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RSOI: Force deployment bottleneck.

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This study uses The Theory Of Constraints (TOC) management methodology and recent military missions to show that RSOI operations are generally the limiting constraint to force deployment operations. This runs counter to the popular belief that strategic lift is the limiting constraint. The study begins by highlighting the genesis of the military's current force projection strategy and the resulting importance of rapid force deployments. This is followed by a discussion on the force deployment pipeline and on Reception, Staging, Onward Movement, and Integration (RSOI) operations. The focus of Chapter 2 is explaining the TOC methodology and its application to force deployments. This chapter gives a detailed analysis of the five step process and uses military examples to help the reader understand its use as an analytical tool for planners and operators. The bulk of the analysis is conducted in Chapter 3. Using TOC methodology, the Joint Flow and Analysis System for Transportation (JFAST) simulation, and some historical examples the study demonstrates that RSOI operations generally constrain force deployments. The chapter also discusses initiatives to break the constraint and improve flow through the system. The study concludes with the following findings: (1) RSOI operations are the critical vulnerability to force deployment operations, (2) efforts to reduce flow should generally take priority over efforts to increase capacity at the constraint, (3) more strategic lift is not the answer, (4) improved planning and tracking tools are required, (4) a permanent and tailorable RSOI organization is needed to achieve unity of command and unity of effort, and (5) institutionalizing the process of continual improvement is required.

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This study uses The Theory Of Constraints (TOC) management methodology and recent military missions to show that RSOI operations are generally the limiting constraint to force deployment operations. This runs counter to the popular belief that strategic lift is the limiting constraint. The study begins by highlighting the genesis of the military's current force projection strategy and the resulting importance of rapid force deployments. This is followed by a discussion on the force deployment pipeline and on Reception, Staging, Onward Movement, and Integration (RSOI) operations. The focus of Chapter 2 is explaining the TOC methodology and its application to force deployments. This chapter gives a detailed analysis of the five step process and uses military examples to help the reader understand its use as an analytical tool for planners and operators. The bulk of the analysis is conducted in Chapter 3. Using TOC methodology, the Joint Flow and Analysis System for Transportation (JFAST) simulation, and some historical examples the study demonstrates that RSOI operations generally constrain force deployments. The chapter also discusses initiatives to break the constraint and improve flow through the system. The study concludes with the following findings: (1) RSOI operations are the critical vulnerability to force deployment operations, (2) efforts to reduce flow should generally take priority over efforts to increase capacity at the constraint, (3) more strategic lift is not the answer, (4) improved planning and tracking tools are required, (4) a permanent and tailorable RSOI organization is needed to achieve unity of command and unity of effort, and (5) institutionalizing the process of continual improvement is required.

General Note

ADA 356935
Approved for public release; Distribution is unlimited. The opinions and conclusions expressed herein are those of the student-authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College or any other governmental agency. (References to these studies should include the foregoing statement.)