Moreover, the legislation required that DOD submit annual budgets estimating the cost and savings of each closure or realignment, as well as the period in which savings were to be achieved. Furthermore, our analysis of operations and maintenance costs at nine closing installations indicates that actual base support costs have been reduced at those installations and therefore savings should be substantial. However, the DOD FYDP and service accounting systems are not configured to provide information concerning actual BRAC savings, and failure to achieve them would affect the quality of base support services or DOD’s ability to fund other programs. Additionally, estimated implementation costs do not include economic assistance costs to the area affected by the closure or other costs not reported in DOD’s budget submission. For example, at the three Air Force bases we reviewed, the Air Force estimated military personnel savings at $669.6 million over the implementation period and $156.6 million annually thereafter. Limitations on DOD’s Cost and Savings Estimates

DOD’s savings estimates are inconsistent because the services used different estimating methodologies, and are unreliable because the services excluded some savings and did not update some estimates to reflect revised closure schedules. Unlike the Navy, however, the Army eliminated CHAMPUS savings from its estimates. We believe that eliminating the inconsistencies in the preparation of savings estimates for future BRACs would enhance the usefulness of the budget submissions.
Why GAO Did This Study

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Department of Defense's (DOD) cost and savings estimates for past base realignment and closure (BRAC) actions, focusing on the: (1) extent to which DOD is achieving actual savings from BRAC; and (2) adequacy of the DOD process for developing the cost and savings estimates reported in its annual budget submissions.

What GAO Found

GAO found that: (1) its analysis of base support costs in the Future Years Defense Plan and at nine closing installations indicates that BRAC savings should be substantial; (2) however, DOD's systems do not provide information on actual BRAC savings; (3) therefore, the total amount of BRAC savings is uncertain; (4) if DOD does not fully achieve estimated BRAC savings, it will affect DOD's ability to fund future programs at planned levels; (5) DOD has complied with the legislative requirement for submitting annual cost and savings estimates, but there are limitations to the submissions' usefulness; (6) for example, the Air Force's savings estimates were not based on budget-quality data, and the Army's estimates excluded reduced military personnel costs that the Navy and the Air Force included in their estimates; (7) further, BRAC cost estimates excluded more than $781 million in economic assistance to local communities as well as other costs; and (8) consequently, the Congress does not have an accurate picture of the savings achieved by the BRAC process.