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In 2020, Marine Corps Order 4151.22 and Commandant White Letter 2–20 was published to implement Condition-Based Maintenance Plus (CBM+) as a ground maintenance strategy to improve operational availability and reduce life-cycle costs. The Fleet Marine Force is still operating under preventative and corrective maintenance strategies instead of CBM+ strategies. Organizational inertia, such as competing priorities, legacy processes, and inspections, has slowed the integration of CBM+ strategies. We reviewed key policy documents and interviewed fifteen subject-matter experts relevant to Marine Corps ground transport maintenance policies and practices. Based on this information, we conducted a thematic analysis using an organizational change approach to identify barriers and opportunities that impact CBM+ implementation. We found that immediate gains from CBM+ implementation in the Marine Corps can be achieved through a focus on people and process improvements while technology integration continues. The CBM+ strategy supports Force Design 2030 and Talent Management 2030 objectives and emphasizing this alignment can build momentum for CBM+. In this paper, we make six specific recommendations that apply organizational change concepts to enable effective CBM+ implementation as a ground maintenance strategy in the Marine Corps., NPS Naval Research Program, This project was funded in part by the NPS Naval Research Program., Major, United States Marine Corps, Major, United States Marine Corps, Approved for public release. Distribution is unlimited.

The purpose of this thesis is to analyze the fiscal, environmental, and health impacts of wildfires aboard Marine Corps Base (MCB) Camp Pendleton and the potential benefits of incorporating Project Vesta, a system of emerging commercial-off-the-shelf technologies, into Camp Pendleton’s firefighting capabilities. The main objective of this report is to determine the cost of acquiring Project Vesta and the benefit of fielding it aboard Camp Pendleton and other DOD installations at risk from wildfires. First, we determine the growing threat of wildfires to MCB Camp Pendleton and their fiscal, environmental, and health impacts. Second, we analyze current firefighting detection and suppression methods to determine shortfalls and potential costs derived from insufficient responses. Finally, we identify Project Vesta integration opportunities and conduct a sensitivity analysis of the cost-benefit to better combat wildfires aboard MCB Camp Pendleton. This study determines how investing in Project Vesta will allow fire departments to detect fires sooner and suppress fires faster, leading to reduced costs by protecting people, resources, and training environments. Based on this research, we recommend that DOD facilities that are regularly impacted by wildfires acquire the Vesta system and integrate it into their fire departments., Major, United States Marine Corps, Major, United States Marine Corps, Approved for public release. Distribution is unlimited.

Naval leadership has identified the lack of logistics experience as a critical force vulnerability in the Unrestricted Line (URL) community officer corps. They believe this gap will limit the Navy’s ability to sustain operations in contested and constrained environments. As the United States enters a new era of strategic competition with near-peer competitors, increasing the logistical knowledge and educational experiences of the URL community is of paramount importance. Peacetime naval operations have dominated the operational landscape for several decades with logistical support mirroring that static and predictable environment. Strategic competition will challenge the established logistic concepts and those concepts must also change. This project develops case studies to equip URL officers with the necessary mindset to approach and analyze complex logistic concerns. Each case study touches on specific logistics topics, incorporates broader logistical implications, and uses various investigative and analytic tools to help solve real-world problems. Equally important, this study will build a stronger foundation that will make the warfighter more combat effective and further enhance his or her grasp of operational and tactical environments., NPS Naval Research Program, This project was funded in part by the NPS Naval Research Program., Lieutenant Commander, United States Navy, Lieutenant Commander, United States Navy, Approved for public release. Distribution is unlimited.

The Naval Supply Systems Command is currently conducting an information technology modernization plan. Since the 2018 National Security Strategy was released, the U.S. has been in a declared state of great power competition with China and Russia. The nexus of great power competition and NAVSUP’s modernization arrive at digital transformation. The current threat environment for the U.S. military revolves around the idea that war will occur in all domains and for NAVSUP that means that logistics for U.S. forces will be contested. To help succeed in providing warfighters with the requirements they need, digital transformation at business levels such as NAVSUP need to be successful in order to increase the lethality of U.S. forces. Digital transformation is the act of using technology to improve processes, not just modernizing components of the information technology infrastructure. Through interviews with members of companies in the emerging technology sector and with members of NAVSUP, I garnered insights that I developed into recommendations on how NAVSUP can successfully conduct a digital transformation through innovation and education., Lieutenant Commander, United States Navy, Approved for public release. Distribution is unlimited.

Current source selection procedures have exposed the Department of Defense (DoD) to increased protest risk. This, in part, is due to contradictions in the U.S. government’s stated order of importance for acquisition evaluation criteria (pre-award) versus its actual choice behavior during source selection, as Butler found in 2014. The objectives of this MBA project included the following: 1) Determine the degree of disconnect between stated preferences during pre-award acquisition phase and actual choice behavior in source selections. 2) Develop an understanding of quality attributes for logistics-based services. 3) Provide a Choice-Based Conjoint (CBC) framework that could be utilized to enhance source selection criteria development. Methodology included interviews and spend analysis techniques to identify quality attributes of logistics-based acquisitions. Then, after the attributes were identified, they were employed to develop a CBC model that calculated the attribute utilities and relative importance for each attribute. Using these important scores, the disconnect between stated preferences and choice behavior was found. None of the subjects in this investigative study could accurately order attribute importance in stated form to match their actual choices in simulated source selections. This report offers a framework and methods to mitigate the weaknesses found in developing evaluation attribute importance from stated preferences and reduce the risks of protests., Outstanding Thesis, First Lieutenant, United States Air Force, Approved for public release. Distribution is unlimited.

