USMA Digital Commons (United States Military Academy, West Point)
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Space Operations Risk Tool
Full text linkCurrently, the United States Coast Guard (USCG) has developed the Space Operations Assessment of Risk (SOAR) tool which was created for USCG Atlantic Area Command (LANTAREA). However, LANTAREA is far more established in its space operations than USCG Pacific Area Command (PACAREA); as a result, the current SOAR tool is better suited for LANTAREA than it is for PACAREA. With the increase of space launches and recoveries in the Pacific Ocean, USCG District 11 wishes to advise space companies and government agencies on risks to mariners associated with potential launch and recovery locations in the Pacific Ocean. We sought to develop a tool that evaluates this risk within the proximity of a proposed area. ArcGIS was used to analyze Automatic Identification System (AIS) transmissions from vessels in the Pacific Ocean between Alaska, California, and Hawai’i from 2015 to 2022. We used the historical vessels’ location data to determine trends for vessel quantity and type. These trends offer a data-driven estimate of the number of vessels and people placed at risk by a proposed space operation. To view this data in a user-friendly manner, we developed a dashboard in which the user selects a location, date range, and radius of the area surrounding the launch or recovery to be analyzed. Our dashboard then returns detailed information about that area including the predicted number of vessels and lives placed at risk. This allows the user to make an informed decision regarding the proposed space operation location to minimize the danger to nearby vessel traffic
Balancing Sustainability, Profitability, and Resiliency in a 2-Prey, 1-Predator System
Full text linkManagement decisions on sustainable harvesting of any species in our marine ecosystems benefit from mathematical modeling and simulations due to the underlying complex ecological interactions between species. Using basic mathematical analysis and numerical simulation tools, we consider the problem of investigating the maximum sustainable yield (MSY) and the maximum economic yield (MEY) when harvesting in a fishery system consisting of one predator and two competing prey species. Results show that the harvesting effort required to achieve MEY is less than what is needed to achieve MSY. This implies that increasing harvesting effort beyond what is needed to reach MEY will not necessarily deliver more profits but may run the risk of driving some of the species of the system into extinction. Furthermore, results show that under the MEY management policy, a predator-oriented harvesting approach is recommended when harvesting single-species only. For double-species harvesting in a system with weak interspecific competition and weak predation, a prey-oriented harvesting approach is recommended, but when there is strong interspecific competition and strong predation, a predator-oriented harvesting approach is recommended
From Chivalry To Cavalry: The Development Of French Cavalry During The Early Modern Period
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The Beautiful Cockroach: How Hutu Power Ideology Normalized Violence Against Tutsi Women During The 1994 Rwandan Genocide
Full text linkIt’s About Time: A Study of Cadet Time Availability vs. Requirements
Full text link: The current mission of the United States Military Academy at West Point is to “to educate, train, and inspire the Corps of Cadets so that each graduate is a commissioned leader of character committed to the values of Duty, Honor, Country and prepared for a career of professional excellence and service to the Nation as an officer in the United States Army. When we consider the difference between “completion” of a course of study and professional “excellence,” we pose a question: how much time do Cadets have after successfully fulfilling requirements set by Army and USMA-level leadership to pursue excellence
Gaining Competitive Advantages in Cyberspace through the Integration of Breakthrough Technologies in Autonomy, Artificial Intelligence, and Machine Learning
No full textCyberspace has characteristics that differ from air, land, maritime, and space domains, which affect how the Joint Force operates and defends it. Fast-moving innovations are transforming the character of warfare in cyberspace, requiring novel technology integration. Effective integration of breakthrough technologies in autonomy, artificial intelligence, and machine learning into cyberspace can enable competitive advantages to be gained that enhance the combat power of joint forces conducting multi-domain operations. These technologies help shorten the sensor-to-shooter pathway to accelerate and optimize decision-making processes. These technologies also permit the enhancement of cyber situational understanding from the ingest, fusion, synthesis, analysis, and visualization of big data from varied cyber data sources to enable decisive, warfighting information advantage via the display of key cyber terrain with relevance in the commander’s area of operations at the tactical edge. These technologies engender actionable information and recommendations to optimize human-machine decision-making via autonomous active cyber defense to effectively execute command and control while informing resourcing decisions. Competitive advantages gained allow key actions to be taken to generate, preserve, and apply informational power against a relevant actor while also permitting maneuver through the information environment
Material Loss
Full text linkOur science fiction prototype will take us into the future...the year 2041. Nothing seems to be out of order on the world stage. Same old problems, just a different day. However, the globe has embraced a wide range of emerging disruptive technologies that today seem to be in the realm of science fiction. And, as it has always been thought-out history, any technology that can be used to better the world, can also be used to do harm to people. In our future, nefarious actors have figured out ways to use these technologies to disrupt the entire world order.https://digitalcommons.usmalibrary.org/aci_books/1045/thumbnail.jp
