Military Bases: Analysis of DOD's Recommendations and Selection Process for Closures and Realignments

GAO discussed the Secretary of Defense's recommendations and selection process for base closures and realignments. GAO noted that: (1) although the Secretary's recommendations were basically sound, problems existed in the services' base closure selection processes; (2) the Navy's evaluation criteria and base closure selection process were questionable; (3) the Army did not justify keeping some bases open; (4) the Air Force did not adequately document its recommendations; (5) the Defense Logistics Agency overstated its estimated savings; (6) the Defense Information Systems Agency's recommendations were questionable due to data accuracy problems; (7) the Office of the Secretary of Defense was not actively involved in the oversight process and lacked adequate assessment standards to measure the economic impact of base closings; and (8) the Department of Defense failed to consider the impact of base closures on a governmentwide basis, did not adjust overhead rates to reflect differences in the services in its cost estimate, and estimated it would need $725 million for environmental cleanup at the recommended base closings.