The Effectiveness of Mobile Logistic Support

A fundamental question in long-range planning for the logistic support of an ocean area is the size and location of bases. The present paper proposes a measure of effectiveness, called the “logistic effectiveness,” for a given set of bases supporting the region. This is done by a maximizing process Then the sizes of the bases are varied, subject to a budgetary constraint, and an “optimal base structure” found. For small numbers of bases, for instance three bases, the calculations may be done by hand. Two numerical examples are presented. The paper is intended as a contribution to theory and not for immediate practical application.