Minimizing Security Forces Response Times through the Use of Facility Location Methodologies

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Since the events of September 11, 2001, security for the nation's Intercontinental Ballistic Missile force has become a prominent concern for personnel in the highest levels of government. This has resulted in many physical security upgrades and new methods to counter hostile activities. This research seeks to find the optimal placement for one layer of the security net protecting these crucial assets, the daily-deployed security forces Fire Teams. The problem of finding the optimal placement for these forces is modeled as a facility location problem. Of the methods of locating facilities available in the literature, three are selected to solve this problem. The maximum covering location problem strives to cover the maximum demand possible with a predetermined, finite number of facilities. The p-center problem covers all demand and seeks to minimize the maximum distance between a demand point and a servicing facility. The p-median problem intends to minimize the demand-weighted total distance between demand sites and servicing facilities. A hybrid model is also developed to first employ a p-center solution and then attempt to reduce the total distance using the p-median solution. Comparison of the four models is based on Fire Team usage, the average response time calculated from the placement of Fire Teams, the average total distance, and the average maximum distance any Fire Team is located from a penetrated Launch Facility.