Timely Decision-Making for Logistics Support

Logistics planning has traditionally been treated as a support function to military operational planning, even though transportation options are a key enabler and limiter of any military operation. However, the need for greater mobility, flexibility, efficiency, rapid response capabilities and effective joint operations dictates a new approach in which deployment planning is better integrated into core mission planning processes. New technologies are needed to enable the rapid identification of feasible transportation options; enhance shared awareness of the commander’s intent and available transportation options and constraints; and enhance collaboration among the supported and supporting commands. This effort focuses on improved algorithms for determining optimized transportation solutions in a matter of hours or minutes rather than days. Our solution will extend state of the art methods involving Tabu search algorithms and adapt them into a decision support tool that can produce more effective Airlift transportation solutions in significantly less time than current models. It will also incorporate human guidance and collaborative components in order to enhance algorithm performance, accommodate dynamic requirements and priorities, and facilitate shared transportation situation awareness. The resulting system will be a powerful decision tool that can be easily integrated into current planning processes.