The Department of Defense’s 2005 base realignment and
closure schedule more or less achieves its goals of
reducing excess infrastructure, producing savings,
advancing transformation and increasing collaboration,
the Government Accountability Office has said.
It said most of the projected savings from the proposal
come from 10 percent of the recommendations, focusing
mainly on reserve bases and exceeding all prior BRAC
rounds combined.
Savings would be achieved but the up front costs could
run to $24 billion and there are “clear limitations
associated with DOD’s projection of nearly $50 billion
in savings over a 20-year period,” according to GAO-05-785.
It said about half of the projected recurring savings
would come from cutting military jobs, though DoD has
indicated some of the positions would be reassigned,
enhancing capabilities but potentially reducing savings.
While further savings were projected through “efficiency
measures and other actions,” GAO said, that, “underlying
assumptions have not been validated and could be difficult
to track over time.”
However, it said DoD carried out its analysis logically,
that it was reasoned and well-documented, and that it
emphasized data combined with military judgment “as
appropriate.”
GAO said assumptions and inconsistencies in developing
cost and savings estimates, lengthy payback periods, or
potential impacts on affected communities deserve further
attention – and it identified certain candidate
recommendations including some that were changed by
senior DoD leadership late in to the process that could
also warrant further attention.