This research analyzes the reconfiguration costs of U.S. Navy amphibious assault vessels along with fuel depots at Defense Fuel Support Point (DFSP) to support the Single Fuel Concept (SFC). Previous research confirms that SFC would further improve military objectives and missions in a contested environment. The reconfiguration from F-76 to JP-5 would benefit logistic support, maintenance requirement, time on stations, and fuel posture. We gathered the most recent maintenance repair contracts and analyzed the data to determine the cost of reconfiguration. Using a Gantt chart, we show the series of actions that various stakeholders need to take prior to a ship entering the maintenance availability cycle as well as future actions to ensure maintenance is planned, executed, and completed. Since the energy content of JP-5 is lower than F-76, we analyze the total cost of using JP-5 in the deployment phase of operation. Furthermore, we conduct regression analysis on both fuel prices to estimate the delta percentage between both fuel products. This thesis recommends that stakeholders consider the overall long-term benefit of reconfiguration as the cost of conversion is reasonable, but transition to JP-5 requires time., Lieutenant Commander, United States Navy, Lieutenant Commander, United States Navy, Approved for public release. Distribution is unlimited.

This research attempted to answer how improved corrosion-control practices in the U.S. Navy’s Arleigh Burke Class Destroyer engineering spaces might enhance ship efficiency. It can be confidently stated that effective corrosion control in Arleigh Burke Destroyer engineering spaces clearly enhances ship efficiency. A semi-systematic review of the literature was used as a methodology. Data were mined using a Synthesis Matrix that isolated meta-narratives that were used later in a meta-analysis of the literature. The identified meta-narratives led to eleven emerging patterns. These patterns were condensed into six major themes and finally synthesized into two primary categories: corrosion control and ship efficiency. Although no causal relationships were proven, strong interrelationships were identified. The findings of this research recommend that in order to control corrosion and enhance ship efficiency, two strategies should be followed: 1) an implemented maintenance plan requiring training for the crew in techniques and knowledge acquisition that promote understanding of the science of corrosion and 2) decisions regarding materials selection, surface coatings, and corrosion control should be made with total ownership costs in mind, because for a ship to function efficiently it must be operational a majority of its work life.

This study explores the role of leadership in three high-profile corruption and misconduct scandals—the Fat Leonard scandal, the murder of SPC Vanessa Guillén, and the Abu Ghraib Prison scandal—that occurred in the U.S. military over several decades. Additionally, the research delves into the culture of corrupt military commands and investigates patterns of leadership behavior that set the conditions for wrongdoing to occur. This way, the research goes beyond the often-cited “one bad apple” explanation examining organizational wrongdoing as a process. Using a qualitative research approach and utilizing an existing theoretical model, I categorize and evaluate publicly available data. The research findings illustrate that leaders’ actions or inaction directly triggered corruption or misconduct in two out of three scandals; however, leadership was indirectly involved in the third case study. Organizational culture also had a normalizing effect attracting more severe transgression. Lastly, leaders were found mindful of misbehavior in all cases, tacitly or overtly authorized misconduct, and failed to cultivate an ethical organizational culture. These results show that systemic deficiencies and leadership failures continue afflicting DOD and articulate the need for more drastic policies. Based on the findings, recommendations for the DOD are provided and explained.

The Marine Corps published Marine Corps Order 4400.201, Financial Liability Investigation of Property Loss (FLIPL), in 2018 to allow commanders the opportunity to investigate the loss, damage, and destruction of government property and hold individual(s) accountable. The First Marine Expeditionary Force (I MEF) published the Consolidated Storage Program (CSP) procedures order to implement Marine Corps Order 4400.201 and is the only MEF to have implemented such order. The purpose of this research is to evaluate the I MEF CSP order against the FLIPL, analyzing its process by utilizing Lean Six Sigma methodologies to identify aspects that are non-value-added, discuss why they create inefficiencies, and provide potential recommended changes to improve accountability. The study revealed that before the CSP order was published, the MEF incurred millions of dollars in equipment losses. Once the CSP order was published and disseminated to I MEF units, equipment accountability became a priority for commanders as their organization would be held financially liable for future lost, damaged, or destroyed Unit Issue Facility (UIF) equipment. The total amount of losses went from $7 million in FY17 to a little over $300,000 in FY21, proving the I MEF CSP order to be effective. Recommendations identify the need to reduce the review time of the DD 200 FLIPL., Captain, United States Marine Corps, Captain, United States Marine Corps, Approved for public release. Distribution is unlimited.

The Marine Corps currently utilizes a traditional time-based strategy for ground equipment maintenance, conducting preventative maintenance at specified time intervals and corrective maintenance when failure occurs. In 2020, the Marine Corps initiated the transition from this maintenance strategy to a Condition Based Maintenance Plus (CBM+) strategy, which detects subcomponent anomalies in advance through data analytics so maintenance can be conducted before failure occurs. Hypothetically, CBM+ will generate increased cost-savings, reduce man-hour requirements, and improve operational availability for Marine Corps ground systems. Using a case study methodology, this project highlights best practices within the commercial mining, railroad, and heavy equipment industries by interviewing maintenance professionals and supplementing these discussions with existing literature. We then used a thematic analysis across five themes: organizational structure, asset classification, information technology (IT) infrastructure, data management, and maintenance decision making. By highlighting commonalities across the cases and evaluating best practices, we drew three key conclusions. First, some Marine Corps ground systems are not CBM+ compatible. Second, significant upgrades to existing maintenance infrastructure are necessary. Finally, CBM+ should be used as a decision-making framework to maximize cost-savings and combat readiness., Captain, United States Marine Corps, Major, United States Marine Corps, Approved for public release. Distribution is unlimited.

