Author's abstract: The transfer of theater airlift assets from the Military Airlift Command (MAC) and the Air Mobility Command (AMC) to the theater commanders in 1992 and 1993 was an appropriate reallocation of forces. However, there is more to theater airlift than just accepting the aircraft. The key to successful airlift operations is utilization of an effective airlift management system. Because the theaters had not controlled airlift since 1974 and therefore initially lacked any substantial expertise in theater airlift, they essentially tried to "construct" their own airlift system rather than "duplicate" the system that AMC utilizes. As a result, theater airlift has floundered and several issues have emerged regarding command and control capabilities, en route support capabilities, major command relationships, and theater airlift doctrine. To alleviate the current problems that exist regarding theater airlift and to help realize the full potential of theater airlift, the following actions should be taken: (1) establish deployable "enhanced" Airlift Control Elements (ALCEs) in each theater which are managed by the theaters instead of AMC, (2) embrace the "seamless" logistics system concept and implement it in each theater, and (3) update and revise theater airlift doctrine to blend with the post-Cold War strategy of U.S. military forces.

The transfer of theater airlift assets from the Military Airlift Command (MAC) and the Air Mobility Command (AMC) to the theater commanders in 1992 and 1993 was an appropriate reallocation of forces. However, there is more to theater airlift than just accepting the aircraft. The key to successful airlift operations is utilization of an effective airlift management system. Because the theaters had not controlled airlift since 1974 and therefore initially lacked any substantial expertise in theater airlift, they essentially tried to 'construct' their own airlift system rather than "duplicate" the system that AMC utilizes. As a result, theater airlift has floundered and several issues have emerged regarding command and control capabilities, en route support capabilities, major command relationships, and theater airlift doctrine. To alleviate the current problems that exist regarding theater airlift and to help realize the full potential of theater airlift, the following actions should be taken: (1) establish deployable 'enhanced' Airlift Control Elements (ALCEs) in each theater which are managed by the theaters instead of AMC, (2) embrace the 'seamless' logistics system concept and implement it in each theater, and (3) update and revise theater airlift doctrine to blend with the post-Cold War strategy of U.S. military forces.

In this thesis, we analyze intratheater airlift operations, and propose methods to improve the planning process. The United States Air Mobility Command is responsible for the air component of the world wide U.S. military logistics network. Due to the current conflict in Iraq, a small cell within Air Mobility Command, known as Theater Direct Delivery, is responsible for supporting ongoing operations by assisting with intratheater airlift. We develop a mathematical programming approach to schedule airlift missions that pick up and deliver prioritized cargo within time windows. In our approach, we employ composite variables to represent entire missions and associated decisions, with each decision variable including information pertaining to the mission routing and scheduling, and assigned aircraft and cargo. We compare our optimization-based approach to one using a greedy heuristic that is representative of the current planning process. Using measures of efficiency and effectiveness, we evaluate and compare the performance of these different approaches. Finally, we adjust selected parameters of our model and measure the resulting changes in operating performance of our solutions, and the required computational effort to generate the solutions.