Considering a Cadre Augmented Army - RAND Corporation

-128- A Budgetary Analysis of Cadre
BCTs. The model will then simulate the deployment of this force using the algorithm
discussed in the previous section. If the simulation leads to an error message, this raises a
flag that alerts the cadre force optimizer to increase the size of the RC by one unit and
simulate the war again. This process is continued until a feasible force is found. Once this
force is found, the force allocation datasheet is displayed along with the outputs discussed in
the previous section. The cadre force optimizer was used in many of the analyses in this
paper to determine the smallest feasible cadre augmented force under different sets of
assumptions.
B.3—MODELLING ISSUES
There are a few modeling parameters that we hold constant in the LWAM that we
have not discussed. First, the LWAM assumes that AC, RC, and cadre units are of equal
effectiveness in wartime. We did not create parameters to vary the relative effectiveness of
forces because there is very little reliable data comparing the relative effectiveness of these
units. History also provides contradictory evidence about the effectiveness of cadre units. 140
If cadre units were less effective than AC units, this would reduce the attractiveness of a
cadre augmented force. Second, we chose to model the force assignment process using
distinct thresholds, specifying that no unit can be deployed with less than some period of
time at home. In reality, these boundaries would be more fluid and the willingness to deploy
units might be based on a distribution rather than thresholds. We chose not to do this in our
analysis because there was no data to use to determine an acceptable distribution and the
threshold method is simpler to explain and model. The effect of using a distributional
method on the results in this paper would depend on how the assumptions about
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140 For success stories see Brown (1986) and Dupuy (1987). For failures see Durr (1992).