Hernandez, Alejandro D.S.

MARFORRES requires a full range of analytical expertise, to include operations research; systems engineering; technical research and analysis; as well as business models, decision analysis, management and policy analysis to support its program goals. The NPS support to Marine Forces Reserve (MFR) will continue to harness the academic and research expertise, resources, infrastructure, and capabilities that reside at NPS. If warranted, and in alignment with student time lines, the research team will recruit students from all military branches to participate.

1. Training - I-I Training Curriculum: Past Program efforts delivered the first Inspector Instructor Distance Learning (DL) Course for Marine Forces Reserve, which was beta tested at the FY14 I-I Conference. Enhancements and streamlining efforts are needed to fine tune the DL course and the Annual I-I Conference.

NPS will continue to support the development of the MFR I-I training vision and the supporting curriculum by hosting, maintaining, and where resources allow, improve the Distance Learning (DL) modules. The team will configure the DL site to be compatible with the NPS computer network, to ensure access from MFR headquarters and I-I cadre. To direct the activities that best meet MFR’s short and long term DL objectives the NPS team will design and facilitate a development workshop with key MFR leaders.

Expansion of DL capabilities to other MFR Directorates requires further study to understand the effort needed to extend the capability. In general, widening the DL capability to other MFR business areas will require development of new modules. Based on MFR priorities and available resources, an additional module will be developed from one of the following areas for expansion. If priorities change, the MFR lead will coordinate with the NPS team in the new direction:

- TEEP Database

- SharePoint Site Owner and Developer

- Inspector General Inspector Training

2. Training/Decision Making/ Modeling and Simulation (M&S): Hurricane Decision Trainer

The FY15 Program delivered both an on-line and a laptop hurricane decision trainer to Marine Forces Reserve. The Commander and his staff can now readily leverage M&S training tools. These technologies can support training in a variety of ways, including stimulators for decision making exercises.

This project’s ultimate goal is to provide a hurricane decision simulator for MFR emergency managers in order to improve their ability to make decisions in advance of a hurricane. To meet that goal, the NPS team referenced the following objectives to construct the simulator:

- Provide opportunities for emergency managers to “experience” and “react” to many storms on the order of many storms per day,

- Include realistic forecasts that track wind probabilities updated at regular intervals,

- Work with MFR to develop a realistic decision model specific to the MFR context, and

- In conjunction with MFR develop realistic description of results associated with trainee choices and the simulated hurricane to provide outcome feedback to the trainee

After FY15 delivery of the simulator, MFR will focus on using and assessing the simulator in FY16. The FY16 Plan includes adding functionality and assessment activities:

- Maintain a web-based simulator and facilitate technical support via the Sakai help-desk,

- Add representative flooding maps to enhance the storm-related information content in the simulator,

- Add a web-based interface for MFR to edit decision information including key decisions and automated Principal Staff and Local official decisions/actions, and cost estimates,

- Enable recordings of individual decisions made during the use of the simulator, to support eventual measurement of the impact of simulator use, and

- Assist MFR to identify measures of effectiveness for the tool in individual and large group use, with optional scoping for follow-on studies of effectiveness.

3. Program Technical Support, Management, and Administration

The NPS-MFR program requires technical and administrative support, as well as management to ensure that NPS efforts are coordinated and integrated toward the MFR goals, objective, and vision. A single point of contact to NPS simplifies and streamlines MFR’s efforts. The NPS-MFR office looks for opportunities to align efforts at NPS, as well as ways to leverage other research projects and funding lines can be very beneficial to MFR. They can be multiplicative to the resources that MFR commits to these projects. Tasks include, but are not limited to:

- Develop and maintain digital files and presence for the program,

- Submit progress reports for monthly and quarterly cycles,

- Coordinate faculty and student efforts,