Optimizing maintenance manpower for USMC F/A-18 squadrons

Download
Author
Goodwin, Kevin J.
Date
2016-06Advisor
Carlyle, W. Matthew
Dell, Robert F.
Second Reader
Hyink, Jeffrey F.
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
United States Marine Corps F/A-18 squadrons face increasing maintenance requirements to keep their aging aircraft operationally ready. Each squadron maintenance department has six production work centers (WCs) that specialize in different maintenance activities. Each Marine in one of the six production WCs belongs to one of three categories of experience level, with some maintenance actions requiring certification by a member of the most experienced category before an aircraft can fly. This thesis formulates the Manpower Validation Planner (MVP), an integer linear program that daily assigns tasks to available Marines from each WC and experience level to a squadron's maintenance actions, with the requirement to keep a standard number of aircraft operationally ready. We demonstrate the MVP using two years of daily maintenance and manning data from five F/A-18 squadrons to calculate the number of used, unused, and deficit hours of work. Our baseline analysis shows the majority of WCs in an F/A-18 maintenance department have sufficient manpower available, but that two WCs are overtasked. Additional analysis shows the impossibility of keeping the required number of aircraft operationally ready given the time available to fix aircraft and evaluates mitigation strategies.
Rights
This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.Collections
Related items
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
-
Optimization of Airframe Depot Readiness Assessment Model (ADRAM)
MacKinnon, Douglas J.; Huang, Jefferson (Monterey, California: Naval Postgraduate SchoolMonterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School., 2021);The Naval Aviation Enterprise (NAE) is tasked with providing sufficient numbers of aircraft to meet readiness and operational surge requirements. This study seeks to improve readiness as defined by the number of mission-capable ... -
Optimization of Airframe Depot Readiness Assessment Model (ADRAM)
MacKinnon, Douglas J.; Huang, Jefferson (Monterey, California: Naval Postgraduate SchoolMonterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School., 2021);The Naval Aviation Enterprise (NAE) is tasked with providing sufficient numbers of aircraft to meet readiness and operational surge requirements. This study seeks to improve readiness as defined by the number of mission-capable ... -
An evaluation of Markov chain modeling for F/A-18 aircraft readiness
Ackart, Leigh P. (Monterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School, 1998-09);During its 1998 deployment the USS INDEPENDENCE (CV 62) and Carrier Air Wing Five operated under the control of Commander, Task Force 50 (CTF-5O). To balance resources and readiness, CTF-50 asked the following question: ...