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Defense Infrastructure: Military Services Lack Reliable Data on Historic Properties

GAO-01-437 Published: Apr 06, 2001. Publicly Released: Apr 06, 2001.
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Highlights

Available information indicates that the Defense Department lacks an accurate inventory of historic properties. The inventory of historic military properties should include all properties that are listed on or eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. A complete inventory would ensure that the services are properly recording real property transactions, ensure the accuracy of reporting on real property required to be included in annual financial statements, and provide an improved basis for long-term planning for facility maintenance and repair. At the same time, composite data on the costs of maintaining historic structures are not readily available.

Recommendations

Recommendations for Executive Action

Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Defense To ensure that the military services have an accurate inventory of historic properties, the Secretary of Defense should require the military services to update their real property databases to account for all properties that are listed or eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places.
Closed – Implemented
DOD completed drafting revised guidance on inventorying military real property. In the revised guidance, the Military Departments and the Washington Headquarters Services would be required to report annually to the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the historical status of each facility for which they are accountable. DOD has partnered with the Military Services and Washington Headquarters Services to transform, or reengineer, our business processes for the inventory of real property. This reengineering is part of the DOD Business Management Modernization Program. Although the reengineering effort has resulted in DOD deferring the coordination and implementation of the revised inventory guidance, the Military Services and Washington Headquarters Services have utilized the draft revised guidance to move forward in meeting their requirement to account for all properties that are listed or eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. DOD expects to release the final guidance and develop implementation plans during calendar year 2004.

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Topics

Historic preservationMilitary facilitiesNational historic sitesDatabasesReal propertyDatabase management systemsPrison costsU.S. ArmyU.S. NavyU.S. Air Force