Operational energy/operational effectiveness investigation for scalable Marine expeditionary brigade forces in contingency response scenarios

Abstract

In today’s austere fiscal environment the United States Marine Corps (USMC) seeks to increase overall mission effectiveness, while maintaining or improving combat effectiveness, through efficient energy use in the battle space. This capstone project examined operational energy efficiencies through the specification, modeling, and data analysis associated with force scale alternatives of a Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force (SPMAGTF) unit operating in the West Africa Area of Responsibility (AOR). A Title 10 war games evolution was elaborated to support a robust operational concept. A Model Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) approach was utilized to support the Analysis of Alternatives (AoA). Agent Based Modeling and Simulation (ABMS) provided the foundation to explore autonomous battle space activity and its relationship to operational energy. Design of Experiments (DOE) principles were used to specify force scale levels suitable for examination of the tradespace. The research objectively sought to understand the relationship between force scale, energy use, and mission effectiveness. Results support findings regarding key energy drivers, energy dependencies across the combat elements of the battle space, economies of scale, and net-centricity. The findings inform evaluation of force application doctrine in small land battle engagements, and provide modeling artifacts for future research efforts.