The Naval Supply Systems Command is currently conducting an information technology modernization plan. Since the 2018 National Security Strategy was released, the U.S. has been in a declared state of great power competition with China and Russia. The nexus of great power competition and NAVSUP’s modernization arrive at digital transformation. The current threat environment for the U.S. military revolves around the idea that war will occur in all domains and for NAVSUP that means that logistics for U.S. forces will be contested. To help succeed in providing warfighters with the requirements they need, digital transformation at business levels such as NAVSUP need to be successful in order to increase the lethality of U.S. forces. Digital transformation is the act of using technology to improve processes, not just modernizing components of the information technology infrastructure. Through interviews with members of companies in the emerging technology sector and with members of NAVSUP, I garnered insights that I developed into recommendations on how NAVSUP can successfully conduct a digital transformation through innovation and education.

NPS NRP Technical Report, Condition-Based Maintenance (CBM) has been successfully implemented in private-sector operations to reduce maintenance costs and asset downtime. USMC is currently transitioning to a CBM+ approach to maintenance, addressing its unique organizational and operating environment. This project identifies private-sector best practices and lessons learned most applicable to USMC as well as important hurdles for USMC adoption. It identifies maintenance and readiness metrics changes that may be relevant in future USMC and joint sustainment operations, taking into account both CBM and maintenance in an expeditionary environment., HQMC Installations and Logistics (I&L), This research is supported by funding from the Naval Postgraduate School, Naval Research Program (PE 0605853N/2098). https://nps.edu/nrp, Chief of Naval Operations (CNO), Approved for public release. Distribution is unlimited.

In 2020, Marine Corps Order 4151.22 and Commandant White Letter 2–20 was published to implement Condition-Based Maintenance Plus (CBM+) as a ground maintenance strategy to improve operational availability and reduce life-cycle costs. The Fleet Marine Force is still operating under preventative and corrective maintenance strategies instead of CBM+ strategies. Organizational inertia, such as competing priorities, legacy processes, and inspections, has slowed the integration of CBM+ strategies. We reviewed key policy documents and interviewed fifteen subject-matter experts relevant to Marine Corps ground transport maintenance policies and practices. Based on this information, we conducted a thematic analysis using an organizational change approach to identify barriers and opportunities that impact CBM+ implementation. We found that immediate gains from CBM+ implementation in the Marine Corps can be achieved through a focus on people and process improvements while technology integration continues. The CBM+ strategy supports Force Design 2030 and Talent Management 2030 objectives and emphasizing this alignment can build momentum for CBM+. In this paper, we make six specific recommendations that apply organizational change concepts to enable effective CBM+ implementation as a ground maintenance strategy in the Marine Corps.

Naval leadership has identified the lack of logistics experience as a critical force vulnerability in the Unrestricted Line (URL) community officer corps. They believe this gap will limit the Navy’s ability to sustain operations in contested and constrained environments. As the United States enters a new era of strategic competition with near-peer competitors, increasing the logistical knowledge and educational experiences of the URL community is of paramount importance. Peacetime naval operations have dominated the operational landscape for several decades with logistical support mirroring that static and predictable environment. Strategic competition will challenge the established logistic concepts and those concepts must also change. This project develops case studies to equip URL officers with the necessary mindset to approach and analyze complex logistic concerns. Each case study touches on specific logistics topics, incorporates broader logistical implications, and uses various investigative and analytic tools to help solve real-world problems. Equally important, this study will build a stronger foundation that will make the warfighter more combat effective and further enhance his or her grasp of operational and tactical environments.

This study answers the research questions: Does 3D printing have the potential to positively affect medical logistics operations for operational and distributed maritime operations (DMO) environments, and if so, which Class VIII(a) consumable medical supplies show high potential? A qualitative case analysis investigates the challenges of medical logistics in austere, deployed environments, particularly in mass-casualty scenarios, and the implications of additive manufacturing to medical logistics operations for selected Class VIII(a) consumable items in one simulated DMO environment. The analysis and findings suggest that some Class VIII(a) medical supplies are not good candidates for 3D printing. However, interviews with subject-matter experts revealed other potential Class VIII(a) consumable medical supplies that meet characteristic requirements to be 3D printed in operational environments. The study results in initial insights, propositions, and recommendations on how to proceed with 3D printing to support medical logistics operations for operational and DMO environments., http://archive.org/details/exploringtheimpa1094566744, Outstanding Thesis, Lieutenant, United States Navy, Approved for public release. distribution is unlimited

The objective of this research is to enhance the ability of Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command (NAVFAC) to respond to requirements for facilities support in a timely and effective manner to assist the warfighter and the shore enterprise. By conducting an internal and external review of the means and methods of executing Category III and IV requirements employed both by NAVFAC and by other agencies, governmental and non-governmental, the intent was to capture facility management best practices in an effort to reduce cycle time. Also, by analyzing established processes across the NAVFAC enterprise, bottlenecks were identified, and productivity enhancements were recommended. By leveraging existing systems and capitalizing on established processes and industry best practices, NAVFAC can significantly improve its Category III and IV execution capability. Moreover, NAVFAC could greatly benefit from an organizational shift, promoting horizontal integration as it strives to continue to provide its products and services with speed and agility., Lieutenant Commander, United States Navy, Approved for public release. distribution is unlimited

The Marine Corps published Marine Corps Order 4400.201, Financial Liability Investigation of Property Loss (FLIPL), in 2018 to allow commanders the opportunity to investigate the loss, damage, and destruction of government property and hold individual(s) accountable. The First Marine Expeditionary Force (I MEF) published the Consolidated Storage Program (CSP) procedures order to implement Marine Corps Order 4400.201 and is the only MEF to have implemented such order. The purpose of this research is to evaluate the I MEF CSP order against the FLIPL, analyzing its process by utilizing Lean Six Sigma methodologies to identify aspects that are non-value-added, discuss why they create inefficiencies, and provide potential recommended changes to improve accountability. The study revealed that before the CSP order was published, the MEF incurred millions of dollars in equipment losses. Once the CSP order was published and disseminated to I MEF units, equipment accountability became a priority for commanders as their organization would be held financially liable for future lost, damaged, or destroyed Unit Issue Facility (UIF) equipment. The total amount of losses went from $7 million in FY17 to a little over $300,000 in FY21, proving the I MEF CSP order to be effective. Recommendations identify the need to reduce the review time of the DD 200 FLIPL.

