Simulation analysis of the United States Military Academy Reception Day

Each June approximately 1200 new cadets (NCs) are welcomed to the United States Military Academy (USMA) during Reception Day (R-Day). Amid the mass shuffling of bodies and the yelling of the upper-class cadet cadre, all 1200 NCs must process completely. Changes are made to the in processing system in attempt to make it more efficient. However, the effect of these changes can only be gauged once a year during the following R-Day. In an attempt to expedite the refinement process, the R-Day administrators approached our design team to create a simulation model that could be used to analyze the effect of proposed changes to the system prior to R-Day 2002. Using ProModel® simulation software, our team created a simulation of the in processing system and conducted a statistical analysis of the results in order to recommend improvements to the structure of the system.