Approved for public release, distribution is unlimited / This thesis defines the strategic utility of Special Operation Forces (SOF), identifies why SOF only provide limited strategic utility, and presents an operational concept for the reorganization, alignment, and employment of SOF to overcome these shortf alls. The thesis is presented in a deductive manner that argues that SOF were designed for strategic purposes, and leads the reader to conclude that reformation must occur for SOF to provide strategic utility and meet their intent. SOF would be in an optimal position to meet their organizational intent by becoming a fifth armed service within the Department of Defense (DoD). Through the creation of mission-based units and a holistic employment strategy, SOF would become a strategic instrument capability of assisting national decision -makers in blending the elements of national power. Finally, the thesis concludes with additional required areas for research to make this concept become a reality, but that are beyond the scope of this study. / Major, United States Army

Approved for public release, distribution is unlimited / The purpose of this thesis is to answer the question of how effective are current theater engagement / security cooperation plans at supporting US national interests. The examination of effectiveness focused on two theaters as case studies during the years 1998 through September 2001. This examination divided effectiveness down into two parts. The first part was consistency. Consistency was investigated by a comparison of the national priorities to completed engagement activities. The second part of effectiveness attempted to measure gains produced through the executed engagement missions. Following the case study analysis, key principles for effectiveness are identified and a modified engagement planning process proposed. The key elements of the modified process are integrated interagency planning, objective based engagement activities, and synchronization of all the elements of statecraft. This framework is tested by applying the modified TEP process to a sub-region of Africa. The significance for this test is not only to demonstrate the capability of the proposed TEP process. This test demonstrates the potential for effective engagement to assist in prosecuting the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT). In conclusion, this thesis provides an understanding of what engagement is today, and what engagement should be in the future. / Major, United States Army

This study investigated the fuel properties, engine performances, and emissions of two biodiesels and diesel. The fuels examined were D100 (ultra-low sulfur diesel), B20 (20% palm biodiesel +80% ultra-low sulfur diesel) and B100 (palm biodiesel). The fuel properties analysis results showed that the benefits of biodiesel were high cetane value, extremely low sulfur and aromatic contents, and good lubricity. While the defects of biodiesel were high pour point. The particulates emitted from the burning of D100, B100, B20 were mainly fine particulates, also known as young aerosols. Particles smaller than 2.5 µm easily enter the trachea and bronchus via the upper respiratory tract, finally deposit on the alveolus, which could cause severe injury to human health. The emission of soluble organic fraction (SOF) from diesel engine using D100, B100 and B20 were 23.2%, 19.9% and 20.2%, respectively. The SOF of D100 is slightly higher than B100 and B20. It suggested that adding biodiesel into diesel can decrease SOF and thus reduce the potential danger to human health. The original total PAHs concentration of tail gas emitted from engines using D100, B100 and B20 were 241, 50.6 and 98.8 µg/m3, respectively. Adding 20% biodiesel into D100 could reduce 59.0% of PAHs emission. Moreover, the original total BaPeq concentration of tail gas emitted from diesel engines using D100, B100 and B20 were 0.714, 0.509 and 0.570 µg/m3, respectively. Adding 20% biodiesel into D100 could also reduce 20.2% of total BaPeq emission. Hence, adding biodiesel into diesel can effectively reduce the emission of PAHs and the potential danger to human health. The emission factors of carbonyl compounds from diesel engines using D100, B100 and B20 were 395, 1,170 and 326 mg/BHP-hr, respectively. carbonyl compounds of B100 were obviously higher than D100 and B20. The results indicated that using pure palm biodiesel in diesel engine can increased the emission of carbonyl compounds. However, adding 20% biodiesel into D100 can effectively reduce 17.5% of carbonyl compounds emission. Keyword: ultra-low sulfur diesel, palm biodiesel, fuel properties¡BThe emission of soluble organic fraction (SOF)¡BPAHs¡Bcarbonyl compounds¡C

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On the 24th of April 1980, the US military conducted Operation Eagle Claw that aimed to free 53 American citizens held hostage by an Iranian student terror organisation in the US embassy in Teheran, Iran. This study uses the factors of simplicity, security and rehearsal to investigate why this rescue mission resulted in failure. These three factors derives from the principles of Simplicity, Security and Repetition from McRaven´s theory of relative superiority, and the criteria of Feasible Objectives, Flexibility of Mind and Tactical Competence from Gray´s theory on when special operations succeed. Based on a qualitative single case study, the results suggest that the factors of simplicity and rehearsal were absent during the planning and preparation of the operation, but that the factor of security was, however, present in excess. In the end, this dynamic generated a complex plan that was not properly rehearsed, which resulted in mission failure. The study contributes to existing research on Operation Eagle Claw, and gives further understanding to the area of special operations and its relevance to the Swedish Armed Forces.

