OSD partially concurred with our first recommendation  because it stated that it had some actions already underway to address  the recommendation. However, at that time, OSD did not specify what  actions it had undertaken to date or the time frames for completing efforts  to improve the collection and reporting of utilization data. OSD Has Made Some Improvements, but Facility Utilization Data Continue to Be Incomplete and Inaccurate; Data Limitations Affect Use of Departments’ Databases to Identify Consolidation Opportunities

		OSD Has Made Some Improvements, but Facility Utilization Data Continue to Be Incomplete and Inaccurate

In our analysis of OSD’s Real Property Assets Database over the past 4  fiscal years, we found that although the department has made some  progress in improving its real property records, OSD continued to collect  incomplete utilization data for its real property assets. The percentage of total real property assets  with a reported utilization rate increased from 46 percent to 53 percent  over the past 4 fiscal years, as shown in table 3. For example, we found that OSD corrected its real  property records for those reported with a utilization rate greater than 100  percent. OSD Does Not Have a Strategic Plan to Manage DOD’s Real Property Efficiently and Facilitate the Identification of Opportunities for Consolidating Unutilized or Underutilized Facilities

OSD does not have a strategic plan to manage DOD’s real property  efficiently and facilitate the department in identifying opportunities for  consolidating unutilized or underutilized facilities. According to DOD  Directive 4165.06, it is DOD policy that DOD real property shall be  managed to promote the most efficient and economic use of DOD real  property assets and in the most economical manner, consistent with  defense requirements. In addition, our prior work has shown that  organizations need sound strategic management planning in order to  identify and achieve long-range goals and objectives. While OSD has established a directive and a number of instructions for  the management of real property, including for the maintenance of data  elements about their facilities, OSD has not developed a strategic plan  nor established department-wide goals, strategies to achieve the goals, or  metrics to gauge progress for how it intends to manage its real property in  the most economical and efficient manner. Such goals could be focused on  correcting inaccurate and incomplete facility utilization-rate data in OSD’s  Real Property Assets Database to provide better visibility on the status of  the utilized, unutilized, and underutilized facilities. We continue to believe that  fully implementing our 2011 recommendation to develop and implement a  methodology for calculating and recording utilization data for all types of  facilities, and to modify processes to update and verify the accuracy of  reported utilization data to reflect a facility’s true status, would help  provide reasonable assurance that the utilization data are complete and  accurate. Recommendation for Executive Action

To better enable DOD to manage its real property inventory effectively  and efficiently, we recommend that the Secretary of Defense direct the  Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Installations and Environment to  establish a strategic plan as part of a results-oriented management  framework that includes, among other things, long-term goals, strategies  to achieve the goals, and use of metrics to gauge progress to manage  DOD’s real property and to facilitate DOD’s ability to identify all unutilized  or underutilized facilities for potential consolidation opportunities. Agency Comments

We provided a draft of this report to DOD for official review and comment. Appendix I: Scope and Methodology

To determine the extent to which the Office of the Secretary of Defense  (OSD) has improved the completeness and accuracy of facility utilization  data in its Real Property Assets Database and the military services use  the data contained in their respective real property inventory databases to  identify potential consolidation opportunities, we obtained selected data  fields containing the military services’ real property records from OSD’s  Real Property Assets Database.
Why GAO Did This Study

GAO has designated DOD's Support Infrastructure Management as a high-risk area in part due to challenges DOD faces in reducing excess infrastructure. DOD manages a global real property portfolio of over 557,000 facilities DOD estimates to be valued at about $828 billion as of September 30, 2012. In September 2011, GAO found that DOD was limited in its ability to reduce excess inventory because OSD did not maintain accurate and complete data on the utilization of its facilities in its Real Property Assets Database.
House Report 113-102 mandated GAO to review DOD efforts to improve these data. This report examines the extent to which OSD has (1) improved the completeness and accuracy of facility-utilization data in its Real Property Assets Database and the military departments' use of data to identify consolidation opportunities, and (2) a strategic plan to manage DOD's real property efficiently and to facilitate the identification of unutilized and underutilized facilities. GAO analyzed OSD's real property data from fiscal years 2010 through 2013, visited 11 active DOD installations from the four services to reflect those with high numbers of buildings, and interviewed officials. While not generalizable, the interviews provided perspectives about facility utilization.

What GAO Found

The Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) has made some improvements, but OSD's utilization data continue to be incomplete and inaccurate; and data limitations affect the military departments' use of their databases to identify consolidation opportunities. GAO's analysis found that the percentage of total real property assets with a reported utilization rate in OSD's Real Property Assets Database increased from 46 to 53 percent over the past 4 fiscal years. OSD made some improvements in addressing inaccuracies in the utilization rates in its real property records, such as correcting records for those facilities reported with a utilization rate greater than 100 percent. The military departments use databases to a certain degree to identify opportunities to consolidate facilities, but primarily only in response to specific events, such as requests for space. Officials at all 11 installations GAO visited stated that inaccurate and incomplete data in the departments' databases limited opportunities to identify these opportunities. In September 2011, GAO recommended that the Department of Defense (DOD) develop and implement a methodology for calculating and recording utilization data, and modify processes to update and verify the accuracy of reported data. OSD partially concurred because it stated that it had some actions already underway to address the recommendation. However, at that time, OSD did not specify what actions it had undertaken. Moreover, the recommendation has not yet been fully implemented. Fully implementing GAO's recommendation would help provide reasonable assurance that the utilization data are complete and accurate and better position the department to use the databases to identify consolidation opportunities.
OSD does not have a strategic plan, with goals and metrics, to manage DOD's real property efficiently and facilitate identifying opportunities for consolidating unutilized or underutilized facilities. According to a DOD directive, it is DOD policy that DOD real property shall be managed to promote the most efficient and economic use of DOD real property assets, and in the most economical manner consistent with defense requirements. However, OSD officials stated that there is currently no OSD strategic plan to manage DOD's real property nor established department-wide goals, strategies to achieve the goals, or metrics to gauge progress for how it intends to manage its real property in the most efficient manner. Such goals could focus on correcting inaccurate and incomplete facility utilization data to provide better visibility on the status of facilities and to identify opportunities for consolidating unutilized or underutilized facilities and reducing operations and maintenance costs. GAO's prior work has shown that organizations need sound strategic planning to identify and achieve long-range goals and objectives. Without a strategic plan, it will be difficult for OSD to effectively manage its facilities and utilize them efficiently.

What GAO Recommends

GAO recommends that OSD establish a strategic plan to identify unutilized and underutilized facilities. In written comments on a draft of the report, DOD concurred with the recommendation.