Gettrdoc Base Camp
Gettrdoc Base Camp
Senior Investigator
Lieutenant Colonel Mark J. Davis
Assistant Professor, Department of Systems Engineering
A TECHNICAL REPORT
OF THE
OPERATIONS RESEARCH CENTER
UNITED STATES MILITARY ACADEMY
Approved by
Colonel Michael L. Mc Ginnis, Ph.D.
Professor and Head, Department of Systems Engineering
August 2001
If you configure out the criteria for base camp selection...you've done something the
Army can use. -LTG Flowers, Chief, US Corps of Engineers (2 May 2001)
20020319 192
Form Approved
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4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER
Base Camp Design: Site Selection and Facility Layout n/a
5b. GRANT NUMBER
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5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER
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6. AUTHOR(S) 5d. PROJECT NUMBER
Major Barry C. Ezell n/a
Lieutenant Colonel Mark J. Davis 5e. TASK NUMBER
n/a
5f. WORK UNIT NUMBER
n/a
7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) 8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION
REPORT NUMBER
Operations Research Center of Excellence
Department of Systems Engineerig n/a
United States Military Academy
West Point, New York 10996
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USMA - Department of Systems Engineering n/a
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12. DISTRIBUTION/AVAILABILITY STATEMENT
Distribution Statement A - Approved for Public Release; Distribution is Unlimited
14. ABSTRACT
Army deployments to conduct operations other than war have been sustained by base camps for 225 years. In other words, base
camp development is not a new endeavor. However, the larger footprint required by the logistical demands of modern equipment
coupled with deployments in urban regions have created an environment where site selection and facility layout within a base camp
become difficult problems. Increased environmental awareness, new construction standards to address force protection and soldier
morale, and life-cycle cost make base camp location and layout an important Army issue. Therefore, base camp design,
management and reengineering should proceed from a systems engineering perspective in order to adequately address these complex
and interrelated requirements
16. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: 17. LIMITATION OF 18. NUMBER 19a. NAME OF RESPONSIBLE PERSON
a. REPORT b. ABSTRACT c. THIS PAGE ABSTRACT OF
MAJ Barry C. Ezell
PAGES
SAR 19b. TELEPHONE NUMBER (Include area code)
n/a n/a n/a 40 845-938-5897
Standard Form 298 (Rev. 8/98)
Prescribed by ANSI Std. Z39.18
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS 2
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 3
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 4
SECTION ONE: BASE CAMP SITE SELECTION 11
INTRODUCTION 12
Stakeholders 13
WHAT IS BASE CAMP? 13
THE BASE CAMP AS A SYSTEM 14
FUNCTIONAL DECOMPOSITION 16
SUPPORT TO DECISIONMAKING PROCESS 17
DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM PROCESS FLOW 17
MODELING SCENARIO 19
CROATIA SCENARIO : 19
REFERENCES 22
SECTION TWO: FACILITY LAYOUT 24
INTRODUCTION 25
DATA COLLECTION AND TRANSFORMATION 26
PASSIVE DATA COLLECTION 26
ACTIVE DATA COLLECTION 27
DATA TRANSFORMATION 28
MODELING 30
MODELING ALTERNATIVES 30
MODEL INPUTS AND ASSUMPTIONS 32
ANALYSIS OF RESULTS 33
DISCUSSION OF RESULTS AND ANALYSIS EFFORTS 34
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE WORK 37
REFERENCES 39
JQ(102-ö£>~ Offf
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This report would not have been possible without the contributions of USMA faculty members
and students, University of Virginia's Center for Risk Management for Engineering Systems'
Director, staff and graduate students, and the National Ground Intelligence Center.
• USMA students: Cory Kwarta, Ben Parry, Kevin Johnson, Richard Reggerio, Gary
Ducote, John Tolson, Ryan Berdineer (the Excel Model and Developing and Scoring of
Evaluation Measures for the Scenario), Irena Peharda, Jamie Pope (Croatia Scenario and
Developing and Scoring of Evaluation Measures for the Scenario) and Matthew
must be developed. This must be an integrated product that includes general engineering
considerations. ~ Colonel Michael A. Hiemstra, Director, Center for Army Lessons Learned
Up front to this whole effort there needs to be some sort of setting the stage- for the theater and
political leadership - to understand what it means when we say we are going to deploy and base
troops for a time (months to years), on foreign soil. We all must come to agreement that it means
this in terms of living conditions, this in terms of support (eveything from hospitals to AFN), etc.,
etc. I've often argued we need an Army wide "son of Red Book", that when a decision is made to
Bosnia, it will mean this; it will mean that.- Colonel Robert McClure, 1st Engineer Brigade, 1st
ID (M)
Army deployments to conduct operations other than war have been sustained by base
camps for 225 years. In other words, base camp development is not a new endeavor. However,
the larger footprint required by the logistical demands of modern equipment coupled with
deployments in urban regions have created an environment where site selection and facility
layout within a base camp become difficult problems. Increased environmental awareness, new
construction standards to address force protection and soldier morale, and life-cycle cost make
base camp location and layout an important Army issue. Therefore, base camp design,
management and reengineering should proceed from a systems engineering perspective in order
discuss techniques, standards, and requirements for base camp construction. However, military
planners do not have doctrinal guidance, an information repository, or a decision support tool to
aid commanders in selecting the best locations for base camps. Location decisions are usually
based on tactical considerations derived from intelligence preparation of the battlefield (IBP) for
the deployment and anticipated OOTW missions. Typically, a unit arrives and occupies an
assembly area. Over time the location evolves into a de'facto base camp location. Military
planners would also benefit from a decision support tool that optimizes the facility layout for a
base camp location while providing flexibility for modification and expansion. This executive
summary presents our progress in determining base camp functions and the very specific
knowledge requirements for base camp site-selection and facility layout. It concludes with a
discussion about the future research, highlighting the system requirements for the decision
support system.