The Marine Corps currently utilizes a traditional time-based strategy for ground equipment maintenance, conducting preventative maintenance at specified time intervals and corrective maintenance when failure occurs. In 2020, the Marine Corps initiated the transition from this maintenance strategy to a Condition Based Maintenance Plus (CBM+) strategy, which detects subcomponent anomalies in advance through data analytics so maintenance can be conducted before failure occurs. Hypothetically, CBM+ will generate increased cost-savings, reduce man-hour requirements, and improve operational availability for Marine Corps ground systems. Using a case study methodology, this project highlights best practices within the commercial mining, railroad, and heavy equipment industries by interviewing maintenance professionals and supplementing these discussions with existing literature. We then used a thematic analysis across five themes: organizational structure, asset classification, information technology (IT) infrastructure, data management, and maintenance decision making. By highlighting commonalities across the cases and evaluating best practices, we drew three key conclusions. First, some Marine Corps ground systems are not CBM+ compatible. Second, significant upgrades to existing maintenance infrastructure are necessary. Finally, CBM+ should be used as a decision-making framework to maximize cost-savings and combat readiness.

Defense and emergency first responders must make rapid, consequential decisions and machine learning can aid analytics to support these decisions. Machine learning offers enormous promise, yet well publicized struggles reveal the need for better datasets and for opportunities to learn in challenging settings. Field experimentation offers the potential to meet these needs through iterative interactions in complex scenarios. Field experimentation can provide live action to facilitate high fidelity datasets that can support machine learning and artificial/augmented intelligence applications. These experiments may incorporate participants from academia; government agencies; militaries; first responders at all levels; and global industry partners. This minitrack explores the interplay between machine learning, field experimentation, and optimization analytics, whether exploratory, theoretical, experimental, in such critical areas as Defense and Emergency Response.

This joint applied project analyzed the Marine Corps’ integration of additive manufacturing (AM) technology throughout the force. Principally, it analyzed the publication Marine Corps Order (MCO) 4700.4 and examined how this document supports AM integration. The primary research question addressed AM’s current position within the Marine Corps and what areas could be improved. The most significant area for improvement was cybersecurity concerns. One secondary research question addressed specific risks AM technologies present and how the Marine Corps has or can mitigate those risks. This question supported the primary research question by expounding on the risks of cybersecurity to AM. Another secondary research question was to address what unique opportunities AM technologies provide and how the Marine Corps can fully harness those opportunities. This research question demonstrated AM’s benefits beyond maintenance and cost savings, such as humanitarian aid and disaster relief operations and logistics operations within China’s weapon engagement zone in the South China Sea. Overall, this analysis sought to provide direction and focus to any potential revision of MCO 4700.4 in the future. The data collection was conducted by examining recent articles (approximately less than five years) to determine the state of the technology in the private, public, and military sectors. The analysis remained at the unclassified level to ease distribution of this report., Major, United States Marine Corps, Approved for public release. Distribution is unlimited.

MBA Professional Project, The purpose of our research is to develop a procurement administrative lead time (PALT) prediction model for sole-source contract awards greater than $500 million at Air Force Life Cycle Management Center. The scope of our research is confined to PALT, which is the number of days between solicitation release and contract award. Our research team uses an ordinary least squares regression to model the relationship among our response variable, PALT, and 12 explanatory variables. Based on our results, we found five statistically significant variables and their effects—sign and magnitude—on PALT. The model accounts for 90.05% of the variation in PALT. Accurately predicting a schedule provides commanders and decision-makers with the ability to make better strategic business decisions to support the warfighter. Further research recommendations include externally validating our prediction model against other populations; testing variables excluded from this research, such as human factors and technological risk; and estimating individual phases within the contract award process., AFLCMC/PK, http://archive.org/details/factorsinfluenci1094563829, Captain, United States Air Force, Captain, United States Air Force, Major, United States Air Force, Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.

MBA Professional Project, The purpose of this MBA report is to analyze and evaluate the added-value of additive manufacturing laboratories (AMLs) installed on seagoing vessels and to provide lessons learned from the U.S. Navy’s first Additive Manufacturing Shop at Sea, onboard USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74), in the manufacturing (printing) of replacement parts on-demand for immediate use. This project seeks to make three contributions. The first is a cost-benefit analysis (CBA) utilizing a selected part manufactured through AM procedures to determine value, cost, and time savings that AMLs installed aboard ships would offer. The second contribution is a comprehensive analysis utilizing the Knowledge Added-Value Methodology (KVA) to determine the KVA of the Surface Navy’s 3D printing AM program. The third contribution is a compilation of lessons learned to support or reject the installation and viability of these shops and their equipment installed across the fleet, by utilizing data gathered from firsthand accounts and experiences of the sailors who operated the first AML at sea onboard USS John C. Stennis. At the end of the report, the research team provides general recommendation(s) for the future installation of AMLs across the fleet to maximize benefits, cost savings, and value added to the U.S. Navy as well as for future research., Acquisitions Research Program, http://archive.org/details/additivemanufact1094564036, Lieutenant Commander, United States Navy, Lieutenant Commander, United States Navy, Lieutenant, United States Navy, Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.

