Prepositioned Trailers for Aircraft Battle Damage Repair Support

Air superiority is essential in todays wartime environment. Aircraft that are damaged and not returned to combat can have a considerable impact on the quest for dominance in the air. To maintain operational effectiveness an organization must have the capability to quickly repair damaged aircraft. The purpose of an Aircraft Battle Damage Repair (ABDR) program is to rapidly and effectively repair damaged aircraft to fly additional operational sorties and further contribute to wartime objectives. This capability must consist of providing the necessary tools and equipment for the rapid repair of aircraft. When an ABDR team deploys in support of an organization in a wartime environment it is expected that the team will be fully functional autonomous and have on hand the resources necessary to complete all tasks. From a logistics standpoint this is a feasible objective using different methods with the present method used being prepositioning. During combat operations Air Mobility Command (AMC) is heavily tasked with movement of personnel and equipment. The prepositioning of ABDR trailers could provide relief on AMC resources already strained to their limits. This research seeks to determine if the AF should continue to preposition ABDR trailers to augment strategic airlift during combat operations by determining the best course of action for providing ABDR trailers to ABDR teams during combat operations. This research will evaluate the effectiveness of both prepositioning and airlifting ABDR trailers.