Considering a Cadre Augmented Army - RAND Corporation

-341- A Historical Analysis of Cadre
9. CADRE IN THE COLD WAR DRAWDOWN
Like the end of all previous wars, the end of the Cold War sparked a debate about
the appropriate size and structure of the peacetime military. After the fall of the Berlin wall,
there was a desire to downsize the military because there no longer appeared to be an
imminent threat to American interests. The perceived threat changed once again. This led
many to call for a peace dividend. 243 They argued that without an imminent threat the U.S.
could downsize its military without increasing military risk. However, a number of military
professionals and analysts felt that it was necessary to hedge against the threat of a resurgent
Soviet Union. 244 They argued that although the threat was less likely, it still existed with
increased warning time. This led some to propose changing some AC divisions into cadre
divisions rather than eliminating them. These proposals are similar to those proposed by
Calhoun and Upton in that units would be maintained with only officers and NCOs in
peacetime. However, these proposals differed in that the entire force would not be
maintained in cadre status like Calhoun or Upton’s forces but instead only a few cadre units
would be maintained in addition to the AC and RC forces in the Army. These cadre
proposals were studied in-depth during this period. However, cadre proposals once again
disappeared from the military policy when the perceived threat from Russia decreased in the
years that followed. This chapter discusses both the re-emergence and disappearance of
cadre proposals during the Cold War drawdown.
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243 Larson et al (2001), p. xiv
244 See the sections that follow for a discussion of the organizations and individuals who felt this was worth
considering.