Application of Microcomputer Spreadsheets to Produce the US Army Five Year Field Grade Officer Promotion Plan

摘要

This thesis has two specific objectives. The first is to document and explain the mathematical computations and logic used in the production of the Five Year Field Grade Officer Promotion Plan for the US Army. The second objective is to demonstrate how microcomputers and commercially available state-of-the-art electronic spreadsheet techniques can be used to produce the Five Year Promotion Plan and the flexibility this technique provides the force planner and personnel manager. The thesis proposes that the advantages of automating the promotion plan production process are significant and persuasive. Microcomputers and commercial software programs are powerful tools which can drastically increase the productivity of force planners and personnel managers at all levels. These tools will reshape the way problems are forecasted, alternatives developed, solutions analyzed, programs implemented and feedback processed to optimize the outcomes.