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ASAM graduate research papers make real-world impacts

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Zachary Wilson
  • U.S. Air Force Expeditionary Center
JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. --  The research of three graduates of the U.S. Air Force Expeditionary Center's Advanced Study of Air Mobility program were recently recognized for their contributions to the mobility mission.

Majors Phil Morrison, Brandon Casey and Ian Fairchild, all students graduating from the Mobility Operations School's 13-month Intermediate Development Education program, advanced breakthroughs in graduate research that could translate into real-world mobility improvements.

Results from these projects, and 13 others, have the potential to positively impact the Air Force's way of doing business. By applying academic rigor to formulate options for senior leaders, ASAM students help craft the future of air mobility, according to Center officials

"Rarely does research completed in pursuit of an academic degree have the immediate impact on real world operations comparable to the ASAM Program," said Brig. Gen. Richard Devereaux, U.S. Air Force Expeditionary Center Commander and host of the ASAM program, which is also closely affiliated with the Air Force Institute of Technology and AMC.

Mr. Rudy Becker, Director of the Mobility Operations School, noted the relationship between AFIT and the Expeditionary Center has "delivered over 230 mobility experts and leaders sorely needed by the joint community".

"Through alignment with flag officer research sponsors, ASAM has shaped the thinking on literally every aspect of the mobility arena, from organization and training to current operations," he added.

Maj. Phil Morrison, a KC-135 evaluator pilot, was awarded the Military Operations Research Society and Bryce Poe Awards for his plan to re-ballast the KC-135 fleet, saving fuel on every mission while simultaneously increasing available fuel to warfighters.

His hypothesis stated that by shifting ballast fuel out of the forward body fuel tank, and substituting weight other than fuel such as armor, combatant commanders would receive tankers with more gas for offload and the Air Force would reap significant fuel savings through improved fuel burn rates. Maj. Morrison's research indicates that if implemented, his proposal would pay for itself in less than two years and mitigate an additional $14 million in fuel cost each year thereafter.

Maj. Brandon Casey, a T-1 instructor pilot and C-17 evaluator pilot was awarded the SOLE Award by the International Society of Logistics. His assessment of pallet movements through key Air Mobility Command distribution locations identified a link between port hold time and total delivery time. He theorized that by focusing improvement efforts on reliable delivery versus faster delivery, AMC would see improvement in customer satisfaction, decreased duplicate orders, and a reduction in total demand for airlift. These simple, actionable steps were aimed at changing customer and transportation provider behavior to improve warfighter support around the globe.

Maj. Ian Fairchild, a C-130 evaluator pilot, was presented with the Edwin E. Aldrin, Sr. award for demonstrating strong personal leadership and accomplishing AFIT's educational objectives in an outstanding manner. He was also awarded the Armed Forces Communications-Electronics Association's C4I Research Excellence Award for his research in the area of electrical and computer engineering. He crafted a proposal for improving communications security between the 618th Tanker Airlift Control Center and its critical civilian partners during the execution of airlift missions.

By working with a team of experts from AMC and the TACC, along with individuals from government organizations such as the National Security Agency and the U.S. Computer Emergency Response Team, Maj. Fairchild proposed solutions that would fix several critical vulnerabilities in global command and control of mobility missions.

The graduating ASAM 2010 class had a banner year for recognition of their research. Following the vision of ASAM founder, retired Gen. Ronald Fogelman, the ASAM graduates now move on to their follow-on assignments across the globe to carry mobility expertise to their new commands. The new ASAM 2011 class recently arrived at the Expeditionary Center, and began the ASAM curriculum.


(Majors Brandon Casey, Ian Fairchild, and Phil Morrison, USAF Mobility Operations School, contributed to this article.)