A first step in addressing this problem is to clearly define a base camp and identify its
primary functions. To this end, we define a base camp as an evolving military facility that
supports the military operations of a deployed unit and provides the necessary support and
services for sustained operations. Using this definition, a base camp's primary function is
mission support. To accomplish this support, it must provide four key services: force protection,
of these services provides insight for base camp location and facility layout decisions. Force
protection programs must safeguard and secure people, facilities, equipment, supplies,
transportation networks, and information. These programs must adapt to the threat, mission, and
environment.
Classifying the critical infrastructure will help managing the base camp real estate by
creating zones similar to those used by city master planners. Typical base camp infrastructure
Housing is further defined by type such as tent or sea hut. Unit support is decomposed into
elements that include motor pools, unit headquarters, electric power, water (potable and
treatment), road networks, fuel storage, and ammo holding areas. The soldier support
component is representative of areas in the base camp dedicated to dining facilities, aid stations,
chapels, education center, postal service center, mail rooms, finance support, barber, post
comprised of fitness centers, theater center, common areas, library, TV rooms, athletic fields,
and running trails. OOTW missions make individual and collective training support critical.
Units need areas to train on tasks they may not normally perform. They also require training
resources to maintain proficiency on essential tasks that they probably will not perform in
theater. Equally important is providing maintenance areas and facilities to support equipment and
facility. These component lists for the four critical services are not exhaustive and are a function
of resources, politics and time. In general, the larger the facility and length of deployment will
impact on the number and types of facilities. The important point is that stakeholders desire
quality of life for deployed soldiers and theater commanders establish the guidelines on facilities.
A few more components of the definition need emphasis. A base camp supports a deployed unit.
Although the camp may have permanently assigned personnel, the units will rotate through the
facility. The next point is that the base camp provides for sustained operations. This implies a
requirement for continuous re-supply and the establishment of a logistical support structure.
Although assembly areas may provide many of the services in austere base camps, they usually
Stakeholders are individuals who can influence decision outcomes. They are key
base camp location is closely coupled with early decisions on assembly area location, deploying
units would benefit from a system that incorporates environmental, political, economic,
geographic, and infrastructure considerations. The most obvious stakeholders are commanders
and their staffs. These headquarters range from the Commander-in-Chief of a unified command
to the units occupying and supporting a base camp. The commanders are responsible for
decision-making, and their staffs must provide them with adequate information to make the
decisions. The principle staff agencies include those responsible for personnel, operations,
engineer, logistics and resource management functions. These agencies desire a fair and
equitable quality of life consistent with resource, political, and military constraints. Additional
staff stakeholders are those who levy requirements on the location and layout of base camps. For
example, signal officers have a stake because of the impact of communications: satellite, FM,
HF, email, etc. There also agencies that are not in the chain of command that impose
requirements on the base camp location and design. Safety officers from DOD agencies have a
stake because they certify the base camp as safe. DOD Antiterrorism Force Protection (AT/FP)
installation AT/FP programs. The JSIVAs look at physical security measures, AT/FP training,
operational intelligence fusion, structures, and plans for responding to terrorist incidents. In fact,
there are a host of outside agency stakeholders (with requirements) that have an impact on
location and layout. Contract personnel, host nation governments, local populations, United
Nation agencies, non-governmental organizations, environmentalist, and local industries are a
few examples.
research, planning, and execution. Aside from acknowledging the basic functions and
components, base camps should also be classified in terms of states, hierarchical structure and
lifecycle. The "state of the system" is a time-dependent description that captures the operational
essence of the system (base camp). The operational states of the base camp may be viewed in
terms of capability and lifespan. Capability can be characterized by commonly used schemes
such as mission capable, non-mission capable and fully mission capable or red, amber, and
camp type or level of command. They are three types of base camps: major base camp, remote
site, or forward operating site. Additionally, one can identify a base camp or system of base
camps by command level. Commands levels are geographic combatant, area, base camp cluster,
tenant, remote site, or forward operating site commander. Finally, base camps should be
understood in terms of lifecycle. We identified nine lifecycle functions for base camps:
retiring.
A prototype decision support system is in the early stages of design in the ORCEN.
Based on stakeholder and needs analysis, we believe the system should support critical site
location and facility layout decisions. The site selection prototype DSS (GeoBLAST) accepts
inputs such as: user type, mission, area of operation, mission duration, alternative locations,
8
These inputs are transformed via a knowledge hierarchy and rule base implementation into
system outputs, which include site selection, resource requirements, facility layout and general
knowledge. Finally, the system provides layout configuration for the components of a base camp
where the component selections are a function of force protection, base camp size, mission,
duration, and unit type. After a year's research we present our accomplishments:
The report is organized into two major sections. Section one comprises the research to
date on site selection. Four papers were written on site-selection1234 as well as two conference
presentations (Society of American Military Engineers' National Conference June 2001 and
1
Barry C. Ezell, Mark J. Davis, and Michael L. McGinnis, "Designing A Decision Support System For Military
Base Camp Site Selection And Facility Layout", Engineering Foundation Conference on Risk-Based Decision
Making in Water Resources IX Proceedings, October 2000.
2
Barry C. Ezell, Gregory Parnell, Yacov Y. Haimes, and James H. Lambert, "Designing an OOTW Decision
Support System Military Planners", IEEE 2000 International Conference on Systems, Man and Cybernetics, October
2000 Proceedings.
3
Greg Parnell, Barry C. Ezell, Yacov Y. Haimes, Kent Schlüssel and Mark Sulcoski, "Designing a OOTW
Knowledge Hierarchy for a OOTW Decision Support System for Military Planners", Phalanx: A Bulletin for the
Military Operations Research Society, December, 2000.
