Considering a Cadre Augmented Army - RAND Corporation

-222- An Operational Analysis of Cadre
must participate in training themselves, then new recruits must be trained in the existing
individual training system. This is more likely to be the case for cadre units that have low
mission focus (dual-hatted, senior IRR) than it is for those that spend a significant amount
of time planning for war (maintenance, AC units with surplus personnel). Nonetheless, even
if cadre leaders cannot train new recruits in wartime, we have seen that there is excess
capacity within the existing training system that could be utilized.
5.3.2—Collective Training
Once a cadre unit has been filled out with trained junior personnel, it begins
collective training. Some of this training would occur at the unit’s home base. However,
since the base will likely not be large enough for a full BCT to maneuver, each cadre BCT
will also require about a month 153 of training at a collective training site such as the National
Training Center (NTC) or Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC).
Unlike the capacity of the individual training system, the capacity of the collective
training system does not constrain the ability of a cadre augmented force to mobilize. This is
due to the nature of fighting a war with rotation. If each year, 19 new BCTs must be
deployed, each of those brigades will rotate through the collective training sites before being
deployed. Therefore, the capacity of the collective training system only needs to be large
enough to handle the 19 BCTs rotating through each year, no matter which type. 154 We
estimate that when running at full capacity, the collective training system can train about 24
____________
153 Blain (2006), p. 3. Department of the Army (2007d), p. 1.
154 More rotation slots would be required for RC BCTs because they must rotate at a faster pace because they
only provide eight months boots on the ground per deployment versus the twelve months provided by AC and
cadre units. However, this difference would only matter for a force with a much higher proportion of RC units
than any of those analyzed in this dissertation.