Considering a Cadre Augmented Army - RAND Corporation

-67- A Budgetary Analysis of Cadre
home during the period that cadre are preparing for deployment, but not thereafter.
However, we restrict the model so that AC units cannot be deployed with less than one year
at home. This is consistent with the DoD’s practice as of 2007 when deployments were
lengthened in order to maintain one year at home between deployments for AC units. 79
Allowing some AC units to break rotation guidance reduces the number of RC BCTs
that need to be maintained in peacetime. When we allow some AC BCTs to be deployed
with no less than 20 months at home, the LWAM cadre force optimizer calculates that this
force requires 55 RC BCTs. This is twelve fewer RC BCTs than the force that strictly
adheres to rotation guidance. This force still increases average long-run costs by $2 billion per
year relative to the 2011 force. We repeat this process assuming the DoD is willing to allow
AC units to be deployed with no less than 16 and 12 months at home. Table 5.1 shows the
size of each component and cost savings for each of these forces.
Table 5.1—Sensitivity of Average Long-Run Annual Cost Savings from CadreMix
Force to Willingness of the DoD to Allow AC to Break Rotation Guidance
Force
AC
BCTs
RC
BCTs
Cadre
BCTs
Deployed
BCTs
Annual Cost
Savings
2011 48 28 0 19.1 -
Cadre (24+ months) 35 67 16 24.4 -$6 billion
Cadre (20+ months) 35 55 16 23.1 -$2 billion
Cadre (16+ months) 35 52 16 22.8 -$1 billion
Cadre (12+ months) 35 19 16 19.1 $11 billion
Under the assumption that AC units could be deployed with 16 or more months at
home while cadre mobilize, a reserve force of 52 BCTs is required. This force costs $1
billion more annually than the 2011 force. If the DoD is willing to deploy AC units with 12
or more months at home then this force requires only 19 RC BCTs. This force saves $11
____________
79 Garamone (2007)