LONG-TERM IMPACT OF PERSONNEL VACANCIES IN A MULTI-CREWING CONCEPT (MCC)—MODELING AND SIMULATION

Modern navies face a highly competitive labor market, particularly in technical and medical specialties. Among other issues, long deployment times contribute to difficulties in recruiting, resulting in vacancies and shortfalls in manning on board seagoing units. Another challenge worldwide navies face is the reduced availability of platforms. Multi-crewing concepts offer a way to increase efficient use of the scarce platforms. These concepts generally separate crews from ships as independent elements that require specific scheduling. The present study finds that previously introduced scheduling optimizations for personnel and ships do not consider permanent and temporary personnel shortfalls. The study assumes that a certain vacancy rate will lead to an increased level of interchangeability within crews that may reduce force readiness or result in the collapse of the crewing system. In this thesis I create a generic crewing model and simulate different vacancy states to analyze their impact on crew composition. The model incorporates a constraint of maximum absences for each individual in the crews, focusing on the resulting increase in personnel turnover and number of unmanned billets. It finds that the vacancy rate exponentially affects the resulting number of unmanned billets and increases the additional turnover rate, which has a negative effect on a crew’s performance.http://archive.org/details/longtermimpactof1094562288Outstanding ThesisLieutenant Commander, German NavyApproved for public release; distribution is unlimited