Considering a Cadre Augmented Army - RAND Corporation

-273- A Historical Analysis of Cadre
proposals failed to gain support and the Army responded to the change in perceived threat
by increasing the size of the active army. Between 1900 and 1916, the average number of
soldiers on active duty per 100,000 residents during peacetime was 92, about 50 percent
larger than the size of the peacetime Army during the nineteenth century.
The second major change in perceived threat occurred following World War I. Based
on its experiences in the First World War, the Army perceived a larger and more imminent
threat in the period following the war. In response to this new threat, the Army both
increased the number of active duty soldiers and created a cadre force. Between 1917 and
1946, the average number of soldiers on active duty during peacetime per 100,000 residents
rose to 170, nearly double the size of the force before World War I. A cadre force, the
Organized Reserves, was also created following the First World War. The Organized
Reserves were initially envisioned as a non-drilling force of fully manned units. However, a
lack of funding led to units that retained officers but no enlisted personnel. The Organized
Reserves existed as a cadre force until 1955 when it became part of the Army Reserve. The
Organized Reserves were the first and only cadre force that existed during peacetime in the
United States.
The third significant change in perceived threat occurred after World War II.
Following the Second World War, there remained two world superpowers: the United States
and the Soviet Union. The U.S. Army perceived the Soviet Union as both a larger and more
imminent threat than any it had faced before. The Army expected to deploy all forces to
Europe quickly in the event of a Soviet invasion. Many believed that the war would be won
or lost in the first few months. Cadre units were no longer useful because they would take
years to deploy. The Army focused on building a large force that could deploy within months