Shrinking BRAC savings concern House panel

[unhappycamper]

Shrinking BRAC savings concern House panel
By William H. McMichael - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Dec 14, 2007 11:49:45 EST

They came to plead for another chance for Fort Monmouth, N.J., to question the rationale for past base-closing decisions — and even to talk a bit about the advertised point of the hearing, which was to take a look at the Defense Department’s progress in implementing the most recent federal base-closure decisions.

The pleas and complaints from members of a House Armed Services Committee panel came on the heels of a new Government Accountability Office report that says the Pentagon will end up spending 48 percent more than it originally projected to close and realign 57 major bases and hundreds more minor facilities, actions mandated in the 2005 round of base realignments and closures.

By law, a total of 182 BRAC recommendations must be completed by Sept. 15, 2011. The Pentagon says it’s well on the way to meeting that deadline.

But the GAO said the promised cost savings will come up well short of original predictions: The Pentagon will take four years longer than projected to begin realizing annual savings, and will end up saving 58 percent less than projected through 2025, auditors said.

Philip Grone, deputy undersecretary of defense for installations and environment, told lawmakers that increased costs are due to inflation, weak capabilities discovered through subsequent site survey work and a package of enhancements, such as new training ranges or quality-of-life improvements, requested by the Army at realigned bases that are gaining large numbers of troops.


Rest of article at: http://www.navytimes.com/news/2007/12/military_brac_071...