Life cycle cost/cost-effectiveness analysis of U.S. Army Recruits : high quality versus low quality

摘要

This study is conducted to identify tne relationship between a U.S. Army recruit's quality level and his or her life cycle cost (LCC). We develop a LCC spreadsheet model which considers critical costs accrued by an accessed population over a four year life cycle. Actual attrition data for a sample of the year groups under study is built into the model. LCCs of different percentage mixes of high and low quality are compared to find the least cost force mix. Additionally, we conduct a cost-effectiveness analysis by considering hands-on performance test results to determine the effects of performance on the cost to support a high and low quality soldier per man-year, respectively. Finally, we determine the marginal LCC (MLCC) of both high and low quality soldiers and compare these results. We discover through the use of performance factors that high quality recruits are more cost-effective in terms of their MLCC over the course of a first term enlistment.