4
Barry C. Ezell, Mark W. Brantley, and Mark J. Davis, "Base Camp Design: Developing a Decision Support Tool
for Site Selection and Facility Layout", Military Engineer, Vol. 93, No. 610, 2001.
Basecamp Layout and and Selection Tool. Section two of the report is dedicated to research on
facility layout. One paper was written on facility layout and will be presented in October 20015.
This report is a compilation of work including the papers, meetings, and presentations over the
Over the next 18 months, cadets and faculty at the US Military Academy will deploy to
several overseas locations collecting data for potential base camp locations in support of OOTW
contingencies. Engineering capstone teams will use this data to refine decision-making models
and instantiate knowledge bases useful to detailed planning within the specific geographic areas
studied. On 10 September, 2001, Admiral Dennis Blair, CINCPAC will provide the key note
remarks at the first annual base camp conference hosted by USMA and the Department of
Systems Engineering.
5
Matthew U. Robertson, Barry C. Ezell, and Michael L. McGinnis, "Base Camp Facility Layout", IEEE 2001
International Conference on Systems, Man and Cybernetics, to be published in the October 2001 Proceedings.
10
SECTION ONE: BASE CAMP SITE SELECTION
11
INTRODUCTION
Base camps are expensive to operate and maintain. There are several unrealized costs
attributed to upgrading, transitioning to new tenants, and deactivating. For 225 years, the Army
(with the assistance of host nation and contracted support) has employed base camps as support
locations for forward deployed forces. In other words, base camp construction is not a new idea.
What is new is the recent trend to outsource base camp operations (food, power, waste, etc.), and
that outsourcing has proven to be expensive and wasteful. Outsourcing supplies and services is a
result of the political need to minimize the number of US soldiers deployed in a theater. This
creates the condition where the Army must rely on contracted support.
Military planners are routinely guided in their efforts by applicable field manuals, which define
terms of reference and prescribe procedures by which to accomplish tasks and order priorities.
Unfortunately, the Army has no field manual on base camp operations. Even worse, the term
"base camp" is not defined in current military doctrine. There are volumes that guide individual
standards. Base operations are discussed in what is commonly referred to in the Engineering
Corps as the "Blue Book" [USAREUR, Base Operations 1999]. Facility standards are detailed
in the "Red Book" [USAREUR, Base Camp Facilities Standards 1999]. Field Manuals such as
5-104, General Engineering, [Army Field Manual 5-104 1986] provide some information on
what a base camp should accomplish, but again, there is no capstone doctrine. In our view, the
Army would benefit from a capstone field manual on base camp operations in the same way the
12
services benefit from Joint Vision 2020 [JV2020] and Army capstone doctrine such as Field
Stakeholders
In this paper, we define stakeholders as individuals and agencies who can directly or indirectly
influence the decisionmaker and impact on decision outcomes. Stakeholders are key players
who are internal or external to our organization and either controllable or uncontrollable. For our
decisionmaker for any system we design. We believe CINCs desire a system that will aid their
staffs in determining the best locations for base camps and facility layouts. High-level users are
principle staff agencies represented by the deputy chiefs of staff for personnel, operations,
engineers, logistics, and resource management. These agencies, according to the Blue Book,
desire: "a fair and equitable quality of life consistent with available resources and political and
military considerations." Deploying units are also stakeholder groups. They are represented by
commanders and staff who desire a system that provides decision support for base camp
locations and facility layouts, as well as considerations for mission and force protection. Since
base camp location is closely coupled with early decision on assembly area location, deploying
units would benefit from a system that incorporates environmental, political, economic,
locality from which operations are projected or supported. It also defines base as an area or
13
locality containing installations that provide logistic or other support. Army Field Manual 101-
5-1 [1997] defines base as a grouping of units or activities within a defined, defensible perimeter
with specific access-control points and traffic control, where all units or activities are under the
operational control of a single commander for security operations. Camp is defined in JP 1-02
[1997] as a group of tents, huts, or other shelter set up temporarily for troops, and more
permanent than a bivouac, including a military post, temporary or permanent. Our systems
military facility that supports the military operations of a deployed unit and provides the
to perform some useful purpose [Sage and Armstrong 1999]. A system can then be viewed in
terms of functions, states, components, and structure. In the domain of base camp analysis, the
top-level function is mission support, i.e., the support that a base camp system provides for the
execution of the overall military mission of the deployed force. To execute mission support, a
base camp must provide force protection to deployed forces, resource management of critical
infrastructure, training opportunities for deployed forces and permanent party, and maintenance
to facilities. Base camp life-cycle functional analysis and functional decomposition is described
description that captures the operational essence of the system (base camp, in this case). Base
mission-capable when evaluated in terms of the high-level functional description above. The
14
construction state is characterized as temporary or permanent [USAREUR Base Operations
1999].
It is important to note that the overarching mission of the deployed force can change over
time. In fact, any detailed analysis uncovers the time-phased "evolution" of the mission. The
design of the base camp must account for this dynamic nature and possess a flexibility that
Hierarchical structure in systems includes super, adjacent, and subsystems. With respect to the
base camp system, a convenient way to address hierarchy is to characterize the system in terms
of command. Depending on the level and scope of command, one can identify a base camp as a
function of command level and location (major base camp, remote site, or forward operating
System components or elements of a base camp are described in terms of base camp facilities
[USAREUR, Base Operations 1999]. Facilities are organized into four types: housing, soldier-
support, unit, and morale/welfare/recreation. Housing is further defined by type: for example,
tent or sea hut. Unit is decomposed into twelve elements, such as motor pool and organizational
unit (i.e., company, battalion, brigade). The unit component also contains typical critical
infrastructures: electric power, water (potable and treatment), road networks, fuel storage, and
ammo holding areas [USAREUR, Facility Standards 1999]. The soldier-support component
represents areas in the base camps dedicated to dining facilities, aid stations, chapel, education
center, postal service center, mail room, finance support, barber, post exchange, food concession,
theater center, common areas, library, TV rooms, athletic fields, and running trails.
