DOD Joint Bases: Actions Needed to Improve Sustainment of Facilities
Fast Facts
From 2009 to 2010, DOD consolidated 26 military installations into 12 joint bases to increase readiness, reduce duplication, and save costs.
However, DOD hasn't seen expected cost savings, and managing joint base facilities remains a major challenge. Despite billions invested in these facilities, we found that:
Nearly all joint bases received less funding than needed to sustain their facilities
DOD can't distinguish how facility investment is distributed between different military units on joint bases
DOD hasn't addressed workforce shortages among personnel who manage joint base facilities
Our recommendations address these issues.
Army paratroopers board an Air Force C-17 at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska
Army paratroopers lining up to board a large transport aircraft in front of snowy mountains.
Highlights
What GAO Found
Joint military bases are installations with more than one military service. For example, at Joint Base San Antonio, the Air Force is the lead service, and the Army is the supported service. Eleven of the 12 joint bases received less funding in fiscal years 2018 through 2022 than the Department of Defense’s (DOD) facility sustainment funding goal. However, DOD was unable to obtain data on how this funding was allocated to specific components on joint bases and therefore was unable to determine if the impact of funding below DOD’s goal led to disparities in facility conditions between lead and supported military services on bases. Joint base senior leaders whom GAO surveyed stated that facility management offices do not receive sufficient funding to keep facilities in good working order. During site visits to five joint bases, GAO observed examples of facility degradation due to deferred maintenance (see fig.).
Broken Aircraft Hangar Roof Tiles on Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam
DOD has issued numerous guidance documents for joint base facility management, but senior joint base officials expressed confusion about how responsibilities for funding joint base facilities are allocated between the military services. Joint bases have multiple, ongoing cost-sharing disputes between the military services involving projects totaling over a billion dollars, and these disputes have not been resolved through DOD’s formal oversight structure. In July 2025, DOD finalized a department instruction that adds more detail regarding facility funding responsibilities on joint bases and could improve officials’ understanding of this issue. GAO found that all joint bases with available workforce data have facility management workforce shortages and that workforce requirements have not been reassessed to reflect increasing workloads as military units on joint bases have grown. Improving the availability of data on facility funding and reassessing workforce requirements could help DOD to address risks to unit missions from facility degradation on joint bases.
Why GAO Did This Study
DOD consolidated 26 installations into 12 joint bases over a decade ago to increase readiness, reduce duplication of efforts, and generate cost savings and efficiencies. However, DOD has faced challenges in sustaining its facilities on its 12 joint bases. On joint bases, the lead and supported military services share responsibility for managing facilities and supporting missions.
The Joint Explanatory Statement accompanying the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023 includes a provision for GAO to assess sustainment of facilities on joint bases. This report addresses, among other things, the extent to which DOD (1) met its funding goal for joint base facility sustainment in fiscal years 2018 through 2022, (2) assessed funding levels for supported component facilities on joint bases, (3) provided guidance and oversight to facility management offices for joint base facility maintenance, and (4) determined whether joint base facility management offices have sufficient workforces to meet their responsibilities.
GAO conducted site visits to five joint bases, surveyed senior leaders at all 12 joint bases (with a 100 percent response rate), analyzed facility investment and workforce data, and reviewed applicable guidance.
Recommendations
GAO is making five recommendations specific to joint bases, including that DOD assess the risks to missions by not meeting its funding goal for facility sustainment, improve the quality of data on facility funding, and reevaluate the workforce levels for facility management offices. DOD generally concurred with GAO’s recommendations and outlined actions it plans to take toward their implementation.
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Defense | The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Energy, Installations, and Environment, in coordination with the secretaries of the military departments, identify and assess the risks to unit missions associated with not meeting the funding goal for joint base facility sustainment. (Recommendation 1) |
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
|
| Department of Defense | The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Energy, Installations, and Environment, in coordination with the secretaries of the military departments, formulate an approach to improve the collection, availability, and quality of data on facility funding at joint bases. These data should allow the department to determine the level of funding for facilities for each component on each joint base. (Recommendation 2) |
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
|
| Department of the Navy | The Secretary of the Navy should reevaluate the workforce levels of Navy Public Works Departments at those joint bases where the Navy is the lead component to determine if these offices have the staff needed to effectively manage and maintain facilities on those joint bases. This effort should determine facility management workforce requirements and workforce authorizations and develop and implement action plans to address any identified shortfalls. (Recommendation 3) |
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
|
| Department of the Army | The Secretary of the Army should reevaluate the workforce levels of Army Directorates of Public Works at those joint bases where the Army is the lead component to determine if these offices have the staff needed to effectively manage and maintain facilities on those joint bases. This effort should determine facility management workforce requirements and workforce authorizations and develop action plans to address any identified shortfalls. (Recommendation 4) |
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
|
| Department of the Air Force | The Secretary of the Air Force should reevaluate the workforce levels of Air Force Civil Engineer Squadrons at those joint bases where the Air Force is the lead component to determine if these offices have the staff needed to effectively manage and maintain facilities on those joint bases. This effort should determine facility management workforce requirements and workforce authorizations and develop action plans to address any identified shortfalls. (Recommendation 5) |
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
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