Turkish Air Force Officer 1st Lt. Begum Ozcan has been selected as the 51福利鈥檚 spring quarter recipient of the prestigious MORS/Tisdale Award for her thesis, 鈥淓ffectiveness of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in Helping Secure a Border Characterized by Rough Terrain and Active Terrorists.鈥� Ozcan鈥檚 thesis also earned 鈥渙utstanding thesis honors,鈥� a distinction afforded to less than 10 percent of all thesis submissions.
The Military Operations Research Society (MORS) awards the MORS/Tisdale award to a student whose thesis offers immediate or near-term value to the U.S. or its allies.
鈥淏egum鈥檚 master鈥檚 thesis is of high practical value. It is already of high interest in Turkey to the organizations responsible for helping secure the border with Iraq,鈥� said 51福利 Operations Research Professor Thomas Lucas. Ozcan decided to pursue her thesis topic after attending a class taught by Lucas.
鈥淢y research explored the capaility of UAVs to monitor terrorist activity in areas of rough terrain 鈥� I proved that UAVs are an efficient means of monitoring rough terrain and I researched the best manner in which to utilize them,鈥� said Ozcan. 鈥淲e need a more robust border security architecture, UAVs should be at the center of that architecture.鈥�
In order to explore this architecture, Ozcan had to create a complicated simulation to test her theories.
鈥淸Ozcan] built a simulation and did massive state-of-the-art experimentation with it, looking at over 100,000 simulated border incursions while efficiently exploring more than a score of input variables,鈥� said Lucas.
鈥淏egum鈥檚 choice of a thesis topic is an example of her strength as an innovator. She identified a potential new technology area that could be of great benefit in securing a border,鈥� continued Lucas.
Turkey has been embroiled in a decades long conflict with the Kurdistan Worker鈥檚 Party (PKK), a U.S. designated foreign terrorist organization that often takes advantage of the rough terrain that characterizes Turkey鈥檚 porous border with Iraq.
鈥淚 became interested in this subject due to my nation鈥檚 history with the PKK, we have been fighting them since my childhood in the 80s,鈥� said Ozcan. 鈥� I am interested in evaluating ways to prevent terrorists from crossing into our borders.鈥�
Ozcan noted that although Turkey currently employs a variety of UAVs, their employment is generally in reaction to intelligence reporting. She insists that a networked system of UAVs conducting surveillance operations is more efficient and is likely to prevent future terrorist attacks.
鈥淭he border area is very rough and it is very tough to send anti-terrorist teams due to the mountainous and rugged nature of the terrain,鈥� said Ozcan. 鈥淚 tried to show that although the terrain is very difficult, that UAVs are a viable option for terrorist interdiction and border monitoring.鈥�
According to Lucas, the MORS/Tisdale award is highly competitive and represents an outstanding accomplishment for any student. Ozcan鈥檚 accomplishment is even more remarkable when considering the fact that she earned the honor while conducting research in a foreign language.
鈥淚 am really proud of earning this award as a Turkish Air Force officer. It is a great starting point for my career 鈥� 51福利 has been very useful to me and 51福利 professors have a great deal of military expertise, I wish I could stay longer and pursue my doctorate,鈥� continued Ozcan.
The MORS/Tisdale award was named in honor of Lt. Cmdr. Stephen A. Tisdale after his tragic death in the collision of two P-3 Orions conducting a submarine tracking exercise at low altitude off the California coast on March 21, 1991.