Posts Tagged ‘mission support/community partnerships’

Due to concerns that DOD’s joint basing initiative has not generated the savings initially projected, the House Armed Services’ Readiness Subcommittee is requesting the Government Accountability Office to determine whether the effort has created efficiencies in installation support, according to report language it drafted to accompany the fiscal 2014 defense authorization bill. The initiative, a BRAC 2005 recommendation, merged installation support functions at two, and sometimes three, bases — often located contiguously — at 12 locations around the nation …

The House Armed Services’ Readiness Subcommittee made it clear Thursday that it opposes the Pentagon’s request to hold a BRAC round in 2015, approving language in its portion of the fiscal 2014 defense authorization bill that would preclude the department from using FY 2014 appropriations “to propose, plan for or execute an additional BRAC round.” Subcommittee Chairman Rob Wittman (R-Va.) said further review — including congressional hearings and DOD analysis — would be required before the Armed Services Committee could consider endorsing a new round of base closures …

House appropriators fully support the administration’s fiscal 2014 request to spend $798 million for upgrades at 17 DOD Education Activity schools located overseas and within the U.S., but at the same time they want to make sure the department doesn’t invest in facilities at installations slated to be downsized. “[The committee] is concerned that the changes that are occurring across the Department of Defense associated with force structure reductions may impact whether funding is needed at an installation or if it is determined not to be an enduring installation …

Defense communities in central Kansas and southwestern Oklahoma likely secured long-term missions Wednesday, after the Air Force selected McConnell Air Force Base, Kan., as the main operating base for the KC-46A and Altus AFB, Okla., as the formal training unit for the next generation tanker. Pease Air Guard Station, N.H., was picked as the main operating base led by an Air National Guard unit …

One of the Pentagon’s objectives in the previous round of BRAC was to reduce its use of leased space, particularly in the Washington metro area. Recommendations directing DOD offices to move from leased space to DOD-owned facilities, primarily installations, were intended to save money and ensure DOD activities occupied facilities meeting anti-terrorism/force protection standards. Since the conclusion of the 2005 round, however, the department has continued to rely on leased space …

The House Armed Services’ Readiness Subcommittee went one step further than it did last year in rejecting the Pentagon’s request for two base closure rounds. Rather than simply ignoring this year’s request to hold a BRAC round in 2015, the panel included language in the portion of the fiscal 2014 defense authorization bill it is scheduled to mark up Thursday precluding the department from using FY 2014 appropriations “to propose, plan for or execute an additional BRAC round …

The Navy on Tuesday transferred 118 acres at the former Naval Support Activity New Orleans to the Algiers Development District, one of two local groups leading the Federal City project located on the west bank of the Mississippi River. The Algiers district had signed a lease with the Navy for the site in 2008 and due to a provision in the fiscal 2011 defense authorization bill, it was designated to take ownership of the property from the Navy. The property contains 51 buildings, nine of which are considered historic …

With the Army expected to decide shortly how it will rebalance its force structure as it reduces its active-duty end strength by 72,000 soldiers, House appropriators are concerned the service may commit to spending money on building new facilities after it already spent billions of dollars since 2005 on military construction to accommodate the population shifts generated by the last BRAC round. “Army planning to potentially add combat maneuver battalions and supporting units at certain installations in support of Army 2020 may result in a sizeable obligation to the Army’s budget at the same time the Army is trying to reduce the size of its force structure …

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Monday named the 2013 recipients of the Commander in Chief’s Annual Award for Installation Excellence, which recognizes installations’ exemplary support of DOD missions: Fort Rucker, Ala.; Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, Calif.; Naval Support Activity Panama City, Panama City Beach, Fla.; Keesler Air Force Base, Biloxi, Miss.; and Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime, Columbus, Ohio …

Air Force officials and representatives from 75 companies discussed new ways the private sector could partner with the Air Force Civil Engineer Center, during an industry forum held at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., earlier this month. In the energy arena, for example, the agency wants to do more third-party financed projects, including energy savings performance contracts, utility energy service contracts and renewable energy power purchase agreements, said Ken Gray, acting energy director …