GAO said that installations also are challenged by having to support unexpected requirements and maintain temporary facilities. Image: Kishore Newton/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffDoD components have not fully carried out guidance designed to optimize its use of real property, with the result that the department still lacks a grasp on its unneeded or underused properties, GAO has said.
The guidance is meant to ensure consistency in measuring and reporting, a report said, but “the military services have not fully followed this guidance and are reporting inconsistent and inaccurate real property data.” For example, it said, the Air Force uses a standard method to calculate utilization rates for each facility, but the Navy and Marine Corps report average utilization rates across a set of similar facilities.
“DoD has faced long standing challenges in optimizing its use” of its some 700,000 facilities with a replacement value of $2.2 trillion, said GAO, whose recently updated high-risk list continued to include management of real property government-wide.
GAO said that installations also are challenged by having to support unexpected requirements and maintain temporary facilities—such as relocatable structures–to fulfill immediate needs until permanent facility space is identified. “Other installations are maintaining older buildings at increased costs because replacement or demolition funds are insufficient, or because the buildings are historic and are required to be preserved,” it said.
It said DoD generally agreed with recommendations that the services issue consistent guidance on assessing and managing the risks to their real property, which GAO said would help them “better meet requirements for quality facilities, complete the demolition of old and unneeded facilities in a timely manner, and avoid costly partial renovations that do not adequately meet mission needs.”
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