15
The component list is not exhaustive. Decisions on facilities made available for soldiers are a
function of resources, politics, and time. In general, the size of the force and length of
deployment will impact on the number and types of facilities. The important point is that
stakeholders desire a good quality of life for deployed soldiers, and theater commanders establish
FUNCTIONAL DECOMPOSITION
In order to better understand base camp operations, systems engineers often functionally
• force protection,
• resource management,
• maintenance.
Force protection includes programs that safeguard and secure people, facilities, and
base camp. This is decomposed into ten subordinate functions. Training is characterized as
collective or individual. The decomposition refers to the typical training activities common to
any base camp. The final top-level function is maintenance. This is decomposed into
In this section we defined the problem and established the critical stakeholders and
described the systems in terms of functions, components, states, and hierarchy. In the following
section we describe the inputs, outputs, process flows for GeoBLAST, a decision support system.
16
SUPPORT TO DECISIONMAKING PROCESS
GeoBLAST provides support to critical site location and facility layout decisions. Site-
selection includes geographic location, dimensions, and geo-spatial information for surrounding
critical infrastructures. Finally, the system provides a layout configuration for the components of
a base camp where the component selections are a function of force protection, camp size,
mission, duration, unit type, and other factors (see Figure 1).
• User
• Mission
• Area of Operation Knowledge • Site Selection
• Duration ► Categories j> Resource
• Alternatives Requirements
• Weights Rule Base • Facility Layout
• Values • Knowledge
type, mission, area of operation, mission duration, alternative locations, value assignment to
evaluation measures, and weight assignment to knowledge categories. In turn, these inputs
would be transformed via the knowledge hierarchy and rule base into system outputs: site
selection, resource requirements, facility layout, and general knowledge (Figure 1).
Figure 2 describes the user's interaction and flow with the system. The
interaction can be summarized as follows. First, the user type is self-selected from a menu of
choices (e.g., brigade operations officer, logistics officer). Next, the user chooses the mission
type from one of 13 operations other than war. The system presents the five unified command
areas of responsibility and the user chooses the area of operation. Once these parameters are
17
established, the system presents maps of the area that allow the user to select alternative
locations. Based on these alternatives, the system presents a series of evaluation measures,
eliciting value assignments for each. (A definition list of evaluation measures may be found in
the model GeoBLAST.) Upon conclusion of value assignment, the user selects weights for each
knowledge category. The best site location is then calculated based on the value score and
weight via an additive preference model. The location with the best overall score is the best site.
The system then allows the user to "peel back" each score to analyze how the overall score was
obtained. GeoBLAST is a hybrid system that uses three programming tools: a database
(FileMaker Pro, spreadsheet (MS Excel) and a simulation add-in (CrystalBall 2000). FileMaker
manages the data and provides a user interface. FileMaker passes data via an ODBC connection.
Excel accepts the input from FileMaker and uses those inputs for the simulation in Crystal Ball.
Input Transform
Layout -w End
Figure 3 depicts the entire flow including screen shots of the system.
18
Identify Intelligence Needs Develop Croatian Assess COAs with
for OOTW Scenario and COAs GeoBLAST (Base
Camp Location DSS)
■IM
26 Knowledge categories/100+ evaluation measures 8 COAs screened to 2 300MB of information Virtual Tour ability
7 source document*2 conferences 34 hvaluation Measures
Evaluate COAs using Multi- Analyze COA Risk using Optimize Risk
Objective Decision Analysis Simulation Management ActioiIS
<:! £«i ,":: .mill k.i
;::::¥Si-=----'=*"-""'""*_ * ■"*
——» —►
1
E ™'~ ™S">-.^ ~ ~?
— -"■ "err;; ;i __ , - niiuir i J — t—- i -w-_ 1 ' ' IWV~«1 iS&eigii "Wl
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34 value functions 30 probability distributions on COA scores 2M Risk Management Strategies
Peel back ability 2 risk drivers 3 constraints
Binary Nonlinear Optimization
MODELING SCENARIO
GeoBLAST is a prototype that focused exclusively on Slunj, Croatia. There were two
reasons that Slunj was chosen. One of our students working the project was an exchange student
from Croatia. Secondly, the American Embassy in Croatia was very supportive to assisting us in
studying the considerations for base camp location in Croatia. A brief summary of the scenario
CROATIA SCENARIO
As a result of the five-year war for Croatian independence, thousands of Croatians are
protesting against war crimes investigations into several former generals who fought in the War
19
During the previous government, when Tudjman was the President, Croatians were
exclusively represented as victims in the Serb-Croat war of 1991. However, the new
government's attempt to shed light on possible atrocities committed against Serbs, has caused
Some 30,000 Croatians of all ages gathered at the main square in Split, a town located in
Southern Croatia on 22 April 2001. Another demonstration was held in the Eastern Croatian, in
the town of Osijek on 23 April 2001. Protesters became increasingly violent leading up to the
demonstrations. These demonstrations were the latest confrontations between the one-year-old
pro-democracy government and its predecessor (HDZ), but also the sign of a great economic
instability of Croatia. Several riots, acts of vandalism, and ethnic struggles resulted because of
the demonstrations and economic situation. These activities have become increasingly rampant
in the region, so frequent and out of control that the Croatian Police force can no longer control
the situation.
Organizers (believed to be backed by HDZ, the main nationalist opposition party) hired a
state railway train to bring protesters from Zagreb and all across the country. Buses and cars had
brought more people from across the border in Bosnia already. The Croatian government and its
President, Stipe Mesic, have gone increasingly weary of its ability to stop the influx of
demonstrators and fear the Muslims, Bosnians, and Serbs could become involved to the extent of
extreme ethnic violence. President Stipe Mesic requested a conference from the United Nations
situation in the region. In response, several representatives of the UN, including the United
States' UN Commissioner for UNMOVIC, Robert Einhorn, were sent to discuss alternative
actions to stabilize the region before the situation resulted in a conflict, i.e. civil war, etc.
