Military Base Realignments and Closures: Plan Needed to Monitor Challenges for Completing More Than 100 Armed Forces Reserve Centers

Abstract : The Army is implementing 44 base realignment and closure (BRAC) recommendations to construct 125 new Armed Forces Reserve Centers (AFRC) and close 387 existing reserve components facilities. The Department of Defense (DoD) expects the new AFRCs to increase recruiting and retention and create greater efficiencies by fostering jointness and consolidating functions. GAO did the following: (1) assessed the extent to which DoD's cost and savings estimates to implement the recommendations have changed from BRAC Commission projections, and (2) determined the extent to which the Army has identified potential challenges that could affect BRAC implementation and has developed a plan to address these challenges. GAO analyzed DoD's publicly available BRAC budget data and interviewed officials at Army offices, including Reserve Command, National Guard Bureau, and the National Guard in five states. This report, prepared under the Comptroller General's authority to initiate evaluations, is one of a series related to the BRAC 2005 round. GAO is recommending that the Secretary of Defense direct the Army to develop a plan for bringing together various stakeholders to monitor and address potential challenges. DoD partially concurred with GAO's recommendation.