The Army's readiness crisis: the cost of doing too much with too little
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Authors
Wilberding, David J.
Subjects
Readiness
Peace operations
Drawdown
Major theater war
Budget increase
Later deploying division
Contingency division
Peace operations
Drawdown
Major theater war
Budget increase
Later deploying division
Contingency division
Advisors
McCormick, Gordon H.
Mansager, Bard K.
Date of Issue
1998-12-01
Date
December 1998
Publisher
Monterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School
Language
en_US
Abstract
To improve its declining combat readiness the Army is requesting a significant budget increase. The Army plans to use the increase for primarily improving quality of. life issues. This thesis argues that this plan is inadequate and will result in only marginal readiness gains. The purpose of this thesis is to explore the underlying causes of the readiness crisis and to offer an alternative framework for reversing the decline. This thesis begins by defining readiness from the perspectives of operational and structural readiness. It then explores the critical readiness questions of: What should be ready? What should it be ready for? and When should it be ready? The thesis also examines the impact of the drawdown and commitments to peace operations (POs) on Army readiness. To illustrate the influence of these variables on readiness, this thesis develops a readiness threshold model that measures the capacity of a given force to participate in POs before its readiness deteriorates. By using the model to analyze the current size of the force in relation to its PO commitments, this thesis finds that the cost of doing too much with too little is a reduction in the Army's combat readiness. The thesis concludes by examining both policy implications and prescriptions derived from this study.
Type
Thesis
Description
Series/Report No
Department
Special Operations Curriculum Committee
Organization
Naval Postgraduate School
Identifiers
NPS Report Number
Sponsors
Funder
Format
xvi, 83 p.
Citation
Distribution Statement
Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.
Rights
This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.