Currently, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan involve the US fighting insurgents. The nature of the fight in highly populated areas negates traditional American strengths in technology and mechanization. One of the potential tools in this fight is the expanded use of military working dogs (MWD), also called war dogs or K-9s. The increased use of dogs on the battlefield has the potential to save lives. The problem is that this lesson seems to have to be relearned with every prolonged conflict the US enters. The delay by the military leadership recognizing dogs' utility on the battlefield has historically cost US servicemen's lives. The purpose of this thesis is to determine whether lessons that have been learned could be applied to the current MWD program to enhance the effectiveness of using dogs in combat. The intent is not to convince the reader that every lesson or particular conclusion or recommendation presented is the final solution to creating a "perfect" MWD program. The aim, instead, is to offer a spectrum of options or alternative methods that may be of use to those involved in MWD programs and to suggest areas for further research and exploration.

Many military Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) operations would benefit greatly from a fleet of disparate sensor-bearing UAVs that are tightly integrated via a communications network, work cooperatively for a common operational objective, enhance situation awareness of the areas of operation, and increase persistence of sensor dwell time on strategic targets. This would enable continuity in the entire target acquisition cycle, from detection to classification to identification and finally localization of targets, in a diverse and dynamic environment. The integration of sensors and development of tactics in a cooperative sensing environment is one of the current focuses among the military intelligence community, and hence motivates this thesis effort. By building models with an existing agent-based simulation platform and using an extremely efficient experimental design methodology, numerous factors which could potentially affect the effectiveness of a cooperative sensing network against two arrays of targets are explored. The factors considered include UAV airspeed, reliability, detection/classification coverage and probability, network latency and degradation, UAV configurations and responsiveness, as well as air space separation. The two arrays of targets are mobile armor concentrations and time critical targets / these vary in their deployment profiles, vulnerability constraints and ease of detectability. Factors characterizing these targets, such as the shoot-and-scoot behavior of time critical targets, are also investigated. The study provides operational insights pertaining to the design and effective use of cooperative sensing for ISR purposes. These include the importance of having good UAV sensor capabilities, the need for a suite of sensors to aid in locating well-camouflaged time-critical targets, and the need for "intelligent" application of UAV cooperation tactics based on the characteristics of recently-classified targets.

Thesis (M.S.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1991. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 65-69). Also available via the Internet.

Thesis (M.Phil.(Tourism Management))-University of Pretoria, 2005. / Executive summary in English and Afrikaans. Includes bibliographical references. Available on the Internet via the World Wide Web.

The first part of this thesis aims to identify and analyze what aspects of the MIL-HDBK-217 prediction model are causing the large variation between prediction and field reliability. The key findings of the literature research suggest that the main reason for the inaccuracy in prediction is because of the constant failure rate assumption used in MIL-HDBK-217 is usually not applicable. Secondly, even if the constant failure rate assumption is applicable, the disparity may still exist in the presence of design and quality related problems in new systems. A possible solution is to apply reliability growth testing (RGT) to new systems during the development phase in an attempt to remove these design deficiencies so that the system's reliability will grow and approach the predicted value. In view of the importance of RGT in minimizing the disparity, this thesis provides a detailed application of the AMSAA Extended Reliability Growth Models to the reliability growth analysis of a combat system. It shows how program managers can analyze test data using commercial software to estimate the system demonstrated reliability and the increased in reliability due to delayed fixes.

Current military doctrine is primarily hierarchical in nature with respect to power and authority. The "Functional Concept of Battlespace Awareness" (FCBA) is a military sensor methodology that employs a hierarchical command structure to test emerging technologies. Asymmetric warfare, however, demands a faster and more adaptive warfighting mentality that distributes power and responsibility across more of our forces; particularly those that are at the frontlines of the battlefield. "Power to the Edge" is a warfighting methodology that emphasizes a departure from traditional military hierarchies and a transition into a configuration that empowers "Edge" actors with information and authority. This thesis will prove that "Power to the Edge" doctrine is a more effective way to fight the enemies we will likely face in the Information Age. By analyzing and interpreting data collected at the Extended Awareness II and Extended Awareness IIB experiments, this thesis will show that transition in our current command and control methodology will be necessary to keep up with a changing enemy.

United States Department of Defense (DoD) autonomous vehicle efforts have concentrated research in areas that support development of unmanned ground and air battlefield vehicles. Little attention has been paid to applying robotics to automate routine tasks. A robotic solution consisting of a prototype holonomic vehicle is proposed to search for, detect, and remove debris that could cause foreign object damage (FOD) to turbine-engine aircraft operated from ships. Holonomic, or omnidirectional, motion was realized by solving the system of equations governing the vehicle's motion atop a plane surface. Translational motion without chassis rotation was achieved through motion control using a single board computer, a pulse width modulation (PWM) and optical isolation circuit, and a low-cost inertial measurement unit (IMU). Obstacle detection and avoidance was realized by constructing a microprocessor-controlled scanning ultrasonic sonar detector head and controller circuit. The sonar detector demonstrated 360 (degrees) coverage and centimeter resolution. Rudimentary autonomous operation and wireless manual control via a Java graphical user interface (GUI) were achieved in an indoor environment. / US Navy (USN) author.

