Eliminating the Weakest Link Approach to Army Unit Readiness

Abstract

One of the most difficult measurements to obtain with some level of accuracy is military readiness. While a multitude of factors exist that affect the ability of a unit to achieve success in mission, an accurate assessment of readiness is crucial and drives federal funding, defense policy, and deployment decisions. The current readiness metric for the U.S. Army statically assesses units on personnel, equipment on hand, equipment readiness/serviceability, and unit training proficiency using a weakest-link approach. This leads to reporting challenges and the tendency for commanders to subjectively upgrade their units’ assessments. This research proposes a metric that evaluates units with greater precision, flexibility, and robustness. By taking a decision analysis approach and using desirability functions, we are able to measure readiness based on a set of priorities, adapting for type of mission and unit. We test our metric using notional case studies and discuss extensions to other branches of the U.S. military and beyond.