Considering a Cadre Augmented Army - RAND Corporation

-274- A Historical Analysis of Cadre
of mobilization. The size of the active army continued to grow. Between 1947 and 1989, the
average number of soldiers per 100,000 residents was 440, more than twice as large as it had
been prior to World War II. Cadre forces were not frequently discussed during this time due
to the lengthy amount of time they would require to deploy.
The final major change in perceived threat occurred following the end of the Cold
War. The Army felt that the fall of the Soviet Union created a smaller and less imminent
threat to the United States. After the end of the Cold War, the size of the active army
decreased significantly. Between 1990 and 2007, the average number of soldiers per 100,000
residents fell to 193, about half the average peacetime size of the Army during the previous
fifty years. During the drawdown, cadre units were proposed as a way to hedge against the
possibility of a resurgent Soviet Union. This would allow the Army to maintain personnel
and equipment that otherwise would be eliminated in case the Soviet Union began rearming.
These cadre proposals were given serious consideration by the Army but never
implemented. This marked the last time that anyone seriously discussed cadre units.
1.4—OUTLINE
This paper provides a detailed account of the cadre proposals discussed in this
introduction. The purpose of this historical review is to provide a context for the cadre
forces analyzed in this dissertation. The chapters of this paper are organized in chronological
order. Chapter Two introduces the cadre proposals of Calhoun and Upton from the
nineteenth century. Chapter Three discusses the cadre debate in the early twentieth century
and Congressional action to strengthen the militia. Chapters Four and Six examine the
Army’s experience with cadre units in World Wars I and II. The fifth chapter discusses cadre