JAS Users Manual, Volume III, Para 5.1.4.13:
The user can evaluate the quality of the apportionment data by building a query using the apportionment data and the Allocation Inventory instrument. The Allocation Inventory instrument collects the missions assigned to each AU as output through the Allocation LP, labeled “Begin,” and the allocation inventory after the planning process, labeled “End.” Units that are apportioned to fly missions for which they have do not have a Unit Mission Preference and an Asset Mission Preference, will be assigned the Reserve mission in the Allocation Inventory. These will be visible in both the “Begin” and “End” allocation values. The apportionment should be fine-tuned to minimize the number of sorties assigned to Reserve status within the Allocation LP.
Reserve mission allocations that only appear in the “End” allocation values are missions that could not be planned, for one of two reasons: 1) there was not a Standard Conventional Load’s (SCL’s) worth of munitions available at the installation, during the JTCB weaponeering process; 2) these sorties are left over after applying the min Air Mission Element (AME) size for the given mission type. These sorties leftover from applying the Min AME are derived from each of the different plans that ATO instructions are created from (ADP, CP, TP, SEADP, MSP, LSP). The user should evaluate what is being asked for, in the plan of interest, and ensure the air asset Min AME size is consistent with the plans.
Some sorties coming out of the allocation linear program (LP) unused are lumped into a mission called “Reserve”. This will happen in (at least) four cases:
1) If an apportionment group is not 100% apportioned, the remaining percent will be in Reserve. For instance, if a group is only apportioned at 50%, then 50% of the potential sorties of all the air units in that group will be Reserve (both Begin & End).
2) If an Air Unit is apportioned (partially or wholly) to a mission for which it or its platform has no preference, then those sorties will be designated as Reserve (both Begin & End).
3) If “Air Unit X’s” apportionment group is apportioned to do a mission for which the air unit/platform does have a preference, but the allocation LP chooses another AU/platform with a higher preference for that mission to be allocated to do that mission, leaving only missions in the apportionment group for which Air Unit X or its platform has no preference, its sorties will be designated in Reserve (both Begin & End).
4) The remainder of unplanned sorties which are too few to make a complete minAME will be designated in Reserve (End only).
If sorties could not be planned due to insufficient munitions for an SCL at their installation, those sorties will not be Reserve, but will simply show as unplanned sorties remaining at End cycle status. Note that this is contrary the description in the user’s manual.
In general, if Reserve shows up in both Begin & End, it indicates an apportionment or mission preference issue. If it is in the End section, it indicates remaining unusable sorties after the planning process.