After four base closure rounds, the Defense Department continues to operate more bases and facilities than it needs to defend the country, a General Accounting Office review says. But Pentagon estimates of savings from previous base closure rounds may be overstated, the review cautions.
GAO confirmed Defense leaders' contention that more infrastructure and jobs can be cut from the department. Pentagon leaders are asking Congress to approve two additional base closure rounds, during which unnecessary facilities would be identified and closed. Congress asked GAO to review a report the Pentagon issued in April explaining the need for more base closures.
"Other DoD studies, statements by DoD officials and our prior work support the report's general conclusion that DoD continues to retain excess capacity," GAO said in "Military Bases: Review of DoD's 1998 Report on Base Realignment and Closure" (NSIAD-99-17). "Our work has shown this to be the case, particularly in maintenance depots and in research, development, test and evaluation facilities."
According to DoD, the four base closure rounds between 1988 and 1995 will cost about $23 billion to complete. Completely closing the bases will take until 2001. Net savings through 2001 will be $14 billion, the Pentagon estimates. Recurring savings from the base closures are expected to be $5.7 billion a year from 2002 on.
DoD also estimates that base closure rounds in 2001 and 2005 would result in savings of $3.4 billion a year.
However, GAO challenged the Pentagon's cost and savings estimates.
The estimates do not include the costs of environmental clean-ups after 2001, GAO found. The estimated cost of environmental restoration at closed bases after 2001 is $2.4 billion.
GAO also said that the military's cost accounting and future estimates are not precise.
For example, DoD "provided estimated rather than actual savings data because data on actual savings does not exist," GAO said. "Because of data and record weaknesses, DoD's report should be viewed as providing a rough approximation of costs and savings rather than a precise accounting."
GAO said that DoD does not track base closure savings separately from savings produced by other reform initiatives, such as acquisition reform, downsizing and reorganizations. DoD may also miss savings in its estimates because the department does not estimate the capital improvement costs it avoids by closing facilities.
Savings estimates for future base closure rounds may also be inaccurate because the estimates are based on savings from the previous four closure rounds, GAO said. The military selected bases to close that were relatively inexpensive to shut down during the first four rounds, so the cost of future base closings may be higher, GAO said.
During the 1998 legislative session, Congress ignored the Pentagon's request for authorization to conduct another two base closure rounds. Capitol Hill lawmakers with military installations in their districts worry that base closures will result in lost jobs back home. DoD leaders hope Congress will approve closure rounds next year.