Goal Programming Tanker Beddown Decision

With the reduction of forward basing of U.S. military forces, the increase in global operations and a move toward expeditionary forces, the United States Air Force's tanker fleet is increasingly crucial to the success of all military services. Past reductions of the Air Force's tanker fleet and an ever increasing age of the tanker fleet makes fast, efficient, and effective planning a must. A critical aspect of tanker planning, that affects all other aspects of tanker operations, is the beddown decision. Beddown decisions directly affect the amount of fuel that can be offloaded to receivers and the number of tanker sorties that can be flown in support of operations. Given the importance of tanker aircraft to mission success, planners still lack rough cut planning tools that can assist in the early planning stages of tanker employment. By combining research conducted by Major Mark Macdonald and Captain Michael Sere, a rough cut goal program can be developed that will assist tanker planners in making beddown decision. This tool can provide planners with the data required to make beddown decision based off potential capabilities and possible capability trade-offs. While this tool is not suitable to plan or conduct operations with, it will allow planners to quickly calculate potential capabilities and assist in the planning process.