A review of strategic mobility models supporting the defense transportation system

The complexity of military logistics and force deployment modeling requires the use of advanced computer models for analysis. The last 20 years have not only seen a concerted effort to improve the fidelity of these models, but development to improve their interconnectivity. The area of strategic mobility has received greater interest in the last decade as the U.S. Military has become more reliant on a force projection posture rather than prepositioning its forces outside the continental United States. Strategic mobility describes how forces within the continental U.S. are deployed in support missions outside the continental U.S. This posture combined with the ever shrinking military budget and force size has placed increased emphasis on the capability to efficiently deploy personnel, equipment, and support materiel. Mobility modeling is conducted at various levels of the mobility planning process. The result is a myriad of models addressing different aspects of the process. Current models addressing strategic mobility use aggregate network flow models, one-pass greedy approaches, and simple bounding techniques. This paper presents an overview of these models, their operating characteristics, and their advantages and disadvantages for mobility modeling applications.