SWOTOURS: a modification of an interactive computer model to analyze the manpower requirements of the operational tours of U.S. Navy surface warfare officers

Abstract

This thesis presents a modification of an interactive computer model designed to examine the Surface Warfare Community. The model called SWOTOURS is designed to provide information that allows manpower managers increased analytical power. A tour structure is defined, and specific billet requirements for each tour are assumed. Billet requirements and officer supplies are compared to calculate tour opportunities or shortfalls. Officer inventory computation was specifically changed so that the model now ages its own inventories. Also, a new computational method to compute tour opportunities was introduced so that the model's calculations would simulate those of the Navy's manpower managers who would make use of the model. Model capability is demonstrated by alterations made to current data to show their effects on operational tour opportunity. A major portion of the changes deal with the officer manpower problems implied by the proposed policy of increasing fleet size towards 600 deployable ships by the end of the decade. The model shows the impact of such a ship growth on opportunity rates. Other changes are demonstrated to show how some manpower policy variables can be changed to alleviate the effect of growth in ship inventory.