This study answers the research questions: Does 3D printing have the potential to positively affect medical logistics operations for operational and distributed maritime operations (DMO) environments, and if so, which Class VIII(a) consumable medical supplies show high potential? A qualitative case analysis investigates the challenges of medical logistics in austere, deployed environments, particularly in mass-casualty scenarios, and the implications of additive manufacturing to medical logistics operations for selected Class VIII(a) consumable items in one simulated DMO environment. The analysis and findings suggest that some Class VIII(a) medical supplies are not good candidates for 3D printing. However, interviews with subject-matter experts revealed other potential Class VIII(a) consumable medical supplies that meet characteristic requirements to be 3D printed in operational environments. The study results in initial insights, propositions, and recommendations on how to proceed with 3D printing to support medical logistics operations for operational and DMO environments.

The objective of this research is to enhance the ability of Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command (NAVFAC) to respond to requirements for facilities support in a timely and effective manner to assist the warfighter and the shore enterprise. By conducting an internal and external review of the means and methods of executing Category III and IV requirements employed both by NAVFAC and by other agencies, governmental and non-governmental, the intent was to capture facility management best practices in an effort to reduce cycle time. Also, by analyzing established processes across the NAVFAC enterprise, bottlenecks were identified, and productivity enhancements were recommended. By leveraging existing systems and capitalizing on established processes and industry best practices, NAVFAC can significantly improve its Category III and IV execution capability. Moreover, NAVFAC could greatly benefit from an organizational shift, promoting horizontal integration as it strives to continue to provide its products and services with speed and agility.

This thesis reviews methods and techniques used to support decision making in defense acquisition. The research investigates new and conventional models and tools, and opportunities for their application in the Ministry of Defence of Finland. This topic is especially timely and important because of diminishing defense budgets and rising prices of defense systems and materiel. The size and complexity of defense investments combined with increasing costs and long life cycles of systems and projects makes this topic challenging and important. The research consists of two parts: a literature review and a case study application. The literature review identifies and describes modern methods and tools to support decision-making in defense projects. The case study describes current practices in the Finnish Defence Forces (FDF) and identifies opportunities to apply ideas and concepts from the literature to improve the acquisition process. Based on models and tools introduced in the study, it is possible to achieve both significant savings and improvements in defense acquisitions and to apply these methods to improve efficiency in defense acquisition in Finland., http://archive.org/details/decisionmodelsan1094563999, Lieutenant Colonel, Finnish Defence Forces, Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.

MBA Professional Project, The government acquisition workforce has been encouraged to find ways to decrease the amount the government spends on contracts and to find efficiencies within federal procurement. The federal government has implemented a category management initiative to reduce the total cost of ownership and find cost savings.Services account for much of the government’s discretionary spending, and knowledge based or professional services account for a large portion of those services. The U.S. Army is in the beginning stages of implementing category management for professional services. The purpose of this project is to identify the U.S. Army’s spending trends and opportunities in the procurement of management advisory services. A spend analysis is performed utilizing FY12–FY18 Federal Procurement Data System–Next Generation (FPDS-NG) data to determine which product service codes (PSCs) associated with the Level 2 category of management advisory services make up the majority of the spend for the U.S. Army. In addition we analyze and identify trends in purchasing management advisory services over the seven-year span of FPDS-NG data, which contracting offices purchase the most management advisory services, and which vendors are associated with the most contract actions for PSCs associated with management advisory services., http://archive.org/details/spendanalysisofu1094564049, Captain, United States Air Force, Major, United States Army

MBA Professional Project, Secretary Mattis’ 2018 National Defense Strategy acknowledges that the Department of Defense’s (DoD’s) asymmetric technological capabilities, which enable a decisive military advantage over U.S. adversaries, are steadily eroding. Implementing underutilized traditional and non-traditional acquisition authorities to navigate the innovation ecosystem may prove to be a fast, flexible solution to this technological innovation gap. We comparatively analyze the DoD’s innovation ecosystem to understand the communities that make up the ecosystem and how they apply various acquisition authorities, techniques, or processes to accelerate future capabilities to the warfighter, and across the Defense Acquisition System. Our research shows that traditional and non-traditional micro-ecosystems play pivotal roles in the transition of cutting-edge technology through government, industry, and academic collaboration. Aside from traditional authorities, we highlight several non-traditional acquisition authorities with potential for broader adoption across the enterprise. Finally, we discuss lessons learned in terms of "what," "where," "when," and "how" mid-level management decision makers can think and act entrepreneurially to positively disrupt status-quo bureaucracies that inhibit rapid innovation across the ecosystem., http://archive.org/details/hackingthedefens1094561370, Captain, United States Air Force

Since its inception in 2013, the Defense Health Agency has implemented several strategic initiatives aimed at controlling military healthcare expenditures, including considerable efforts toward reducing pharmaceutical costs. Despite the success of these initiatives at fixed military medical treatment facilities, where pharmacy officers lead the implementation and management of cost-saving strategies, the military services have not made a concerted effort to expand these initiatives to their operational medicine platforms, where the absence of pharmacy officer involvement has led to a gap in institutional knowledge of pharmaceutical inventory management processes. This case study seeks to mitigate this knowledge deficit by describing these processes for a representative shipboard medical department aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) to determine the potential for similar cost savings. Using a qualitative process and critical incident analysis, this report identifies potential drivers of inefficiencies in shipboard pharmaceutical inventory management and procurement. These include process variability based on medication type, lack of relevant performance measures, potential mission-material mismatches on authorized medical allowance lists, and the lack of true subject-matter experts in planning and implementation. This review provides a baseline and enables future targeted research to validate findings and implement systemic changes to reduce inefficiencies and costs., http://archive.org/details/shipboardpharmac1094561395, Lieutenant Commander, United States Navy, Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.

