Scheduling training for a tank battalion: How to measure readiness

This paper shows how to measure the readiness for a military unit, with the example of a tank battalion. We first show that training readiness can be measured by the minimum makespan of the training schedule. We call this the train-up problem. Second, the effect of a peacetime budget on the training readiness can be calculated by solving the readiness budget problem. Third, the resources required for training can be determined with the readiness capacity problem. To solve these problems, we give a dynamic program (DP) for one unit such as a company, and a column generation algorithm for an aggregate unit such as a battalion.