Because assessments of alternative national defense strategies depend in part on estimates of their costs, it is important to be able to develop relatively accurate, first-order estimates. Current cost estimation processes take months to generate results and require considerable resources to execute. This report presents a new, rapid method of estimating changes in Army resource needs and allocation as a function of alternative national defense strategies. Because the new method, called the Strategic Investment Analysis Protocol, is rapid, its use allows analysts and decisionmakers to compare the resource implications of alternative strategies. To illustrate the approach, the authors estimate the costs of three alternative strategies in terms of the Army's budget structure. They also examine how various appropriations have responded in the past to changes in strategy. Relatively accurate, first-order estimates of resource implications should inform the development and selection of defense strategies and the Army investment options that support those strategies.

Preface. -- Summary. -- Introduction. -- Developing alternative strategies to support analysis. -- Estimating operational Army costs. -- Estimating generating force costs. -- Assessing investment options' effectiveness. -- Summary and conclusions: responsive analysis to inform initial strategic guidance. -- Appendices. -- References.