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True, the M-1 Abrams gets a mere third of a mile per gallon, but there are only 58 tanks in an MEF. In contrast, there are over 1,000 trucks and over 1,300 of the now-famous HMMWVs, or Humvees. Even during combat, trucks were burning eight times as much fuel as the tanks.
For example, where the seven-ton truck was previously assumed to burn exactly 9.9 gallons per hour, they substituted a 90% CI of 7.8 to 12 gallons per hour.
These added up to just 52 basic variables describing how much fuel was burned in a 60-day period. Almost all were expressed as 90% CIs.
To reduce uncertainty about fuel use in combat operations, we opted for a Lens Model based on estimates of field logistics officers from the First Marine Division.
trucks—two of which were identical models, anyway. The GPS units and fuel flow meters recorded location and consumption data several times each second.
By the time we were done with both measurements, we saw several surprising findings. The single biggest cause of variation in fuel forecast was simply how much of the convoy routes were paved or unpaved, followed by other simple features of the convoy route.
The study even uncovered that tank operators would not turn tanks off if they didn’t think they could get replacement starters.
