Combat Rescue Critical Issues
Cost - The key constraint Expense to execute CSAR mission.
Investment to attain rescue coverage.
A Balance: Cost vs. Coverage Risk vs. Benefit
Chance that a rescue will succeed.
Risk - The critical issue CSAR lives and equipment lost.
Chance of losing rescue forces.
Benefit - The outcome Political/operational gain from successful rescue.
Liability if not successful or undertaken.
Notes:
SLIDE 6: CSAR Critical Issues At its very top level, the CSAR mission must address three critical issues: one deals with demand and the other two address mission constraints. CSAR’s critical characteristics all trace back to these issues.
Coverage – This is the CSAR mission deliverable: In terms of what is observable/historical, it’s the number of lives saved. In forecasting/planning terms it is the probability that an isolated person will be saved, whether expressed in terms of gross numbers or fraction of the number of lives at risk
Risk – This is an operational/political constraint. It is either the number of CSAR Forces’ lives and equipment lost in providing coverage or the chances that men and equipment will be lost in future coverage. There will always be an upper bound on the limit of risk for CSAR forces but it is not fixed. That limit – determined by benefit and cost – must be determined by the operational commander before committing CSAR forces to a mission.
Cost – This is the financial constraint. CSAR has a certain value – benefit to its customers (not to be confused with CSAR’s beneficiaries), and the cost of coverage and risk mitigation should not exceed that value. In mathematical terms:
coverage ? benefit = risk ? cost
Benefit is the independent variable here and where benefit isn’t readily assessable, it can be considered in terms of operational risk to the CINC if he does not have CSAR coverage. For a fixed benefit/value, the remaining issues must be optimized against each other for a correct balance.