Conflict or battlefield archaeology has been steadily gaining traction within British archaeology since the 1990s. Methods of inquiry unique to conflict archaeology, allied to a growing body of theory, have enabled archaeologists to define and reconstruct events of past conflict, illuminating a distinctive component of the human experience. This thesis applies the theories and methods of conflict archaeology to investigate Anglo-Welsh conflict landscapes of the twelfth century. It aims to explore patterns of Welsh resistance to Anglo-Norman military campaigns through the analysis of documents, landscapes and archaeological sites. Events of armed conflict explored archaeologically using battlefield archaeology methods, present a unique opportunity to undo biases inherent in traditional military history approaches. Unfortunately the amorphous and at times ephemeral nature of medieval conflicts has generally discouraged their archaeological investigation. The study seeks to address this by the application of a holistic conflict archaeology methodology, refined for medieval conflicts. This research specifically focuses on the often overlooked conflicts associated with the reign of Owain ap Gruffudd, (better known as Owain Gwynedd) from 1137–1170, particularly the conflict events connected to King Henry II’s 1157 campaign along the North coast of Gwynedd, and the 1165 campaign in the Berwyn Mountains. A significant part of this is accomplished by successfully utilizing devices of military terrain analysis, spatially represented via GIS (Geographical Information System) technology, to reconstruct archaeological landscapes of conflict. Using these approaches, the thesis presents new understandings of both specific events and the broader conflict landscapes associated with Welsh resistance to the Anglo-Norman conquest.

This research addresses the need for a pacemaker/defibrillator that could perform an automatic system self-diagnostics check to assure operational functionality and give doctors a chance to assess a patient's status in the event they are experiencing complications, as pointed out in an article in the journal Health Scout, which stated that 'St. Jude Medical Inc., the nation's second-largest pacemaker manufacturer, has warned doctors that at least 90 of its pacemakers being used by heart patients could stop emitting the electrical signal that regulates heartbeat'. The proposed functionality would also serve the military in determining the whereabouts or state of being of an individual on the battlefield. This thesis investigates the use of Unified Modeling Language (UML) Diagrams, Object-Oriented Analysis and Design, and Structured Query Language (SQL) to develop the high level architecture of a system to store and retrieve digital/wireless communication information from a pacemaker/defibrillator, or other device, and to alert medical personnel when a person is experiencing problems with their health. It presents the requirements and architectural design of the Self-Diagnostics Digitally Controlled Pacemaker/Defibrillator Device. Applications of the SDDCPDD design concept for military missions are explored.

Video imaging data generated from the Naval Postgraduate School Imaging System (NAPSIS) during November 2004 to June 2006 was analyzed to determine the location of rip channels and track their morphology. During the study period, the rip fields constantly changed in shape, size, and location. Rip channels were found to have a mean migration southward at a rate of 0.16 meters per day with a standard deviation of 7.6 meters per day and maximum rates varying between approximately 30 meters per day north and 30 meters per day south. The migration exhibited a strong seasonal variation with southerly shifts in the fall and winter months, northerly shifts in the late winter and early spring months, and no significant shift in the late spring and summer months. Directional wave spectra measured every hour at the offshore NOAA buoy were refracted to the 10 meter depth contour at Marina and Sand City and compared with measured spectra at these locations. The significant wave heights at both locations exhibited a correlation of 0.94. Mean wave directions for Marina and Sand City were found to have correlations of 0.83 and 0.34, respectively. These refracted data were then used to calculate sediment transport rates at Stillwell Hall, Fort Ord. Rip channel migration and calculated sediment transport rates were correlated at 0.8, qualitatively confirming the hypothesis that the migration rate of rip channels is a function of modeled alongshore sediment transport. The sometimes rapid migration of these large scale morphological features is critical to the successful planning and execution of U.S. Navy and Marine Corps beach assaults and the operation of mine warfare. Because amphibious and special forces operate mainly in shallow areas, the modeling of rip current direction and magnitude contributes greatly to effective mission organization and accomplishment. In addition to causing mines to drift, rip currents transport sediment that can cause the underlying morphology to change, possibly covering bottom mines and creating a potential hazard for military forces operating in the area. Being able to predict where mines may be drifting and how much sediment has concealed them is a necessity in securing a littoral battlespace.