Considering a Cadre Augmented Army - RAND Corporation

-2- Introduction
force to fight two separate Major Regional Contingencies (MRCs). 3 This planning was
explicit in the 1995 National Military Strategy of the United States:
“US forces will be sized and structured to achieve decisive victory in two nearly
simultaneous major regional conflicts and to conduct combat operations
characterized by rapid response and a high probability of success.”
- 1995 National Military Strategy of the United States 4
The Base Force, which was proposed in the 1992 Joint Military Net Assessment
(JMNA), defined this two-war force sizing heuristic. Figure I shows that the Base Force
could only fight two simultaneous wars (Global War) by deploying all forces at once.
Figure I—Two MRCs Requires Deploying All Forces for the Duration of the War 5
This two-war force sizing heuristic created a base force that could only fight two
major wars by deploying all units for the duration of those wars. This force did not have the
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3 Larson et al (2001). The term used to describe these large regional conflicts evolved throughout the 1990s.
The George H.W. Bush administration began by calling them Major Regional Contingencies (MRCs). The
Bottom-Up Review changed the term to Major Regional Conflicts (MRCs). The 1997 Quadrennial Defense
Review changed the term once again to Major Theater Wars (MTWs). [Troxell (1997), p. 40]
4 Shalikashvili (1995), p. 17
5 Powell (1992a). Extracted from Larson et al (2001), p. 13.