Originating during World War II as a response to tactical problems relating to the optimal operation of weapon systems and to operational problems relating to the deployment and employment of military forces, Operations Research (OR), also known as Operations Analysis (OA), has since evolved to a full-scale scientific discipline that is practiced widely by analysts in industry, government, and the military. It is the development and application of mathematical models, statistical analyses, simulations, analytical reasoning and common sense to the understanding and improvement of real-world operations. Improvement can be measured by the minimization of cost, maximization of efficiency, or optimization of other relevant measures of effectiveness.
The benefit of exploring this course of study at NPS is that the approach to teaching OR blends a balanced mix of modern technology with the best practices of traditional education. Computing technology is coupled with individual guidance and a superlative faculty in order to give each student a career enhancing educational experience. Each student learns computational methods and develops skills to identify relevant information, formulate decision criteria, and select alternatives. This education enhances performance in all duties throughout a military career including operational billets, technical management assignments and policy-making positions.
The Operations Research (OR) program at the Naval Postgraduate School is a world-class curriculum designed to teach students the science of helping people and organizations make better decisions.
This science is necessary in today's increasingly complex operating environment in which officers and managers must respond quickly to a vast array of demands while also weighing the options and consequences of each into his or her final decision. OR offers a scientific approach through the use of many tools and techniques in order to assist an individual in his or her decision making process.
Certificate in Systems Analysis (Curriculum 281)
Operations Analysis (Curriculum 360)
Completion of this curriculum qualifies an officer as an Operations Analysis Subspecialist with a subspecialty code of XX42P and JPME Phase I education certification. The curriculum sponsor is N-81, Office of Chief of Naval Operations, Assessment Division.
Operational Logistics (Curriculum 361)
Completion of this curriculum qualifies an officer as an Operational Logistics Subspecialist with a subspecialty code of XX43P and JPME Phase I education certification. The curriculum sponsor is N-4, Office of Deputy Chief of Naval Operations (Logistics).
Human Systems Integration (Curriculum 362) See the HSI web site for more information.
Master of Systems Analysis (Distributed Learning) (Curriculum 363)
More Student Information
- Search OR classes in the online catalog.
- The "Blue Book" (459K pdf) for new OA Students
STUDENT MORS RECIPIENTS
Military Operations Research Society Stephen A. Tisdale Graduate Research Award
The Military Operations Research Society sponsors of the MORS/Tisdale award which is awarded quarterly to a student for outstanding thesis of high quality research which will have immediate or near-term value to the defense of the United States and its allies.
Originally named simply the MORS Award, it was renamed in honor of LCDR Stephen A. Tisdale, an outstanding officer-scholar after his tragic death in the collision of two P-3 Orions conducting a submarine tracking exercise at low altitude off the California coast on 21 March 1991. LCDR Stephan A Tisdale graduated from the Naval Postgraduate School in 1989 with two masters degrees: an M.S. in operations research and an M.S. in space systems operations. His outstanding and influential thesis, “Assessing Optimal Utilization of Potential Anti-Satellite Architectures,” won the MORS award. Additionally, he was awarded the prize for top all-around student in the space systems operations curriculum. Steve had unbounded intellectual curiosity, an unflagging desire to solve existing problems and to formulate new ones, and a complete lack of concern for grades.
2011 Awards
Mar 11 – LT Leslie A. Slootmaker, USN, Countering Piracy with the Next Generation Piracy Performance Surface Model
Jun 11 – Capt Maro D. Enoka, USMC, Optimizing Marine Security Guard Assignments
Jun 11 – Capt Joseph D. Rix, USMC, Modeling and Visualizing Complex Survey Results: An Application to Counter Terrorism in the Sahel
Sep 11 – Major Christian Klaus, German Army, Probabilistic Search on Optimized Graph Topologies
2010 Awards
Mar 10 – LT Kenneth L. Byers, Jr., USN. Situational Awareness for Surveillance and Interdiction Operations (SASIO) : tactical installation protection
Jun 10 – Capt Timothy J. Merkle, USMC.
Sep 10 – LCDR Connor S. McLemore, USN. Strike package-target pairing: real-time optimization for Airborne Battlespace Command and Control
Sep 10 – LT Kevin M. Moeller, USN
2009 Awards
Mar 09 – LT Stephen M. Valerio, USN. Probability of kill for VLA ASROC torpedo launch
Jun 09 – Capt Paul Nicholas, USMC. Optimal transmitter placement in wireless mesh networks
Sep 09 – CPT Marco Draeger, German Army. Use of probabilistic topic models for search
Dec 09 – MAJ Charles W. Weko, USAR
2008 Awards
Mar 08 – LT Benjamin P. Abbott, USN. Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) mission packages: determining the best mix
Jun 08 – LT Ahmad Abdul-Ghaffar, Royal Bahraini Navy, Optimal Employment of Port Radar and Picket Ships to Detect Attacker Speedboats--A Defender-Attacker Optimization Model to Enhance Maritime Domain Awareness
Sep 08 – LT Chad S. Kaiser, USN
Dec 08 – CPT Ong, Cher Howe, Singapore Army. The effects of terrain on a system of systems
2007 Awards
Mar 07 – LT Jamie L. Edens, USN
Jun 07 – LT Matthew W. Foster, USN
Sep 07 – Maj Daniel N. Reber, USMC. Optimized routing of unmanned aerial systems for the interdiction of improvised explosive devices
Dec 07 – MAJ Ryan R. Squires, USA.
