Colonel (R) Robert E. Burks, Jr., Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the Defense Analysis Department of the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) and the Director of the Naval Warfare Studies Institute (NWSI) Wargaming Center. He holds a Ph.D. in Operations Research from the Air Force Institute of Technology, a M.S. in Operations Research from the Florida Institute of Technology, and a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from the United States Military Academy. He is a retired logistics Army Colonel with over thirty years of extensive operational experience in leadership, advanced analytics, decision modeling, and logistics operations, and he has served as an Army Operations Research analyst in multiple command organizations. He has led multiple analytical study teams responsible for Army Transformation (organizational change) issues. His work includes applying analytical methods to develop solutions for complex problems in support of the Combined Arms Support Command, the Army’s sustainment think tank and premier sustainment learning institution. He has served as the technical expert on studies involving deployment, equipping, manning, training, and logistics operations of military forces in multiple theaters of operation and the NATO Technical Team of SAS-130 on Course of Action Analysis for the 21st Century. His research interests include Irregular Warfare and Stability Operations modeling, Information Operations modeling, Wargaming, Agent-Based Modeling and Simulation, and Joint Campaign analysis. His recent significant awards include the NPS Military Leadership Award, the NPS Joint Service Warfare Award, the Military Operations Research Journal Award for developing analytical methods for solving the Theater Distribution Problem, and the Omar Bradley Fellowship for the Study of Mathematical Sciences.

PUBLICATIONS

Books:

1. Modeling Change and Uncertainty: Machine Learning and Other Techniques. New York, NY: Chapman and Hall/CRC, (with Bill Fox), 2022.

2. Applied Advanced Mathematical Modeling with Technology. Boca Raton, FL: Taylor & Francis Group, (with Bill Fox), 2021.

3. The Craft of Wargaming: A Detailed Planning Guide for Defense Planners and Analysts. Annapolis, MD: Naval institute Press (with Jeff Appleget and Fred Cameron), 2020.

4. Applications of Operations Research and Management Science for Military Decision Making. Switzerland: Springer (with Bill Fox), 2019.

5. Understanding Human-built Operational Environment. Monterey, CA: Department of Defense Analysis, Naval Postgraduate School, (with Leo Blanken and Iver Johansen), 2017.

Chapters in Books:

1. Appleget, J., Burks, R., “Wargaming: Sponsor Education,” in Forging Wargamers: A Framework for Wargaming Education, edited by Sebastian Bae, Marine Corps University Press, 2022. 173-192.

2. Burks, R., Sturdivant, R., “The Goodgrant Challenge,” Mathematical Modeling for the MCM/ICM Contests Volume 4. Ed. Jie Wang. Higher Education Press, 2020. 16 – 57.

3. Fox, B., Burks, R., “Send in the Drones: Developing an Aerial disaster Relief Response System,” Mathematical Modeling for the MCM/ICM Contests Volume 4. Ed. Jie Wang. Beijing: Higher Education Press, 2020. 58 – 96.

4. Sturdivant, R., Burks, R., “The Impact of Self-Driving Cars on Traffic Flow,” Mathematical Modeling for the MCM/ICM Contests Volume 3. Ed. Jie Wang. Higher Education Press, 2018. 61 – 98.

Referred Journal Articles:

1. Shaw, A., Mueller, C., Biolzi, F., Villani, N., O’Brien, F., Burks, R., “Understanding Noise Exposure During Cast Removal: The Effect of Cast Saw Type and Casting Material,” Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, 104(17): 1573-1578, 2022.

2. Moreland, C., Shaw, K., Burks, R., Baird, M., Hattaway, J., Parada, S., Waterman, B., “Primary medial patellofemoral ligament reconstruction in military servicemembers: Can we reliably restore preinjury function and stability?,” Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine, 9(6), 2022.

3. Burks, R., Erickson, K., “Judges’ Commentary: Sharing Water and Hydroeltric Power,” The Journal of Undergraduate Mathematics and Its Applications, 43(4): 425-432, 2022.

4. Appleget, J., Kline, J., Burks, R., “Revamping Wargaming Education for the US Department of Defense,” Center for International Maritime Security, 2020.

5. Shaw, A., Mottern, E., Parada, S., Burks, R., Dumont, G., Waterman, B., Nho, S., “Low Rate of Return to Impact Activity Following Core Decompression for Femoral Head AVN in Military Servicemembers,” Military Medicine, 184(1-2): 243-248, 2019.

6. Fox, W., Burks, R., “Judges’ Commentary: How Many Languages?,” The Journal of Undergraduate Mathematics and Its Applications, 39(3), 313-320, 2018.

7. Burks, R., Sturdivant, R., “The Goodgrant Challenge,” Mathematical Modeling for the MCM/ICM Contests Volume 4. Ed. Jie Wang. Higher Education Press, 58 – 95. Print, 2018.

8. Shaw, A., Edward, P., Stephen, Burks, R., Dumont, G., Waterman, B., Nho, S., “Low Rate of Return to Impact Activity Following Core Decompression for Femoral Head AVN in Military Servicemembers,” Military Medicine, usy163, 2018.

9. Greaver, B., Raabe, L., Fox, W., Burks, R., “CARVER 2.0: Integrating the Analytical Hierarchy Process’s multi-attribute decision-making weighting scheme for a center of gravity vulnerability analysis for US Special Operations Forces,” The Journal of Defense Modeling and Simulation, 15(1), 111-120, 2018.

10. Appleget, J., Cameron, F., Burks, R., Kline, J., “Wargaming at the Naval Postgraduate School,” CSIAC Journal of Cyber Security and Information Systems, 4(3), 18-23, 2016.

11. Waterman, B., Arroyo, W., Heida, K., Burks, R., Pallis, M., “SLAP Repairs With Combined Procedures Have Lower Failure Rate Than Isolated Repairs in a Military Population,” The Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine, 3(8):1-7,2015.

12. Belmont, P., Heida, K., Keeney, J., Burks, R.