Scheduling stored combat load retrieval

Purpose This paper aims to raise awareness of a potential planning pitfall and provide recommendations on how to assess and improve upon current practices. In potential conflict areas, such as the Korean Theater of Operations (KTO), military forces are required to store a portion of their ammunition combat load within depots and ammunition supply points under the control of a servicing ammunition company. This necessitates a lengthy retrieval process, as the ammunition company does not have enough resources to serve all customers simultaneously. Design/methodology/approach The stored combat load (SCL) retrieval process is modeled as a parallel machine scheduling problem and simulated using synthetic requirements. The current system of retrieval is contrasted against a proposed alternate system through a series of simulations scaled across three factors: number of ammunition company Soldiers, number of customer units and number of magazines. Findings The proposed alternate system demonstrates a significant potential for reducing the makespan of the SCL retrieval process when more than half of the magazines store SCL for multiple customers and there are more than five customers per Soldier. Originality/value Transitioning military units from a peacetime standing to full combat readiness as quickly as possible is of immense value within the KTO and other hostile areas with established troops not actively engaged in combat.