The Defense Department has said that its bases and other facilities of the future may have a different look, both in terms of how they are structured and where they are placed—which in turn will determine what the associated civilian DoD jobs will be and where they will be located.
“Emerging technologies such as hypersonic systems, autonomous vehicles, and cyber forces may require new basing concepts. Bases may also need to be assessed in order to optimize the training and deployment of directed energy programs, electronic warfare, and artificial intelligence systems,” an official told a House Appropriations subcommittee.
That will be driven by “a comprehensive enterprise review of how and where we base new forces and capabilities in support of the national defense strategy,” he said.
For the meantime, while the department is not asking for new authority to close or realign bases, he added, it will increase renovation or demolition of unneeded or obsolete buildings. He said that almost a tenth of the department’s building inventory is deemed to be in “failing” condition based on a recent assessment of facility conditions, while another 23 percent is deemed to be in “poor” condition.
He said that in 2019, DoD plans to spend about $1 billion to remove or replace almost 30 million square feet of building space.