New Analytic Tools Evaluate Overseas Combat Support Basing Options for the U.S. Air Force

TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE To enable its Air and Space Expeditionary Forces (AEF) to rapidly deploy and begin operations whenever and wherever they are needed, the U.S. Air Force must prestore war reserve materiel (WRM) in forward support locations (FSLs) outside of the United States. WRM includes combat support resources such as base operating support equipment, vehicles, and munitions. When needed, this materiel must be transported over land, sea, or air to combat forces at forward operating locations (FOLs). A critical question for planners is where to preposition such materiel so it can support future combat operations and exercises at minimal cost and maximum speed. As part of ongoing work to develop an agile combat support (ACS) system for the AEF, RAND Project AIR FORCE (PAF) developed a set of analytic tools that can be used to evaluate various storage options to meet a given set of operational scenarios. The analytic approach involves fi ve key steps: