Date of Award

3-26-2015

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Department

Department of Systems Engineering and Management

First Advisor

Peter P. Feng, PhD.

Abstract

U.S. foreign assistance is used to support regional interests and to address the economic and social needs of host nation (HN) citizens. Within the Department of Defense (DoD), military exercises implement humanitarian and civic assistance (HCA) activities in developing nations as one method of accomplishing the U.S. foreign assistance objectives. To account for the impact of civil infrastructure projects on HN citizens, this research incorporated survey data collected during a DoD-sponsored exercise in Belize to test the expectancy disconfirmation model of citizen satisfaction and analyze the impact of constructing HCA projects on citizen satisfaction with HN government services. The research suggests that perceived performance and disconfirmation contribute the largest effect on citizen satisfaction, while no significant impact on citizen satisfaction was identified from the investment of civil infrastructure projects. Utilization of a geographic information system and an extensive literature review permitted the exploration of U.S. foreign assistance trends to examine the current precursors to U.S. foreign assistance and develop a list of proposed precursors. The research is exploratory and strives to improve the effectiveness of civil infrastructure investment in foreign countries through the measurement of HN citizen satisfaction of government services prior to project selection and during the post-project assessments.

AFIT Designator

AFIT-ENV-MS-15-M-175

DTIC Accession Number

ADA617391

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