Considering a Cadre Augmented Army - RAND Corporation

-189- An Operational Analysis of Cadre
Overall, there is no dominant peacetime cadre organization, but some have
significant advantages over others. The maintenance cadre unit is the most expensive and
provides few opportunities for leaders to train with junior personnel. We presented this as
an option for two reasons. First, it is what has been suggested in the past and therefore
served as a good starting point. Second, by pointing out its weaknesses, we motivated the
development of the other alternatives discussed in this chapter. In exploring alternative
organizations, we found that the cadre organizations that would lead to the greatest cost
savings are RC units with surplus personnel or a senior IRR. Both of these options raise
some concerns about the proficiency of the leaders. However, given that these individuals
would be prior service personnel and would have two years to hone their skills before being
assigned to their junior personnel, it seems reasonable to assume that these might be worth
considering. Because these units do not use AC personnel to lead cadre units, they also do
not affect the active army leader development process. Rotating cadre units might also be
able to provide similar cost savings, but these would depend on the specific design of the
rotational unit in cadre status (how many personnel dual-hatted/IRR/retired).
3.5—USE OF EXISTING LEADERS
One final alternative worth considering is that the army has enough leaders in its
existing structure to lead new units in wartime. Table 3.2 shows the number of active duty
officers and NCOs in each grade and the percentage of leaders not assigned to combat units
that would be needed for three of the cadre forces examined in this dissertation. 80
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80 The number of officers/NCOs not assigned to combat units was calculated by subtracting the number of
officers/NCOs needed to lead 48 AC BCTs from the number of personnel in each grade in 2008.