“ON THE SHORE” FAMILY OF PLANNING MODELS
Talbot Bone and Donald Pledger
Naval Facilities Engineering Command
While the size and composition of the Navy’s operating forces have fluctuated over the years, the supporting shore infrastructure has remained relatively constant. Significant exceptions on the growth side include the construction of Trident Submarine bases and the Strategic Homeport Program. Reductions in the shore establishment have occurred as a result of several base closure actions over the years. As the Navy approaches another downsizing cycle and the number of fleet units is reduced, it is essential that the shore infrastructure be reduced as well. The question is how much and where.
“On the Shore” provides a tool to account for all fleet units, ships, aircraft squadrons, and submarines, and the requirements they place on the shore infrastructure. Descriptive data on each fleet unit has been entered into a data base. Typical data includes the physical attributes of the unit, personnel assigned, weapons systems on board, propulsion systems, etc. A second data base has been developed for all shore activities providing support to fleet units. The principal activities are Naval Stations and Naval Air Stations. Secondary activities include shipyards, NADEPS, Weapons Stations and Magazines, and other industrial activities. Data exists in graphic, tabular, and narrative formats.
The shore activity data base is structured using base maps of the activities. These maps portray selected man-made and natural physical features of the activities: buildings, roads, bodies of water, etc. Features can be annotated with relevant information: capacity, condition, etc. The fleet unit data base is married to the shore activity data base as units are attached to the activity base map. Resident capacity information of the shore activity is matched against the fleet unit requirement providing a “go” or “no go” indication to the user. Automated accounting tracks the availability of support systems such as aircraft parking space, cold iron utilities, ship berth space, etc.
The tool requires a “user” who is familiar with the program. While “kickouts” are built into the program to exclude the user from forcing aircraft beddown and ship berthing assignments, the kickouts can be overridden if assumptions or criteria are changed.