20
President Stipe Mesic claimed that the protests and riots were aimed at destabilizing
democracy and once again isolating the country from the Western Europe. President Sitpe Mesic
stated that if the UN did not get involved the situation would indeed erupt into a civil war or war
between the countries of former Yugoslavia are likely plausible. President Stipe Mesic presented
clear evidence that paramilitary groups are bringing illegal weaponry into the region in
preparation for possible conflicts with Croats and the Croatian government.
government restore peace in the region. After contentious debate, the UN determined that a
peacekeeping operation was necessary in order to stabilize the region, stave off war, and
maintain the current legitimacy of the Croatian government. The UN turned to the predominate
President Bush responded by ordering military forces into the region no later than 29
May 01. The PK force will deploy in the vicinity of Slunj to control the avenues of approach
north-east in and out of Slunj to Zagreb and control the southwest border with Bosnia. The
President made it clear that the political objective is to promote order and stability in the region
After recommendations from the SECDEF, Donald Rumsfield, the 52ID's 1st IBCT was chosen
21
REFERENCES
[I] Army Field Manual 100-5, Operations. US Army, Fort Monroe, VA, June 1993.
(http://l 55.217.58.58/cgi-bin/atdl.dll/fm/l 00-5/100-5toc.htm).
[2] Army Field Manual 101-5-1, Operational Terms and Graphics. US Army, Fort Monroe,
VA, September 1997. (http://155.217.58.58/cgi-bin/atdl.dll/fm/101-5-l/default.htm).
[3] Army Field Manual 5-104, Engineering Operations., US Army, Fort Monroe, VA,
November 1986. (http://155.217.58.58/cgi-bin/atdl.dll/fm/5-104/toc.htm).
[4] Sage, A.P. and J.E. Armstrong, Jr., Introduction to Engineering. New York: Wiley &
Sons, 1999.
[5] JP 1-02, DOD Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms. Joint Publications,
September 1997. (http://www.dtic.mil).
[6] JV2020, Joint Vision 2020, Director for Strategic Plans and Policy, J5; Strategy Division,
US Government Printing Office, Washington DC, June 2000.
[7] USAREUR, (United States Army Europe), "Base Camp Facilities Standards." Red Book
Standard, Headquarters, United States Army, Europe, And Seventh Army, The Deputy Chief
Of Staff, Engineer 1999.
[8] USAREUR, (United States Army Europe), "Long-term Base Operations (BASOPS)
Strategy for Downrange." Blue Book Standard, Headquarters, United States Army, Europe,
And Seventh Army, The Deputy Chief Of Staff, Engineer 1999.
Additional References
[9] Army Field Manual 5-412, Project Management. US Army, Fort Monroe, VA, June 1994.
(http://155.217.58.58/cgi-bin/atdl.dll/fm/5-412/toc.htm).
[10] Army Field Manual 42-424, Force Provider Company. US Army, Fort Monroe, VA,
August 1999. (http://155.217.58.58/cgi-bin/atdl.dll/fm/42-424/toc.htm).
[II] Army Field Manual 34-130 Intelligence Preparation of the Battlefield for Operations
Other Than War. US Army, Fort Monroe, VA, July 1994. (http://155.217.58.58/cgi-
bin/atdl.dll/fm/34-130-/toc.htm).
[12] Colonel Michael A. Hiemstra, Director, Center for Army Lessons Learned. Discussion,
October 2000.
22
[13] General Eric Shinseki, excerpt from first speech as Army Chief of Staff, June 1999.
(http://www.army.mil).
[14] Joint Publication 3-10.1, Joint Tactics, Techniques and Procedures for Base Defense,
Joint Staff, July 1996. (http://www.dtic.mil/doctrine/jel/new_pubs/jp3_10_l.pdf)
[15] US Army News, Caldera Announces Bosnia Rotation For the Next Five Years,
December 2000. (http://www.dtic.mil/armylink/news/Dec2000 /a20001204rotate01.html).
23
SECTION TWO: FACILITY LAYOUT
24
INTRODUCTION
Base camps have been in the Army's repertoire since its formation. A base camp is an
evolving military facility that supports the military operations of a deployed unit and provides
necessary support and services for sustained operations [1]. Because of the recent proliferation of
deployments, the Army now uses base camps from Haiti to South America to Kosovo. These
camps usually begin as tactical assembly areas and become defacto base camps over time. This
process calls upon the Army's engineers to develop and construct camp layouts that are tactically
sound and help soldiers to complete their missions in less than ideal situations. Because of the
increase in the number of Operations Other Than War (OOTW) deployments and the ever-
increasing complexity of base camps, some type of layout optimization tool would be useful in
Unfortunately, no known recent work in the field of base camp layout optimization has
been completed. This was the main motivator in studying base camp facility design. The
camp layouts given terrain limitations using GEOBEST, a U.S. Air Force site location planning
tool, but has yet to obtain suitable results. Other initiatives, such as the Contingency Facilities in
Future Base Camps by the Office of the Chief of Engineers and capstone projects at the United
States Military Academy, have an interest in finding an optimal base camp layout.
