Options for Organizing the Tanker Airlift Control Center Flight Dispatch Function: An Exploratory Concept Study

摘要

The Tanker Airlift Control Center (TACC) is the central execution agency for determining and tasking all AMC operational mission requirements. Central to the TACC is the mission management function that organizes, plans, directs and controls AMC airlift and air refueling missions worldwide. As it moves into the future, TACC must adopt emerging capabilities in communication, navigation, and surveillance to allow it to continue to freely operate throughout the world air traffic system. To position itself for future operations, the TACC has implemented the Mobility 2000 initiative, a key element of which is the planned introduction of Integrated Flight Management, or IFM. Central to IFM will be the introduction of the flight dispatch function - a proactive, real time command and control system patterned after that used by commercial airlines. At this time, TACC leaders are unsure whether to organize the future flight dispatch operation based on geography, product line or aircraft type. This Graduate Research Project explores these organizational options, and specifically seeks to identify criteria that TACC can use in deciding on a final organizational structure. To assist in this process, it evaluates the organizational issues in the context of the Rational Decision Making Model as discussed by Griffin.