Adapting the RAND Strategy Assessment System to Force Assessment Studies in the Joint Staff

This report documents the results of an effort undertaken for the Capabilities Assessment Division (CAD) of the Joint Staff. The project had two purposes: (1) to demonstrate that the operations and output of the RAND Strategy Assessment System (RSAS) could be calibrated to that of other models and games currently employed by CAD, and (2) to allow CAD to evaluate the utility of the RSAS for their purposes. This report outlines what was done in this effort, how it was done, and the degree to which the results were acceptable to CAD. RSAS proved valuable for many of CAD's assessments. In particular, the combination of analytic war plans and analyst plans used in this work proved quite flexible and robust in controlling and modifying scenario details during the course of the assessments. The most pronounced shortcoming of the RSAS from CAD's perspective is the underdeveloped state of the naval models. The work reported here also resulted in several improvements being made to the baseline RSAS system, including changes to graphics software, force data, and air warfare modeling.