The purpose of this project was to aid in the development of a base camp facility layout
components, developing a facility layout domain, and comparing generated layouts to existing
models and camps. The first phase involved collecting input from a variety of sources to gain an
understanding of the proximity relationships between fifteen common base camp facilities. This
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data was then entered into the Computerized Relative Allocation of Facilities Technique
(CRAFT) software in order to generate a camp layout. The final phase involved comparing the
results to mid-1980s Theater Construction Management System (TCMS) drawings and Camp
Bondsteel's layout.
infrastructure of a base camp must be arranged in the most efficient manner. Some common
types of facilities include motorpools, chapels, and ammunition holding areas. Both passive and
active research methods were used to collect data about base camp facility proximity
relationships. Two passive methods, research of military publications and web-based research,
were used to obtain general information about the relationship between various facilities.
Overall, one-third of the data came from passive research. An online survey of critical
stakeholders and interviews with a commander of an engineer brigade constituted the active
research portion of the project and filled in gaps left by the passive methods. Two-thirds of the
data came from this type of research. The end result of this phase was a completed relationship
Engineer's Red Book and Blue Book. These sources outlined individual facility standards.
Specifically, the Red Book contained a detailed listing of common base camp facilities and their
minimum acceptable standards [2]. The Blue Book was intended to provide commanders and
soldiers deployed to the Balkans a definitive guide to the extent and quality of base operations,
26
products, and services they could expect while in garrison [3]. Both sources helped in the
determination of the primary components of a major base camp. From over 30 types of facilities
listed in these sources, 15 were chosen for the study. This number represented a compromise
between a realistic base camp, a reasonable optimization calculation time, and available
information..
Research on the World Wide Web constituted the second type of passive research. Many
base camps and units deployed to base camps have their own web pages. Additionally, online
articles documenting successes and failures of various base camps were plentiful. Although
these sources were useful in gaining a general understanding about base camp layouts, they
Books, correspondence was initiated with Colonel Robert McClure, Commander, 1st Infantry
Division Engineer Brigade (mechanized). His responses answered numerous questions about the
relative positioning and number of facilities per base camp. Additionally, he cited certain
components such as motorpools, ammunition holding areas, and fuel storage areas that should be
Despite obtaining information from Army publications, web research, and an interview
with a base camp expert, there were still some unresolved facility proximity issues. In some
instances, proximity relationships between components could not be found. In other instances,
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How important is it for Seahut Clusters (housing are) and Aviation Facilities to be
close in proximity?
were asked. The users were asked rate the importance of proximity between various base camp
facilities on a scale of 1 (avoid at all costs) to 10 (extremely vital). A response of 5 signified that
adjacency was unimportant. Twelve respondents, consisting of a good blend of civilian and
military experts from Kansas to Kosovo, responded. The variety of respondents naturally led to
wide variety of responses. Coupled with a small sample size, high response variances were
prevalent.
Because of response variety and the small sample size of the survey, determining a single
good measure of central tendency was difficult. Although the mean is usually the preferred
statistic in measuring the central tendency of samples, the sample size of this survey was small
and thus susceptible to outliers. An answer to outlier susceptibility was the median. The final
measure of central tendency, the mode, represented what would have occurred if the stakeholders
voted on the relationship between the facility proximity. Since the mean, median, and mode
each had advantages in measuring facility proximity relationships, they were calculated for each
question and later used to generate three different base camp layouts.
DATA TRANSFORMATION
All of the data collected was eventually placed into relationship charts, a convenient way to
organize data. A standard technique, which can be found in major Operations Management
texts such as Heizer and Render's Operations Management, was utilized [5]. If close proximity
of base camp components was absolutely necessary, the cell corresponding to the components
relationship received an A. If the proximity relationship was especially important, the cell
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Unimportant relationships received a U, and Undesirable relationships received an X. Through
the passive research methods Colonel McClure's interviews it was fairly easy to discern and
The survey data required a more concerted transformation effort, though. The absolute
highest and lowest values for any of the three measures of central tendency were 10 and 1,
respectively. Score brackets were created to transform these numerical values into a relationship
chart values. For instance, a survey score between 9 and 10 received an A, while a score
between 1 and 3 received an X. Because of the difference between the mean, median, and mode
responses, certain questions had three different letters, one for each of the three measures. Of the
nineteen questions asked, eleven received at least two different letters depending on the measure
Because of the differences amongst the survey responses and subsequent central tendency
measures, there was a need to create three separate relationship charts. These charts were titled
Mean, Median, and Mode based on where their survey data came from (see figure 1). 37% of
the survey data within the relationship charts was different in at least one of the charts. One-
third of the data within the charts came from non-survey data and was thus similar. An
additional 30% of the data came from the survey and was identical for each relationship chart.
Component # Component Name Mean Alternative
■Ml 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Seahut Clusters 1 11 X X X E I I I I E I E X 0 I
Motorpools 2 m u X X X X X X X X X X u 0
Aviation Facilities 3 M U u U U u u u u u X u 0
Ammo Holding Area 4 B X X X X X X X X u X X
Mess Halls 5 m 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 X 0 0
6 Chapels 6 m 0 0 0 u 0 0 X 0 0
7 Education Center THJ I I 0 I I X I 0
8 Postal Facility 8m u 0 u 0 X I 0
9 SSA Facility 9m 0 u 0 X 0 0
10 Personal Services Centers Jörn I I X I 0
11 PX iiB I X I 0
12 MWR Facilities 12B X I 0
13 Fuel Storage Area 13B X X
14 Laundry Collection Point 14 m 10
15 Aid Station 15I
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MODELING
After the data had been collected and organized into three relationship charts, some type
of optimization was needed to determine the best layouts. The desired software package was one
that would find the optimal layout given fifteen different components and their proximity
relationships. Unfortunately, no readily available software with this capability was found. Three
different alternatives were tried, but only one provided acceptable results. The following section
describes the issues encountered using Production and Operations Management for Windows,
Excel OM, and CRAFT software to find the optimal layout strategy for a 15 facility base camps.
MODELING ALTERNATIVES
The first attempt at layout optimization used Production and Operations Management
(POM) for Windows [5]. POM is an operations management tool focused on a variety of
operation management problems, not just facility layout. The facility layout module gives the
user the option of using pairwise comparisons or explicit enumeration to find the optimal layout.
