Optimal Allocation of Students to Naval Nuclear-Power Training Units

Michael R. Miller (), Robert J. Alexander (), Vincent A. Arbige (), Robert F. Dell (), Steven R. Kremer (), Brian P. McClune (), Jane E. Oppenlander () and Joshua P. Tomlin ()
Additional contact information
Michael R. Miller: Naval Nuclear Laboratory, Kesselring Site, Schenectady, New York 12301
Robert J. Alexander: Naval Nuclear Laboratory, Kesselring Site, Schenectady, New York 12301
Vincent A. Arbige: Naval Nuclear Laboratory, Kesselring Site, Schenectady, New York 12301
Robert F. Dell: Operations Research Department, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California 93943
Steven R. Kremer: Naval Nuclear Laboratory, Kesselring Site, Schenectady, New York 12301
Brian P. McClune: Naval Nuclear Laboratory, Kesselring Site, Schenectady, New York 12301
Jane E. Oppenlander: School of Business, Clarkson University, Schenectady, New York 12308
Joshua P. Tomlin: Naval Nuclear Laboratory, Kesselring Site, Schenectady, New York 12301

Interfaces, 2017, vol. 47, issue 4, 320-335

Abstract: The U.S. Navy operates an impressive fleet of nuclear-powered submarines and aircraft carriers and has safely operated its nuclear fleet for more than 60 years, while steaming over 154 million miles. Rigorous training has been key to maintaining such an impressive record. The U.S. Naval Nuclear Propulsion Training Program develops, certifies, and delivers the nuclear-operator qualification training for enlisted and officer personnel operating its nuclear fleet. This training finishes at one of four nuclear-power training units (NPTUs), operates under a complex set of hard and soft constraints, varies depending on the type of student, and requires significant personnel and equipment resources. We developed and implemented a mixed-integer linear program (MILP) that prescribes how many students of each type to allocate to each NPTU at the start of each class (a group of students who train together) and how allocated students complete NPTU training. The use of MILP has improved student allocation by an estimated eight percent and led to significantly improved use of both NPTU personnel and equipment resources. In this paper, we describe this unique optimization application, the MILP formulation, its path to adoption, its user interface, and impacts from its development and use over the past three years.

Keywords: military; personnel: programming; integer; applications: education systems; planning: decision analysis; applications (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://doi.org/10.1287/inte.2017.0905 (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:inm:orinte:v:47:y:2017:i:4:p:320-335

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Interfaces from INFORMS Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Asher ().