Depot-level maintenance planning for US Marine Corps ground equipment

Life cycle management of military equipment represents the integration of force structure decisions, current and future operational needs for equipment, modernization, fielding and retirement plans, and supply and maintenance support. The Marine Corps traditionally has regarded each of these activities separately from the others, and has treated them independently in planning and programming. In an increasingly resource competitive environment, integrated life cycle management must become more clearly evident in the planning and programming processes that ultimately provide resources for these activities. This paper presents a mixed-integer linear program used by the Marine Corps to develop two- to six-year depot-level maintenance plans for its ground equipment in consonance with other life cycle management activities. The model presented explicitly considers established fielding, modernization and retirement plans while maximizing the aggregate value of available equipment each year, ensuring that an adequate number of each asset type is available when needed and that annual budget limits are observed. Results obtained for fiscal years 2000–2005 helped achieve a 40% increase ($30M) to depot-level maintenance funding for fiscal year 2000 and dramatically reduced the plans' preparation time while producing a balanced mix of equipment to address operational needs.