The ASCAR Model for Evaluating Military Manpower Policy

The Accession Supply Costing and Requirements Model (ASCAR) uses goal programming to evaluate the accession needs of the All Volunteer Armed Forces to reach or maintain a given strength and optimize the qualitative mix of new recruits. The model has been used extensively by the Congressional Budget Office and the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense to evaluate the All Volunteer Force, develop recruiting goals, and evaluate retention for all services.