Considering a Cadre Augmented Army - RAND Corporation

-87- A Budgetary Analysis of Cadre
Table 7.1—Sensitivity of Average Long-Run Cost Savings from Trading X RC BCTs
for Three Cadre BCTs to RC Post-Mobilization Training 101
RC Post-Mob.
Training (months)
X RC
BCTs
Annual
Savings
6 12 $3.0 billion
4 9 $1.9 billion
2 7 $1.2 billion
0 6 $0.9 billion
Reductions in post-mobilization training for RC units could decrease the cost savings
from trading RC units for cadre units. However, the decrease in post-mobilization training
for RC units will likely be balanced by increased pre-mobilization training, which will
increase the relative cost of an RC unit in peacetime. 102 As long as RC units are activated for
the same amount of time, the increased peacetime RC cost will cancel out the higher costeffectiveness
of the RC to make the cost savings from trading cadre for RC BCTs about the
same as those calculated in Chapter Two.
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101 See Appendix A for more on how to calculate the unit tradeoff factors.
102 “The Deputy Commander of the First Army, the unit charged with managing the pre-mobilization training,
indicated that at least two months of the former four-month training cycle would be shifted to the premobilization
year.” [DSB (2007), p. 22]. Others estimate pre-mobilization training could increase as much as 25
percent for RC units [Freedberg (2007)].