Considering a Cadre Augmented Army - RAND Corporation

-76- A Budgetary Analysis of Cadre
Using the RC more intensively affects the cost savings from trading RC units for
cadre units. In the CadreMix force, we traded nine RC BCTs for three cadre BCTs, which
reduces average long-run savings by about $2 billion annually. If the RC is used more
intensively, the ratio of trading RC BCTs to cadre BCTs decreases. This reduces the annual
cost savings from trading RC BCTs for cadre BCTs. Table 6.2 shows the cost savings from
trading RC units for cadre units under different assumptions about RC rotation.
Table 6.2—Average Long-Run Cost Savings from RC for Cadre Tradeoff when RC is
Used More Intensively
RC
Rotation
RC BCTs per 3
Cadre BCTs
Annual Cost
Savings
RC 1:5 9 $1.8 Billion
RC 1:4 7.5 $1.3 Billion
RC 1:3 6 $0.8 Billion
Deploying RC units one year in five (1:4) reduces the annual cost savings from $1.8
billion to $1.3 billion. Deploying RC units one year in four (1:3) decreases the cost savings
even further, to $0.8 billion annually. However, even when we use the RC as intensively as
we could imagine (1:3), trading RC BCTs for cadre BCTs still reduces annual costs.
Although using the RC more intensively reduces the cost savings from a cadre
augmented force, it also decreases the stress on the AC. Figure 6.2 shows the stress on the
AC for the CadreMix force under differing assumptions about rotation guidance for the RC.