Considering a Cadre Augmented Army - RAND Corporation

-6- Introduction
post-mobilization training. 15 If we assume one-year deployments for AC forces, replacement
forces are first needed at the beginning of year two. At this point, RC units, which require
four months of post-mobilization training 16 , can be fully prepared for deployment. RC
combat units provide only eight months deployed per mobilization because their one-year
mobilizations include the four months of post-mobilization training. This means that new
groups of RC units are needed 1.0, 1.6, and 2.3 years after D-day to sustain deployments in
years two and three. 17 The AC units deployed in year one (AC-1) are again available for
deployment in year four after they have spent two years at home. The RC units deployed in
years two and three (R-1, R-2, R-3) are not available for redeployment again until years eight
and nine. Therefore, three new groups of reserve units are needed to augment the active
force in years five and six (R-4, R-5, R-6).
RC units in R-4, R-5, and R-6 have four to five years to prepare to deploy. These
units could be maintained at a level of readiness lower than RC units without significantly
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15 Under ARFORGEN, some RC units would be ready to deploy at the beginning of a conflict because 1/6 of
the RC force is in the available pool at any given time. The analysis here remains valid even if RC forces are
ready to deploy at the beginning of a conflict as demonstrated in the figure below.
This figure shows that under ARFORGEN new groups of RC units are still needed 4.00, 4.66, and 5.33 years
after D-day and these units could be maintained as cadre units without significantly increasing military risk.
16 Army National Guard infantry units deploying to Iraq and Afghanistan have required, on average, four
months of post-mobilization training. Under ARFORGEN, First Army plans to reduce post-mobilization
training to one to three months. However, this requires additional pre-mobilization training. In this paper we
assume that this training does not occur during peacetime because RC units are not being regularly deployed.
Therefore, those RC units deployed in the first years of a war require four months of post-mobilization
training. RC units deploying later in the war may require fewer months of post-mobilization training.
17 If the AC were large enough to meet the demand in year’s two and three, RC forces would not be needed at
all and the argument made here is not relevant. However, in order for this to be the case, the United States
would need to maintain a very large standing army.