MBA Professional Project, In this project, we surveyed private industry supply chain managers and contracting professionals from the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center. The purpose was to ascertain knowledge and application of resource dependency and power-dependent relations theories within their respective organizations. A better understanding of the theories would allow organizations to position themselves strategically to secure supply bases for future requirements and to leverage strengths and minimize organizational weaknesses during negotiations. Despite survey respondents not knowing the terminology utilized within the theories tested, most respondents were capable of selecting the proper courses of actions, given either a resource dependency or power-dependent relations scenario-based question. This implies the organizations surveyed provide members some amount of training on the theoretical principles and can apply that knowledge to practical situations. Despite a shared theoretical knowledge between the public and private sectors, private sector respondents stated that they were more likely to utilize these principles and are postured to have a greater negotiating position. Public sector organizations who neglect these principles place themselves in a disadvantageous position when negotiating with or relying upon contracted support, especially for systems acquisitions., http://archive.org/details/acquisitionstrat1094561307, Captain, United States Air Force, Captain, United States Air Force

Marine Corps occupational monitors currently make human resource relocation decisions without the capability to systematically compare the costs of alternative assignments. A primary weakness of current practice is a lack of communication between the assignment process and the financial systems administering permanent change of station (PCS) costs amounts. This thesis presents a systematic cost estimation and comparison tool to facilitate managerial decisions relevant to PCS assignments. To identify PCS-related managerial decisions, this study reviews the Marine Corps’ personnel assignment process, the impacts sustained by service members and their dependents, and the ensuing costs associated with PCS moves. The thesis demonstrates the model’s ability to inform managerial decisions and capture cost estimations to better assess personnel assignments. Further development is required to improve the capacity of the model, which would bolster managers’ ability to regulate assignment costs and be resilient in times of fiscal stress., http://archive.org/details/optimizingperman1094561299, Captain, United States Marine Corps, Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.

MBA Professional Project, This project will give Department of Defense (DoD) procurement and area planners an assessment on the availability of energy within the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) area of responsibility (AOR). The assessment will help make future decisions on sourcing energy purchases and may be expanded on with assumptions for risk potentials within the energy supply chain. This project includes market research on refined oil shipping and Military Sealift Command's capacity to move fuel to the warfighter. It includes research on tanker contracting procurement by Military Sealift Command, worldwide commercial tanker characteristics, and shipping activity within Asia., http://archive.org/details/availabilityofre1094561366, Lieutenant Commander, United States Navy, Lieutenant, United States Navy, Lieutenant Commander, United States Navy

MBA Professional Project, This project analyzes the current inventory management practices for the Naval Ophthalmic Support and Training Activity (NOSTRA) to assess if there are industry best practices that NOSTRA could utilize to become more efficient. NOSTRA’s mission is to manufacture and supply eyewear to the entire Department of Defense. The two largest inventory line items that NOSTRA carries are lenses and spectacle frames; this project specifically studies the process for managing spectacle frame inventory. An analysis of NOSTRA’s current inventory management process revealed that NOSTRA utilizes a par level periodic review system. The findings of this report indicate that NOSTRA could potentially achieve efficiencies by categorizing its inventory and utilizing a 2-bin Kanban system to manage when inventory is needed and how much inventory is needed., http://archive.org/details/determiningoptim1094562252, Lieutenant, United States Navy, Lieutenant Commander, United States Navy

The purpose of this MBA report is to analyze and evaluate the added-value of additive manufacturing laboratories (AMLs) installed on seagoing vessels and to provide lessons learned from the U.S. Navy’s first Additive Manufacturing Shop at Sea, onboard USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74), in the manufacturing (printing) of replacement parts on-demand for immediate use. This project seeks to make three contributions. The first is a cost-benefit analysis (CBA) utilizing a selected part manufactured through AM procedures to determine value, cost, and time savings that AMLs installed aboard ships would offer. The second contribution is a comprehensive analysis utilizing the Knowledge Added-Value Methodology (KVA) to determine the KVA of the Surface Navy’s 3D printing AM program. The third contribution is a compilation of lessons learned to support or reject the installation and viability of these shops and their equipment installed across the fleet, by utilizing data gathered from firsthand accounts and experiences of the sailors who operated the first AML at sea onboard USS John C. Stennis. At the end of the report, the research team provides general recommendation(s) for the future installation of AMLs across the fleet to maximize benefits, cost savings, and value added to the U.S. Navy as well as for future research.

The Defense Health Agency (DHA) has challenged each of its subordinate organizations through several initiatives to reduce costs while delivering world-class medical care. As a step toward the DHA’s cost-saving initiative, this thesis analyzes the current inventory management and recommends suitable inventory models for DHA’s largest eyewear production organization, Naval Ophthalmic Support and Training Activity (NOSTRA). This unique organization carries the most extensive inventories of lenses and spectacle frames. NOSTRA provides eyewear to all service branches, retirees, and other eligible personnel. This project evaluates 141 spectacle frame types across two fiscal years, 2017 and 2018. The analysis reveals that NOSTRA uses a combination of the periodic review and continuous review models. NOSTRA also uses three separate information technology systems, which makes it challenging to accurately forecast demand and track inventory. The findings indicate that NOSTRA can benefit from inventory management models and substantially reduce its inventory and cost. The results of this analysis recommend that NOSTRA incorporate the economic order quantity model and ABC analysis, and utilize the joint ordering strategy. Furthermore, management can extend the frame-of-choice replacement policy to the end of the suppliers’ contract year to capture more potential savings.

