An operational utility assessment: measuring the effectiveness of the experimental forward operating base program

Abstract

This MBA project conducts a comparative analysis of the Experimental Forward Operating Base (ExFOB) accelerated acquisition process created in 2009 to address the Marine Corps’ reliance on liquid fuel for expeditionary operations. This project examines the effectiveness of the ExFOB process in comparison with other acquisition processes to evaluate the ExFOB effectiveness toward reducing expeditionary energy use, and to identify the ExFOB’s value added to the Marine Corps. The findings of this study show that by accelerating selection, test, and evaluation processes, ExFOB has reduced the acquisition time of four energy-saving technologies, generating savings of approximately one year off of the two-year commercial off-the-shelf process. The fuel saved by ExFOB’s accelerated process and the capabilities ExFOB has evaluated have the potential to reduce expeditionary energy use by approximately 26 percent by 2016 and keep the Marine Corps on track to meet its 2025 goal. These improvements to the acquisition timeline and expeditionary capabilities of the Marine Corps, coupled with the value added, demonstrate that the ExFOB is instrumental in helping the Marine Corps improve its ability to conduct operations from the sea.