Using the pairwise comparison method, POM minimizes the product of the proximity scores
from the relationship chart and rectilinear distances between components. This method is quicker
than using explicit enumeration, which checks all n! layouts. However, it does not always find
the optimal solution. POM was advantageous because it had the option of finding the optimal
layout or using pairwise comparison and was easy to use. Unfortunately, POM was only capable
of handling a layout with ten facilities, while software capable of handling fifteen was desired.
Cutting the number of components to ten was considered but eventually discarded because the
30
large number of assumptions needed to do so greatly diminished the reasonableness of the
results.
Excel's Operations Management (OM) was the result of a search to find software capable
of resolving a facility layout problem with 15 components. This software checked all pairwise
comparisons to find the minimum score/flow-distance value [6]. It did not require any
installation from disk, as it was downloadable from the Internet. Furthermore, it worked in
Microsoft Excel as in add-in. Most importantly, it allowed the user to enter data for 15+
components. Yet for all of the apparent advantages of Excel OM, its disadvantages were
tremendous. OM used all of the processing capability of a Pentium III, 233 MHz
computer(Figure 2).
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Attempting another task at the same time as resolving a layout prevented the user from
getting back to the program before it finished. Since any layout with greater than 9 facilities
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caused Excel OM to crash, changing the active screen with even 10 facilities caused all results to
be lost. Even if Excel OM had performed properly, resolving an optimal layout for 15
components would have taken nearly 35 years (see figure 2). Thus, Excel OM was not the
The final attempt at modeling an optimal camp layout used the Computerized Relative
Allocation of Facilities Technique (CRAFT) [7]. This software, also downloadable from the
Internet, operated as an Excel add-in. The major advantage of CRAFT was that it could handle a
layout with over 40 components. The end result of CRAFT's optimization efforts was a colored
display of the determined layout. However, optimality was not guaranteed and the layout was
somewhat dependent on the initial layout entered into the software. Additionally, if a facility
was created with an area greater than 2x1, its shape might change during the optimization
process [8]. This package was a compromise between the ability to handle a large amount of data
and guaranteed optimality. For our purposes of determining general proximity relationships
between facilities and developing an effective methodology for determining the optimal base
camp, CRAFT was sufficient and preferred over the other available alternatives.
and the overall base camp, and an initial layout. To create the score matrix, the data in the
relationship chart was quantified. Although some flow between various departments usually gets
entered into this matrix, the proximity relationship data represented the desire for adjacency in a
similar manner. The convention used for this process was to code A to 6, E to 5,1 to 4,0 to 3,
U to 2, and X to 1. The area entered for each facility was one unit squared, or one cell. The
motivation for this was preventing the shapes of the facilities from changing drastically. Also,
32
the size of most components depends on the number of troops stationed at the base camp and
terrain. The primary goal of this project was not to develop an optimal layout for a specific
scenario but to determine proximity relationships between base camp facilities. Since each of the
fifteen components was modeled as a single cell, the layout of the camp had an area of 15 units2
(5x3 units). The final input for CRAFT was an initial layout. To prevent bias based on
knowledge of existing base camps, the components were not entered in any particular order.
However, the Mean, Median, and Mode models all had the same initial layout.
Like any other modeling tool, using CRAFT required the formation of modeling
assumptions. The two largest assumptions were that terrain did not affect the layout and that size
and shape of all facilities was equal. In base camp design, terrain cannot be ignored. Instead of
leveling hills, blasting mountains, or rerouting rivers, to create a perfectly flat area, engineers
usually change their layout to fit the terrain, not vice-versa. The similar size and shape
assumption impacted the optimized layout results. For instance, the area of a base camp devoted
to seahut clusters is much greater than the area devoted to an education center. Making this
assumption meant that the results did not represent the ideal layout of a base camp so much as it
represented the relative importance of facility adjacency. Other assumptions were that not
including mail rooms, concession areas, unit facilities, and others did not affect the generated
layouts, similar components such as individual seahuts and MWR facilities could be lumped
together, and that there were relative and rectilinear distances between components.
ANALYSIS OF RESULTS
Three methods were used to analyze the results from CRAFT. The first was a
comparison of the three generated layouts to each other. From this type of analysis, general
trends about proximity relationships were discovered as well as a few potential abnormalities.
33
The second method was a comparison of the layouts to base camp drawings in the Theater
Construction Management System (TCMS) [9]. Military engineers use this software to aid in
constructing base camps throughout the world. The final analyzation method compared the
CRAFT layouts to Camp Bondsteel, a two-year-old base camp in the Balkans. Another method
that was considered but ultimately not used because of installation problems was the
Consequence Assessment Tool Set (CATS) [10]. This software could have been used to conduct
risk analysis on the base camp layouts using both natural and man-made disasters.
In comparing the layouts that CRAFT generated, some general conclusions were made.