The current method of acquiring custom, innovative software through traditional contracting methods is an outdated practice. These traditional methods are time-consuming, and could be improved with the Air Force’s Kessel Run, an internal software development organization. With the Air Force’s Kessel Run, the time from software inception to operation can go from years to days. Unfortunately, neither most of the Air Force nor the rest of the Department of Defense (DoD) has yet to catch up to the forward thinking of those involved in the creation of Kessel Run. Most of the Air Force and the DoD are still outsourcing for most of their innovative acquisitions, whether it be research and design or product (software) development. This case study offers insight to the new organization and identifies the potential to apply the concepts learned during its creation to benefit other DoD organizations when considering insourcing as opposed to the traditional outsourcing acquisition approach.

To mitigate disruptions to commercial power grids, and to achieve operational efficiencies by managing energy use, many organizations are fielding smaller, local, self-contained microgrids. The computer control systems that operate the microgrids create new vulnerabilities to a rapidly-escalating array of cyber attacks. This creates a tension between the need to improve energy assurance and efficiency through microgrids, and the need to protect against cyber attacks that can disrupt and damage the organization’s energy systems. Through a series of interviews with subject matter experts and end-users, this exploratory study surfaces the decision-makers’ important values in this decision space and develops a network of those values to guide decision-makers to make better decisions in balancing these competing needs.

The government acquisition workforce has been encouraged to find ways to decrease the amount the government spends on contracts and to find efficiencies within federal procurement. The federal government has implemented a category management initiative to reduce the total cost of ownership and find cost savings.Services account for much of the government’s discretionary spending, and knowledge based or professional services account for a large portion of those services. The U.S. Army is in the beginning stages of implementing category management for professional services. The purpose of this project is to identify the U.S. Army’s spending trends and opportunities in the procurement of management advisory services. A spend analysis is performed utilizing FY12–FY18 Federal Procurement Data System–Next Generation (FPDS-NG) data to determine which product service codes (PSCs) associated with the Level 2 category of management advisory services make up the majority of the spend for the U.S. Army. In addition we analyze and identify trends in purchasing management advisory services over the seven-year span of FPDS-NG data, which contracting offices purchase the most management advisory services, and which vendors are associated with the most contract actions for PSCs associated with management advisory services.

MBA Professional Project, Student Thesis (NPS NRP Project Related), As is arguably common knowledge among defense procurement professionals, the Department of Defense (DoD) acquisitions process is slow, expensive, and inefficient. Since 1990, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has highlighted DoD Weapons Systems Acquisition and Supply Chain Management as two high-risk areas requiring focused effort to meet cost, schedule and performance goals. Blockchain technology has the potential to advance these goals. Congress agrees. By transforming how we conduct business, the DoD can realize significant benefits from blockchain technology. Private industry is testing blockchain and offers an opportunity for the DoD to learn from established practices. This research centers on how industry is implementing blockchain technology and leads to illustrate parallels where the DoD can apply similar practices to achieve efficiencies. We aimed to do this with an analysis of specifically selected case studies in which private companies use blockchain technology to solve issues comparable to those of the DoD. Our analysis revealed common elements during the successful implementation of blockchain within the private companies. After performing the case study analysis, we discuss the findings and determine what elements appear to be relevant and potentially significant to the DoD and public procurement sector. Furthermore, we include a list of recommendations based on the trends identified during data analysis., N1 - Manpower, Personnel, Training & Education, http://archive.org/details/blockchaintechno1094561355, This research is supported by funding from the Naval Postgraduate School, Naval Research Program (PE 0605853N/2098). https://nps.edu/nrp, Chief of Naval Operations (CNO), Captain, United States Air Force, Captain, United States Air Force

Secretary Mattis’ 2018 National Defense Strategy acknowledges that the Department of Defense’s (DoD’s) asymmetric technological capabilities, which enable a decisive military advantage over U.S. adversaries, are steadily eroding. Implementing underutilized traditional and non-traditional acquisition authorities to navigate the innovation ecosystem may prove to be a fast, flexible solution to this technological innovation gap. We comparatively analyze the DoD’s innovation ecosystem to understand the communities that make up the ecosystem and how they apply various acquisition authorities, techniques, or processes to accelerate future capabilities to the warfighter, and across the Defense Acquisition System. Our research shows that traditional and non-traditional micro-ecosystems play pivotal roles in the transition of cutting-edge technology through government, industry, and academic collaboration. Aside from traditional authorities, we highlight several non-traditional acquisition authorities with potential for broader adoption across the enterprise. Finally, we discuss lessons learned in terms of "what," "where," "when," and "how" mid-level management decision makers can think and act entrepreneurially to positively disrupt status-quo bureaucracies that inhibit rapid innovation across the ecosystem.

The purpose of this project is to determine whether the current policy dictating the officer mess bill collection process on ships is efficient and cost effective, or whether the policy requires modification to reduce costs and improve efficiency. To assess the effectiveness of the current policy and process, this study drew from interviews conducted with members involved in the mess bill collection process on board a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier. The interviews focused on gathering information about the entire cycle of the mess bill collection process and the amount of time, in hours, required to complete the process every month. In developing models to analyze the data collected and running simulations of these models, we developed estimates for man-hours and labor costs to administer the process both inport and underway. The findings indicated high man-hour and labor costs for the Navy, suggesting inefficiency in the current policy and process. These results suggest the need to modify policy and to update the process for the Navy of the 21st century to enhance efficiency and reduce costs. Further research is needed to more accurately estimate costs for mess bill collection throughout the Navy, as well as additional administrative costs associated with the process off ships.

