The US Army's Occupational Specialty Manpower Decision Support System

The Military Occupational Specialty Level System (MOSLS) of the US Army's enlisted force manpower decision support system (DSS) was developed to support programming and planning decisions in the areas of recruitment, training and education, promotion, reclassification and reenlistment, and separation and retirement. The DSS contains a combined linear optimization-simulation personnel flow model. The flow simulation is used as a controlling mechanism to stabilize the optimizer's results and to reflect in greater detail those facets of personnel management that cannot be modeled within a linear programming framework either because of problem size limitations or accuracy considerations. The models can be exercised in a what-if mode where policy can be modified and the predicted effects evaluated. The system is supported by a state-of-the-art, on-line data base and various support software permitting statistical analysis, report generation, and direct data base query.