In each of the layouts, certain components were always adjacent. These components were the
dining facility and seahut clusters, motorpool and aviation facility, motorpool and aid station,
and the Morale, Welfare, and Recreation (MWR) facilities and the education center. Insights
into the positioning of components within a base camp were also gained. Seahut clusters were
centrally located in each of the three layouts, the fuel storage area and Post Exchange (PX) were
located furthest from the motorpool and aviation facility, and the dining facility, education
center, SSA facility, postal facility, MWR facilities, laundry collection point, & aid station were
always located near the base's center. Overall, the layouts were not drastically different. Of the
components that were adjacent, more than half were adjacent in more than one layout. Figure 3
shows the number of times that facilities were adjacent in the three CRAFT layouts. There were
unexpected outcomes such as the PX being located on the corner of the camp in every layout and
the dining facility and fuel storage area being adjacent in one layout. For the most part though,
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# Component 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 15 |
1 Seahut Clusters
2 Motorpools
3 Aviation Facilities 3
4 Ammo Holding Area 2 1
5 Mess Malls 3
6 Chapels 2
7 Education Center 1 1
8 Postal Facility 1 1 1 2
9 SSA Facility 1 2 1 1 2
10 Personal Services Centers 2 1
11 PX 1 1 2
12 MWR Facilities 2 1 3 2 2
13 Fuel Storage Area 1 2 1 2
14 Laundry Collection Point 2 1 2 1 1
15 Aid Station 2 3 1 1 2 | 2
The second tool used to analyze the layouts was a comparison to base camp drawings
generated for the Theater Construction Management System. The goal was to contrast and
compare what TCMS considered optimal layouts in the mid-1980s with our layouts. The
difficulty with using TCMS in this way was that the drawings were static. While the user could
modify the components of the base camp and retrieve an updated project plan, the drawings
themselves were not updated. Thus, limited comparisons could be made. The drawings were
basic and did not include a majority of the facilities such as education centers, fuel storage areas,
and MWR sites used in our study. One generality noted from TCMS and our layouts was that
the dining facilities were adjacent to the seahuts clusters. However, the seahut clusters were not
in the center of the camp. TCMS had helipads in the middle. The CRAFT generated layouts had
The final analysis method was a comparison of the CRAFT layouts to Camp Bondsteel,
which was constructed in 1999. Bondsteel is considered by many to be a model base camp since
it is relatively new and the beneficiary of reviews of older camps in the Balkans. Adjacent
35
facilities in Bondsteel were recorded and compared to the adjacent facilities from the generated
CRAFT adequately modeled many facility adjacencies found at Camp Bondsteel. Of the items
adjacent to the seahut clusters at Bondsteel, CRAFT modeled 71% correctly and positioned them
in the same relative position. The two layouts were also similar in that they each had the fuel
storage area, aviation facility, and ammo holding area removed from center of the camp.
Additionally, seahut clusters and soldier support facilities were adjacent in both layouts.
CRAFT identified only 20% of those facilities adjacent to motorpools. This occurred because
there were over 20 separate motorpools throughout Camp Bondsteel while in the CRAFT
layouts, there was only one component representing a motorpool. Thus, it appears that our
method had a difficult time dealing with multiple component adjacencies. Also, the CRAFT
layouts did not express the actual distance between facilities well. For instance, the ammunition
36
holding and fuel storage areas at Camp Bondsteel were separated from any other facility by
hundreds of meters. Although the CRAFT layouts show that these components should be on the
periphery of the camp, they did not show the need to separate them from adjacent components
significantly. The final shortcoming the Bondsteel comparison showed was that the generated
layouts did not express the relative size of the facilities. In the CRAFT layouts, each
component's area was a single cell. Thus, a maximum of four components could be adjacent to a
cell in a given layout. At Bondsteel, the seahut clusters had 7 adjacent components because it
had a larger perimeter than other facilities such as chapels and education centers. Thus, a single
CRAFT layout could account for no more than four of the seven adjacencies found at Bondsteel.
Although CRAFT didn't identify all of the adjacencies of larger facilities, it did identify which of
Overall, the CRAFT layouts modeled 49% of the facility adjacencies found at Camp
Bondsteel. Of the adjacencies not identified by CRAFT, over 41% were related to the PX and
motorpools. Excluding the seemingly inadequate modeling of these facilities, nearly 60% of the
areas for expansion and future work. First, contact with more stakeholders is needed.
Developing any degree of statistical stability requires more than the 12 respondents who filled
out the online survey. Additionally, the survey itself should be expanded to include questions
about the proximity relationships of more facilities such as finance centers, unit areas from
battalion to task force level, power plants, wastewater facilities, and concession areas. However,
each additional component greatly increases layout computation time. Given the inputs of camp
37
size and population, an algorithm that could recommend the size and number of components
would also be useful in developing a basic optimal camp layout. Before putting the facilities in
an optimal position however, terrain must be considered. It is extremely unlikely that a base
camp will be built without any geographical or geological limitations. Possible techniques for
doing this include the software packages GEOBest and LOGSPOT. The user of a future system
should also have the capability to enter hard constraints such as "seahut clusters and fuel storage
After the base camp layout had been determined, some type of sensitivity analysis on the
initial layout in CRAFT should be conducted to check if the generated layout is strongly
dependent on the initial layout. Afterwards, risk analysis should be conducted to aid in
determining if the layout is truly optimal. The Probabilistic Risk Assessment and Management
(PRAM) and CATS are two possible risk management software packages.
A decision support system for Army engineers with these changes implemented would be
a powerful tool. An engineer could enter values for the camp size and population, terrain
limitations, and hard constraints he wants to obtain a layout that is an 80-90% solution in a
matter of minutes. This would help greatly to reduce planning time and give engineers a base
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REFERENCES
1. B. Ezell, M. Davis, and M. McGinnis, Designing a Decision Support System for Military
Base Camp Site Selection and Facility Layout
2. Deputy Chief of Staff of Engineers, Headquarters, U.S. Army Europe, Base Camp Facility
Standards (Red Book), Operation JOINT GUARD, March 1997.
3. Deputy Chief of Staff of Engineers, Headquarters, U.S. Army Europe, Long Term Base-Ops
(Blue Book), October 1999.
4. R. McClure, Commander, 1st Engineer Brigade, Email to the authors, 19 February 2001 and
23 February 2001.
5. J. Heizer and B. Render, Operations Management, 6th edition, 2001, pp. 349.
6. H. J. Weiss, Production and Operations Management for Windows Version 2.01 [CD-ROM],
1996.
10. United States Army Corps of Engineers, Theater Construction Management SystemVersion
1.2d, [CD-ROM], 2001.
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