Considering a Cadre Augmented Army - RAND Corporation

-167- An Operational Analysis of Cadre
3. PEACETIME CADRE ORGANIZATION
The previous chapter calculated the peacetime cost of cadre units assuming that all
the costs of retaining cadre leaders accrued to the cadre unit and that cadre leaders would be
retained on active duty during peacetime. These are worst-case assumptions for the
peacetime cost of a cadre unit. Even so, we found that a cadre unit could cost as little as 13
percent of an AC unit during peacetime. However, the peacetime cost of a cadre unit could
be reduced even further. Assigning other duties to cadre leaders during peacetime can reduce
the fraction of the costs assigned to the cadre unit. Keeping cadre leaders in reserve status
rather than on active duty during peacetime would also reduce the relative cost of a cadre
unit. However, some alternatives that reduce the peacetime cost of a cadre unit can also
increase the risk of relying on a cadre augmented force. In this chapter, we examine the pros
and cons of alternative peacetime organizations for cadre units. Additionally, the final
section of this chapter explores whether there might be enough officers/NCOs in the
existing force structure to lead cadre units in wartime.
The peacetime organization of a cadre unit has two components: (1) the state of
cadre leaders during peacetime (together in one unit, assigned to different units, etc.) and (2)
the peacetime duties of the cadre leaders. We consider reserve status as a peacetime duty
alternative, one in which the duties of the officer or NCO are to train periodically or simply
to keep their contact information up to date.
This chapter separates the peacetime organization of cadre organizations into three
categories: those maintaining separate cadre units, those maintaining the cadre within the