Panama Canal Criticality and Security

Abstract

This campaign of analysis was conducted at the request of Commander, Naval Forces South and 4th Fleet (COMNAVSOUTH/C4F). Its objective was to quantify the Panama Canal’s criticality in shifting naval forces from the U.S. East Coast to the Western Pacific, and to provide wargaming support to C4F’s “theory of the fight” development to ensure the Panama Canal remains a passable neutral passage between oceans. This research effort included four efforts: a Master of Systems Analysis capstone project to analyze least-cost transit alternatives in time and money that provides C4F staff an optimized routing tool; a Joint Campaign Analysis study in alternative routing worldwide including risk to force analysis; a wargame designed, developed, and executed to support COMNAVSOUTH/C4F’s operational plan development; and a master’s thesis in Operations Research to further develop the original optimized routing tool for worldwide operations.