Providing insight into the successful process of military base transition with a PERT simulation model

Military base closures will affect more than 100 communities across the United States during the next five years. The potential for economic hardship is significant. However, the experience of communities where military bases have closed suggests that the efforts of individual communities during the transition can significantly affect the economic outcome. A PERT simulation model is developed in SLAMSYSTEM to provide a tool for communities that illustrates recovery, takes the impact of job loss into account and gives insight into the implications for a manufacturing organization. An engineering analysis is applied to a problem that has previously been modeled strictly by economists. The PERT simulation model combines the network modeling and continuous modeling concepts in SLAM. It allows the initial conditions and activity times in the base transition process model to control the governing equation for jobs created at a site. Data is collected through a survey of community representatives in communities where the transition is already completed. It is determined that simulation modeling is a reliable method of understanding community influences on successful military base transitions.