This project will give Department of Defense (DoD) procurement and area planners an assessment on the availability of energy within the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) area of responsibility (AOR). The assessment will help make future decisions on sourcing energy purchases and may be expanded on with assumptions for risk potentials within the energy supply chain. This project includes market research on refined oil shipping and Military Sealift Command's capacity to move fuel to the warfighter. It includes research on tanker contracting procurement by Military Sealift Command, worldwide commercial tanker characteristics, and shipping activity within Asia.

Marine Corps occupational monitors currently make human resource relocation decisions without the capability to systematically compare the costs of alternative assignments. A primary weakness of current practice is a lack of communication between the assignment process and the financial systems administering permanent change of station (PCS) costs amounts. This thesis presents a systematic cost estimation and comparison tool to facilitate managerial decisions relevant to PCS assignments. To identify PCS-related managerial decisions, this study reviews the Marine Corps’ personnel assignment process, the impacts sustained by service members and their dependents, and the ensuing costs associated with PCS moves. The thesis demonstrates the model’s ability to inform managerial decisions and capture cost estimations to better assess personnel assignments. Further development is required to improve the capacity of the model, which would bolster managers’ ability to regulate assignment costs and be resilient in times of fiscal stress.

The purpose of our research is to develop a procurement administrative lead time (PALT) prediction model for sole-source contract awards greater than $500 million at Air Force Life Cycle Management Center. The scope of our research is confined to PALT, which is the number of days between solicitation release and contract award. Our research team uses an ordinary least squares regression to model the relationship among our response variable, PALT, and 12 explanatory variables. Based on our results, we found five statistically significant variables and their effects—sign and magnitude—on PALT. The model accounts for 90.05% of the variation in PALT. Accurately predicting a schedule provides commanders and decision-makers with the ability to make better strategic business decisions to support the warfighter. Further research recommendations include externally validating our prediction model against other populations; testing variables excluded from this research, such as human factors and technological risk; and estimating individual phases within the contract award process.

Since its inception in 2013, the Defense Health Agency has implemented several strategic initiatives aimed at controlling military healthcare expenditures, including considerable efforts toward reducing pharmaceutical costs. Despite the success of these initiatives at fixed military medical treatment facilities, where pharmacy officers lead the implementation and management of cost-saving strategies, the military services have not made a concerted effort to expand these initiatives to their operational medicine platforms, where the absence of pharmacy officer involvement has led to a gap in institutional knowledge of pharmaceutical inventory management processes. This case study seeks to mitigate this knowledge deficit by describing these processes for a representative shipboard medical department aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) to determine the potential for similar cost savings. Using a qualitative process and critical incident analysis, this report identifies potential drivers of inefficiencies in shipboard pharmaceutical inventory management and procurement. These include process variability based on medication type, lack of relevant performance measures, potential mission-material mismatches on authorized medical allowance lists, and the lack of true subject-matter experts in planning and implementation. This review provides a baseline and enables future targeted research to validate findings and implement systemic changes to reduce inefficiencies and costs.

In this project, we surveyed private industry supply chain managers and contracting professionals from the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center. The purpose was to ascertain knowledge and application of resource dependency and power-dependent relations theories within their respective organizations. A better understanding of the theories would allow organizations to position themselves strategically to secure supply bases for future requirements and to leverage strengths and minimize organizational weaknesses during negotiations. Despite survey respondents not knowing the terminology utilized within the theories tested, most respondents were capable of selecting the proper courses of actions, given either a resource dependency or power-dependent relations scenario-based question. This implies the organizations surveyed provide members some amount of training on the theoretical principles and can apply that knowledge to practical situations. Despite a shared theoretical knowledge between the public and private sectors, private sector respondents stated that they were more likely to utilize these principles and are postured to have a greater negotiating position. Public sector organizations who neglect these principles place themselves in a disadvantageous position when negotiating with or relying upon contracted support, especially for systems acquisitions.

As is arguably common knowledge among defense procurement professionals, the Department of Defense (DoD) acquisitions process is slow, expensive, and inefficient. Since 1990, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has highlighted DoD Weapons Systems Acquisition and Supply Chain Management as two high-risk areas requiring focused effort to meet cost, schedule and performance goals. Blockchain technology has the potential to advance these goals. Congress agrees. By transforming how we conduct business, the DoD can realize significant benefits from blockchain technology. Private industry is testing blockchain and offers an opportunity for the DoD to learn from established practices. This research centers on how industry is implementing blockchain technology and leads to illustrate parallels where the DoD can apply similar practices to achieve efficiencies. We aimed to do this with an analysis of specifically selected case studies in which private companies use blockchain technology to solve issues comparable to those of the DoD. Our analysis revealed common elements during the successful implementation of blockchain within the private companies. After performing the case study analysis, we discuss the findings and determine what elements appear to be relevant and potentially significant to the DoD and public procurement sector. Furthermore, we include a list of recommendations based on the trends identified during data analysis.

This proof of concept study is designed to provide a basic understanding of the Supply Corps community, provide a comparative analysis of the organizational culture utilizing the competing values framework (CVF), and examine the impact of mentoring within an organization. Active duty and retired Supply Corps officers were surveyed on their perception of the community via questions that were created with the CVF as a guide. Our results show that there is a current demand for additional artifacts that will provide for a more balanced community. LifeLine, a proposed mobile application, is a recommended solution to encourage an evolving Supply Corps populace to seek educated, informed assistance when faced with adversity. The application also promotes open communication within the Supply Corps community for the growth of its junior officers and inspires senior officers to make an investment in the community by sharing their corporate knowledge with the next generation of officers through mentoring.