{"id":68502,"date":"2022-12-29T20:30:02","date_gmt":"2022-12-29T20:30:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2022\/12\/29\/new-data-model-predicts-how-deployments-affect-future-readiness\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T14:36:53","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T14:36:53","slug":"new-data-model-predicts-how-deployments-affect-future-readiness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2022\/12\/29\/new-data-model-predicts-how-deployments-affect-future-readiness\/","title":{"rendered":"New data model predicts how deployments affect future readiness"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When it\u2019s time to make a decision about sending a ground unit to Europe<\/a> or an aviation squadron to the Indo-Pacific<\/a>, it can take the Pentagon weeks to gather information from hundreds of databases to see how those movements will affect long-term readiness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That might not be the case for much longer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Readiness Decision Impact Model, in development at the Defense Department\u2019s readiness office, can take a question such as, \u201cHow will extending a squadron\u2019s deployment now affect its maintenance in two years?\u201d and in minutes pull from multiple databases to create an impact estimate that can be used to inform senior leader decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA lot of decision making is currently based on siloed information, and it\u2019s limited in terms of how we can project what those impacts are,\u201d Kimberly Jackson, DoD\u2019s deputy assistant secretary for force readiness, told Military Times in a Dec. 19 interview. \u201cSo, it goes from being something pretty well informed and discrete in the near term, to it getting harder to predict.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Flow chart shows how the Readiness Decision Impact Model turns raw data into assessments to support decision making. (Defense Department)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Generally, readiness impacts can be predicted in the current budget year, but beyond that, there hasn\u2019t been an algorithm that can calculate all of the cascading effects of an operational decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have data siloed all over the department. We have so much data, it\u2019s not even appropriate to call it a data lake \u2014 it\u2019s an absolute data ocean,\u201d Jackson said. \u201cBut how do you make it connect? And how do you design the model so that you can actually make sense of it? Because data \u2014 if it\u2019s not utilized in a model, if it\u2019s not applied, does it actually mean anything?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The tool originated in the Marine Corps, as the service was putting together its Force Design 2030<\/a> concept, an overhaul of equipment and personnel needs with an eye toward the next fight. With support from Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks, the Pentagon is looking to use it department-wide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Something like the RDIM might have come in handy, for instance, during the process to modernize the Marine Corps\u2019 infantry battalion design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When issues came up with the original plan, the service put together an integrated product team to suggest changes. The RDIM, meanwhile, could have modeled the effects of the original plan and avoided the need for mid-effort changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\t