Considering a Cadre Augmented Army - RAND Corporation

-216- An Operational Analysis of Cadre
5.3.1—Individual Training
New recruits would need to go through both Basic Combat Training (BCT) and
Advanced Individual Training (AIT) before joining their cadre unit. Previous cadre
proposals have assumed that cadre leaders would train their own junior personnel. However,
this may be detrimental to the effectiveness of a cadre unit if the cadre leaders need that time
to perform their own training. In this subsection, we consider the possibility that cadre
leaders must perform their own training and new recruits must be trained within the existing
army individual training system. This would increase the demand on the Army’s individual
training system during wartime. If this training system is running at less than full capacity
during peacetime then this is not an issue. However, if the individual training system is
running at full capacity during peacetime, a cadre augmented force must invest in additional
capacity.
Excess Capacity in the Existing Training System
To explore whether there is excess capacity in the individual training system, we
examined the capacity for Basic Combat Training (BCT) at Fort Jackson. 138 We calculated
that the maximum number of personnel that can be in training at Fort Jackson at any given
time to be 13,500. 139 To determine volume, we derived data on the number of personnel
being trained at Fort Jackson from the Army Training Requirements and Resources System
(ATRRS). 140 Based on course scheduling information available in this database, we were able
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138 We chose Fort Jackson because we were able to acquire the most data about its training capacity. Requests
to other training centers for similar information were either ignored or denied. In addition, Fort Jackson
performs the majority (about 56 percent) of basic training for new recruits.
139 Correspondence with Public Affairs Officer at Fort Jackson (May 5, 2007). “Fort Jackson has 9 Basic
Combat Training Battalions, each capable of supporting as many as 1,500 Soldiers in Training during a cycle.”
If all training battalions are busy, then Fort Jackson can train 13,500 recruits at a time (9*1500).
140 https://atrrs.army.mil/. (Accessed December 6, 2007)