting support processes in permanent locations to the remote forces. In this paper, we present a general approach for reshaping logistics processes to meet Air Force expeditionary operational goals. We develop capability-based logistics models consisting of rules and algorithms that compute process timelines and requirements for material, equipment, and personnel. We use both optimization and heuristic techniques to formulate a location–allocation solution that can further refine the process.

The role of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, and time-critical targeting in operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom confirmed their utility in US combat operations. However, because of an acquisition strategy intended to field UAVs as quickly as possible, the Air Force did not go through the usual processes of determining system requirements before design and production. These processes typically reveal important information about how to support aircraft systems. Without this information, the requirements for long-term, end-to-end support of UAVs are unclear. In this paper, we present an analysis of support options for current US Air Force UAV systems, including the Global Hawk, Predator, Pointer, Raven, Force Protection Airfield Surveillance System (FPASS), and Battlefield Air Targeting Camera Autonomous Micro-Air Vehicle (BATCAM), as well as, the Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle (UCAV). There is a trade-off between the need to field aircraft quickly and the need to determine logistics requirements. We have developed a new analytical tool, logistics implications capabilities assessment model (LICAM), that could help logisticians examine such trade-offs. LICAM simulates changes in fielding, operations, and support and evaluates how they affect a key operational metric, the ability of the UAVs to cover the target area.

This paper discusses die importance of cybernetic and human factors engineering control room concepts and their relationship to die design and operation of die Air Force Logistics Command (AFLC) Command, Control, Communications, and Intelligence (C3I) system. This paper is organized in sections which: (1) discuss control room concepts and relate their importance to C3I operations; (2) describe AFLC's current C3I “control room” operations (the AFLC Command Post) and associated problems; and (3) provide a suggested design for the AFLC C3I control room including some information displays.

The purpose of this paper is to show how cybernetic concepts can be used to guide organizational design and development activities. The intent of the paper is to demonstrate how a cybernetic model of a viable organization can be used to diagnose potential problems in existing organizations and serve to guide organizational development activities, For illustrative purposes, a case study of the Air Force Logistics Command (AFLC) is used to demonstrate how the cybernetic organizational model can be made operational in the “real world.” The paper is designed to show how this methodology can be used as a road map for integrating and guiding several initiatives which are underway to make AFLC more responsive in meeting potential wartime scenarios. This paper is organized in sections which: (1) describe AFLC mission responsibilities and organization; (2) identify current major problems; (3) describe and use a cybernetic organizational model to diagnose causes of current problems; and (4) develop some ob...

A cybernetic conceptual framework for the Meaningful Measures of Merit (M3) program as it is proposed for Air Force Logistics command (AFLC) is discussed.

To a large extent, the success or failure of a consulting effort lies in the consultant's handling of the interaction between himself and the staff of the organization he is serving. The consultant...