Considering a Cadre Augmented Army - RAND Corporation

-33- A Budgetary Analysis of Cadre
1.4—MODELING
In order to calculate the attractiveness of a cadre augmented force, we built a model
called the Long War Assignment Model (LWAM). This section provides a brief overview of
the model and discusses two key assumptions. Appendix B describes the model in more
detail.
1.4.1—The Long War Assignment Model (LWAM)
The Long War Assignment Model (LWAM) simulates the deployment of forces over
time to meet a given demand. It takes as inputs all of the parameters discussed in the
previous section (summarized in Table 1.1) plus a time series demand for forces and an
initial force structure. The model then simulates the deployment of forces subject to the
specified force use constraints to meet the demand over time. If the force cannot meet the
requirement in any period, the model increases the size of the RC and starts over. If the
force is able to meet the requirement, the model calculates the cost of the force and the
stress on the AC over the course of a war. These metrics are used to analyze the
attractiveness of a cadre augmented force throughout this paper. This process is summarized
in Figure 1.3.