2006 Awards
Mar 06 – MAJ Axel Weber, German Army
Jun 06 – MAJ Raymond Y. Shetzline, USA
Sep 06 – LCDR Jason A. Bridges, USN
2005 Awards
Jun 05 – CPT Gary R. Kramlich, USA. The effects of posture, body armor and other equipment on rifleman lethality
Sep 05 – Capt Koichi Takagi, USMC. Applied warfighter ergonomics: a research method for evaluating military individual equipment
2004 Awards
Mar 04 – LT Douglas D. Diehl, USN. How to optimize joint theater ballistic missile defense
Jun 04 – CPT Joseph M. Lindquist, USA. Unstructured high-order galerkin-temporal-boundary methods for the klein-gordon equation with non-reflecting boundary conditions
Sep 04 – Capt Paul M. Schneider, USMC
2003 Awards
Jun 03 – Maj Gregory W. Rouillard, USMC. An improved unsupervised modeling methodology for detecting fraud in vendor payment transactions
Sep 03 – Maj John H. Bruggeman, USMC. A multi-year ammunition procurement model for Department of the Navy non-nuclear ordnance
2002 Awards
Mar 02 – LT Cory L. Culver, USN. Optimally scheduling distribution of the MH-60s helicopter and pilots to combat support (HC) squadrons
Jun 02 – 1stLT Arif I. Ipekci, Turkish Army. How agent based models can be utilized to explore and exploit non-linearity and intangibles inherent in guerrilla warfare
Sep 02 – Maj Samuel P. Mowery, USMC. Enhancing the situational awareness of airfield local controllers
Sep 02 – Maj Casey C. Travers, USMC
2001 Awards
Jun 01 – LT Jonathan B. Haynes, USN
Sep 01 – Maj William Vinyard, USMC. Reducing non-monotonicities in combat models
2000 Awards
Jun 00 – LT Gregory Chapman, USN. Service level optimization for the Marine Corps Institute
Sep 00 – Maj Peter Baumgarten, USMC. Optimization of United States Marine Corps Officer Career Path Selection
Dec 00 – LT Julia M. Lopez, USN. Cost-attribute analysis of restructuring H-60R/S fleet replacement squadrons
1999 Awards
Mar 99 – LCDR James R. Townsend, USN. Defense of Naval Task Forces from Anti-Ship Missile attack
Sep 99 – LT Jack S. Thomas, USN
Dec 99 – LCDR Thomas V. Evanoff, USN
1998 Awards
Mar 98 – LT Scott D. Kuykendall, USN. Optimizing selection of Tomahawk Cruise Missiles
Sep 98 – Maj Arent Arntzen, Royal Norwegian AF. Software Components for Air Defense Planning
1997 Awards
Mar 97 – LT James R. Wimmer, USN. Analyzing and predicting underwater hull coating system wear
Sep 97 – LT Curt A. Renshaw, USN
1996 Awards
Mar 96 – LT Craig T. Schauppner, USN. Optimal aircraft carrier deployment scheduling
Sep 96 – Capt Matthew T. Sampson, USMC. An assessment of the impact of fused monochrome and fused color night vision displays on reaction time and accuracy in target detection
1995 Awards
Mar 95 – LT Daniel B. Widdis, USN. Using negative information to improve performance of forward scatter arrays
Sep 95 – Maj Robert C. Syvertson, USMC. A computer simulation and analysis of the Forward Surgical Team
1994 Awards
Mar 94 – LT Glenn C. Robillard, USN. A wholesale level consumable item inventory model for non-stationary demand patterns
Sep 94 – Capt M. David van Kan, USMC. A probabilistic target classification and description model for seismic sensors
1993 Awards
Mar 93 – LT Robert C. Swallow, USN
Sep 93 – LT David L. Schiffman, USN
1992 Awards
Mar 92 – LT Michael S. Viland, USN
Mar 92 – LT Richard P. Bodziak, USN
Sep 92 – LT Richard A. Brown, USN. A Naval Shipyard optimal drydock loading and capacity utilization model
1991 Awards
Sep 91 – LT Eric M. Campbell, USN
Sep 91 – LT Shawn M. Cali, USN