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate how new risks associated with the organizational development of special operations forces should be best dealt with in a supplement to William McRaven's theory of relative superiority. The special operations’ forces structure is approaching the size of more conventional forces and a development of theories may be needed to address the growth challenges the organization is experiencing. The questions this thesis aims to answer are: How were the new risks present in Operation Neptune Spear and what were their consequences for the operation? How were these consequences managed? The research design contains a single case study based on text and process tracing methodology and analysis.The result of the thesis confirms that risk factors linked to organizational development can be traced in Operation Neptune Spear and therefore affects McRaven's theory. The author proposes a supplement to the theory in order to better manage these risks.

This study examines the strategic utility of Swedish Special Operations Forces (SOF) at the political level. Utilizing Colin S. Gray's framework, the research analyzes how these elite units provide significant strategic benefits through operations in Afghanistan, Mali and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Swedish SOF enhances political decision-mak-ing flexibility and achieves strategic goals with minimal resources by enabling rapid and flexible responses to international crises. The analysis highlights the strategic value of SOF in supporting Sweden's foreign policy objectives and strengthening international alliances. Political discourse, reflected in parliamentary debates and official documents, underscores the strategic utility of SOF. This study contributes to the understanding of SOF's role in the broader strategic context, emphasizing their importance as a tool for political and military leaders. It also identifies areas for further research, particularly the military-strategic utility of SOF and comparative analyses of different operations.

Approved for public release; distribution in unlimited. / On 1 October 2003 the USAF transferred control of its CONUS-based combat search and rescue(CSAR) assets from Air Combat Command to Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC). Transferto AFSOC was CSAR's fourth major reorganization in twenty years, and was the latest in a turbulentprocession of attempts to improve the combat effectiveness of CSAR forces. Despite possessing anabundance of brave, motivated, and extremely capable personnel yearning to accomplish their mission, dysfunctional organizational arrays and nagging organizational constraints have prevented USAF dedicatedCSAR forces from "getting to the fight" for the onset of hostilities in three of this nation's past four majorarmed conflicts. Special operations forces had to fill the void. This analysis evaluates CSAR's positionwithin AFSOC's organizational array to determine if this latest reorganization is likely to produce durableimprovements in CSAR combat effectiveness. My conclusion is that "CSAR friendly" organizational cultureand effective organizational constructs within AFSOC Headquarters, combined with highly receptiveattitudes among CSAR crewmembers, form a historically unique organizational mix that favors the long termsuccess of CSAR forces in AFSOC. To ensure AFSOC's favorable organizational posture is translated toimproved combat capability, leadership must immediately increase CSAR representation on HHQ staffs. / Major, United States Air Force

Route planning forms an important aspect of airline operations for them to sustain the effects of deregulation and fierce competition. The Indian economic liberalization in 1991 has seen diminishing monopoly of Air India and dynamic demand splits amongst the service providers. Our research focuses on developing an aggregate route traffic demand forecasting (RTDF) model specifically for international carriers operating from India. The model is an econometric model that combines concepts of the traditional Gravity model of Physics and the Micro-economic theoretic model that links demand to price. In other words, the RTDF model is a fusion of the behavioral and gravity models. While developing the model, Becker’s approach of utility maximization has been made use of, thereby combining time and other inputs required to produce travel. The model is developed for the existing international routes from India with 2005 aggregative data provided by International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), which spanned 15 countries in Europe, Asia, Canada, and North America. The model has been validated and tested for its predictive power on a few intentionally left out routes from the original sample. The model explains about 70% of the variance, which is well above the acceptable zone for cross-sectional data. The model is then estimated for 2007 data on a few randomly selected high demand routes; the prediction error ranging from a minimum of 3.5% to a maximum of 13%, a range well within the acceptable error limits. We derive a sector-cost-model (SCM) by applying the concept of break-even analysis on the RTDF model. The SCM provides cost estimates on a particular route at various levels of airfare. The SCM helps us gain further insights into the business nature prevailing in the airline sector. On the viability of operations, we propose the sector-operation-fare (SOF) to be charged on a respective route, given the load factor, if the airline wishes to continue operations. For arriving at the SOF, we follow a demand oriented framework that comprises of two demand curves: the airline curve and the traffic curve. The numerical analyses provide room for policy formulations that help airlines in refining, redefining, and revitalizing the decision-making process in their operations. Airlines can use this model to forecast demand for a newly contemplated route and obtain a fair idea of the price they can charge the customer. In other words, airlines can estimate the economic viability of operations on a respective route.

Principles of system SPC. Spreading effects influencing the production process. Aplication of SPC to operation conditions. Proposal of SPC methodics for a spindle production line. Testing SPC methodics in operative conditions. Processing and interpretation of regulation cards. Total of results and suggestioning measure.