In January 1996, the Naval Center for Cost Analysis (NCCA) began an initiative to improve the Navy’s operating and support (O&S) cost estimating capabilities. This initiative was necessitated by the Navy’s moving from an environment where operating and support cost estimates had been low priority, last minute, top level, and often crude, to an environment of decreasing budgets, requiring much more sophisticated cost models to evaluate alternative policy decisions for reducing costs while maintaining required capabilities.

Initial efforts focused on acquiring a better understanding of the Navy’s VAMOSC system. During this first phase, NCCA conducted an in-depth review of VAMOSC data sources, definitions and processing. Using a system dynamics approach, NCCA then developed a conceptual operating and support cost model. This process resulted in a set of influence diagrams providing a basic understanding of operating and support processes and their interrelationships. This effort helped to define the value of existing data and the need for collecting additional types of data via the VAMOSC program. Throughout the spring and summer of 1996, NCCA began collaborating with United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defence (UK MoD). Common interests in improving O&S cost estimating capabilities through the use of system dynamics modeling resulted in an agreement to work jointly in the development of improved O&S cost estimating models.The OSCAM program officially began in August 1996 and included NCCA, UK MoD and HVR Consulting Services, a British consultancy specializing in system dynamics modeling. It was agreed at the outset that two models would be required to support both major shipboard system programs (OSCAM Sys) and ship programs (OSCAM Ship). 


A prototype version of the system dynamics engine (without the now familiar user friendly interface and database handling capabilities) for the System model was developed in late 1996. This model was used as a 'proof of concept' demonstrator.

Since it's inception in 1996, OSCAM has been under continuous development and improvement. Currently at Version 7.0, the OSCAM Navy Suite now represents a mature and refined modeling approach to O&S cost estimation, offering many benefits to the Navy costing community, including:

- Standardized models for the Navy Cost Community;

- More efficient means of focusing research efforts and improving cost analysis expertise

- Provides for direct use of historical data via access to historical based data sets

- A defined process for the cost modeling community to direct and improve the data collection community.

As the OSCAM program has progressed, working practices and data availability unique to both the US and UK have resulted in 2 variants of the Navy model (US and UK modes). The models contain subtle differences, and continue to be issued within the same application. Despite this slight divergence, OSCAM continues to be a bilateral program, providing an accurate and comprehensive representation of O&S processes

As a result of these development efforts, OSCAM now has in excess of 250 trained users in both the US and UK, and has been successfully applied on a number of current programs, including Sea, Air and Land based environments.

The figure below represents the timeline of OSCAM development from 1996 until the present day. As can be seen, the Navy model has provided the backbone to the program, with Land and Air based models being subsequently developed, including bespoke models specific to individual programs such as the USMC AAAV, now EFV, and USAF C-17 models.