Optimizing long-term capital planning for Special Operations Forces

Abstract

The United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) J8 directorate is responsible for planning long-range capital expenditure for Special Operations Forces (SOF). In executing its mission as the designer of the future SOF, the USSOCOM J8 uses the Long-Range Capital Planning Toolkit (LRCPT) to compare total obligation authority to projected investments over a 30-year time horizon. The LRCPT allows USSOCOM to change project and resource category parameters to analyze the effects on available procurement and research, development, test, and evaluation allocations. This what if analysis allows for course-of-action comparison and helps USSOCOM visualize resource impacts, but the LRCPT does not provide an optimized program portfolio. The goal of this thesis is to improve the LRCPT by developing proof-of-principle optimization models for long-range capital planning. We present three linear optimization models: (1) the Binary Knapsack model, (2) the Weighted Goal Programming model, and (3) the Weighted Goal Programming with Platform Tracking model. These models can be incorporated into the LRCPT to provide USSOCOM with an efficient method for optimizing long-term procurement planning, ensuring there are no SOF capability gaps over the 30-year horizon.