The U.S. academic research fleet is an essential national resource, and it is likely that scientific demands on the fleet will increase. Oceanographers are embracing a host of remote technologies that can facilitate the collection of data, but will continue to require capable, adaptable research vessels for access to the sea for the foreseeable future. Maintaining U.S. leadership in ocean research will require investing in larger and more capable general purpose Global and Regional class ships; involving the scientific community in all phases of ship design and acquisition; and improving coordination between agencies that operate research fleets.

This book focuses on real time management of distribution systems, integrating the latest results in system design, algorithm development and system implementation to capture the state-of-the art research and application trends. The book important topics such as goods dispatching, couriers, rescue and repair services, taxi cab services, and more. The book includes real-life case studies that describe the solution to actual distribution problems by combining systemic and algorithmic approaches.

Fighting the Fleet recognizes that fleets conduct four distinct but interlocking tasks at the operational level of war--striking, screening, scouting, and basing--and that successful operational art is achieved when they are brought to bear in a cohesive, competitive scheme. In explaining these elements and how they are conjoined for advantage, a central theme emerges: despite the utility and importance of jointness among the armed forces, the effective employment of naval power requires a specialized language and understanding of naval concepts that is often diluted or completely lost when too much jointness is introduced. Woven into the fabric of the book are the fundamental principles of three of the most important naval theorists of the twentieth century: Rear Admiral Bradley Fiske, Rear Admiral J.C. Wylie, and Captain Wayne Hughes. While Cares and Cowden advocate the reinvigoration of combat theory and the appropriate use of operations research, they avoid over-theorizing and have produced a practical guide that empowers fleet planners to wield naval power appropriately and effectively in meeting today's operational and tactical challenges.

TEODOR GABRIEL CRAINIC, DIRECTOR The Centre for Research on Transportation (C.R.T.) was founded in 1971 by the Universite de Montreal. From 1988 on, it is jointly managed by the Universite de Montreal and its affiliated schools, the Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales and Ecole Poly technique. Professors, students and researchers from many institutions in the Montreal area join forces at the C.R.T. to analyze transportation, logistics and telecommunication systems from a multidisciplinary perspective. The C.R.T. pursues three major, complementary objectives: training of high-level specialists; the advancement of knowledge and technology; the transfer of technology towards industry and the public sector. Its main field of expertise is the develop ment of quantitative and computer-based models and methods for the analysis of urban, regional and intercity transportation networks, as well as telecommunication systems. This applies to the study of passenger and commodity flows, as well as to the socioeconomic aspects of transportation: policy, regulation, economics. The twenty-fifth anniversary of the C.R.T. offered the opportunity to evaluate past accomplishments and to identify future trends and challenges. Five colloquia were thus organized on major research and application themes that also reflected our main research areas. They gathered together internationally renowned researchers who linked recent scientific and technological advances to modeling and methodological challenges waiting to be tackled, particularly concerning new problems and applica tions, and the increasingly widespread use of new technologies.