Adapting the RAND Strategy Assessment System to Force Assessment Studies in the Joint Staff
Abstract
The Capabilities Assessment Division (CAD) of J-8 (Force Structure Resource and Assessment Directorate) in the Joint Staff has long been a participant in the development of the RAND Strategy Assessment System (RSAS). In December 1987, CAD decided that the RSAS had reached sufficient maturity to justify a formal evaluation of its capability to serve the Division's needs. A team of RAND analysts was asked to emulate the 1988 Total Force Capability Assessment (TFCA) and calibrate the RSAS to the outputs of then-current current CAD models. Items of particular interest included the value of the RSAS in developing the TFCA Study Plan, its capability to conduct TFCA excursions, and its potential use to support non-TFCA analyses. The RSAS was not used directly in the 1988 TFCA evaluation. Instead, the RSAS was run in parallel with the main TFCA game to evaluate its ability to replicate force employment decisions made by the TFCA gamers and the results obtained from CAD's simulation models. The RSAS databases were modified to match those used in the TFCA, applying the force deployments and employments the TFCA gamers had decided on and comparing the RSAS results with those of the extant CAD models.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 1991
- Accession Number
- ADA253095
Entities
People
- Carl M. Jones
- David A. Shlapak
- Robert D. Howe