https://dair.nps.edu/handle/123456789/11 This community is for scholars, students, acquisition policy-makers, practitioners, industry and anyone in the public interested in defense-focused acquisition and innovation. 2026-01-31T09:31:28Z https://dair.nps.edu/handle/123456789/5471 Title: Navy Security Force (NSF) Retention Analysis Authors: Lauren Ceh; Katherine Hermann Abstract: This study analyzes and assesses the shortcomings of the Navy Security Force personnel footprint, specifically as it pertains to the current retention challenges NSF faces. The NSF is critical to the Navy’s mission, ensuring the safety of naval assets. Despite the force’s criticality, retention of personnel is a persistent issue likely due to factors including salary, pension, work-life balance, job duties, and military requirements. By analyzing data received from the Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC) and the Pentagon, the study employs statistical techniques, including trend line analysis, to identify the most prominent factors contributing to this issue. The analysis found that Navy Security Forces earn up to 45% less than local law enforcement in key states, face limited career growth, and show a notable trend where women—despite comprising only 10% of the force—exhibit consistently higher retention rates than men. Description: Acquisition Management / Graduate Students 2026-01-21T00:00:00Z https://dair.nps.edu/handle/123456789/5470 Title: Cost-Benefit Analysis on Contracting Civilian Pilots as T-6 Instructors in Naval Flight Training Authors: Christopher Bushnell; Gracie Ray Abstract: This report conducts a cost-benefit analysis (CBA) to evaluate the financial and operational feasibility of contracting civilian pilots as T-6 flight instructors in Naval Aviation Training. This analysis aims to provide a solution in response to a critical instructor pilot shortage which results in training delays. Three courses of action are assessed: maintaining the status quo utilizing exclusively military instructor pilots (MIPs), implementing a hybrid model with both MIPs and civilian instructor pilots (CIPs), and transitioning to a fully civilian instructor model. Data from Navy and Air Force programs, including the Air Force’s PALACE Acquire Civilian Flight Instructor Internship (PAQ/CFII), is analyzed to determine salaries, training costs, and operational impacts over an eight-year period. The CBA determines that a fully civilianized approach offers the lowest total cost; however, the report recommends adopting the hybrid model as it achieves the best balance between cost efficiency, fleet readiness, and instructional continuity. Limitations including data assumptions are acknowledged and further stakeholder engagement is advised to refine implementation. Description: Cost Estimation / Graduate Students 2026-01-21T00:00:00Z https://dair.nps.edu/handle/123456789/5469 Title: Maintaining a Healthy U.S. Defense Industrial Base: Risk Sharing and Contract Design in the Major Defense Acquisition Program Setting Authors: Gregory Besser Abstract: The United States faces an escalating threat from great-power competition, placing new demands on the Defense Industrial Base (DIB). Although the DIB has historically delivered the capabilities needed to deter and defeat adversaries, major defense contractors have recently expressed reluctance to participate in fixed price contracts for Major Defense Acquisition Programs (MDAPs), citing an inequitable allocation of risk. If unresolved, this challenge risks undermining both the health of the DIB and the nation’s warfighting readiness. This thesis examines the root causes of misaligned risk-sharing and conflicting incentives between the government and the DIB in MDAPs and evaluates a range of risk-management and incentive-alignment approaches, including enhanced program-management practices and redesigned incentive structures. Drawing on economic theory, particularly agency theory involving information asymmetry and moral hazard, it analyzes current acquisition programs and relevant literature on incentive design and industrial-base resilience. The thesis proposes an alternative profit function and contract-design framework that better aligns firms’ profit-maximization incentives with the government’s objectives of cost control and truthful cost estimation. The findings suggest that a more balanced approach to risk allocation is essential to sustaining the competitiveness and strategic effectiveness of the U.S. Defense Industrial Base. Description: Contract Management / Graduate Student 2026-01-07T00:00:00Z https://dair.nps.edu/handle/123456789/5468 Title: Implementing Commercial Warehouse Automation Processes and Technology in the Navy Exchange Command West Coast Distribution Center Authors: Loc Nguyes; Andrew Oxendine; Brian Lasley Abstract: This study examines automated systems available for implementation at the Navy Exchange Service Command (NEXCOM) West Coast Distribution Center (WCDC) in Chino, California. Using data analysis, observations, process mapping, and benchmarking, it identifies opportunities for efficiency gains through automation. It shows that performance metrics such as throughput, labor efficiency, inventory accuracy, order fulfillment time, picking efficiency, and mechanical reliability can be used to set and meet performance targets, leading to the recommendation for an upgraded Motor Driven Roller (MDR) system with zero-pressure accumulation (ZPA) software. Description: Logistics Management / Graduate Students 2026-01-07T00:00:00Z