Analysis of the field artillery battalion organization using a Markov chain.

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Author
Finlon, Matthew A.
Date
1991-09Advisor
Parry, Samuel H.
Second Reader
Lindsay, Glenn F.
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
This thesis develops a model for comparing Marine Corps field artillery battalion
organizations. It specifically examines the 3X8 and 4X6 direct support battalions. The
status of the battalions are represented as continuous time, finite state, semi-Markov
chains. The primary measure of effectiveness (MOE) for comparing the two structures
is the long-run expectation of the number of guns in position. A set of APL programs
manipulates the transition probability matrices and mean sojourn times. It then
returns the long-run equilibrium probabilities and mean recurrence times for the
states. Sensitivity analysis is conducted to explore the effects of changes in the
transition probabilities and sojourn times.