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GAO-03-257R 1 (2003-01-07)

handle is hein.gao/gaobaamdg0001 and id is 1 raw text is: i Accountability * Integrity * Reliability United States General Accounting Office Washington, DC 20548 January 7, 2003 The Honorable Donald H. Rumsfeld Secretary of Defense Subject: Military Housing: Opportunityfor Reducing Planned Military Construction Costs for Barracks Dear Mr. Secretary: We are reviewing the Department of Defense's (DOD) management of its unaccompanied enlisted permanent party housing, commonly referred to as barracks for unmarried servicemembers. We understand that over the next few years the services plan to eliminate barracks with gang latrines and provide private sleeping rooms (meet DOD's 1+1 barracks design standard)' for all permanent party servicemembers. The Navy has an additional goal to provide barracks for sailors who currently live aboard ships when in homeport. To implement these goals, the services plan to spend about $6 billion over the next 7 years to construct new barracks. In addition to reviewing the services' plans and exploring opportunities for reducing costs, one of our objectives is to assess the consistency of and the rationale behind the services' barracks occupancy requirements. While we expect to complete our review of DOD's management of military barracks early in 2003, the purpose of this interim report is to bring to your attention the widely varying standards among the services regarding who should live in barracks, the effect this can have on program costs and quality of life, and the apparently out-of-date policy guidance on this subject. Timely resolution of these matters could potentially affect future budget decisions. Results in Brief The DOD Housing Management manual,2 which provides policy guidance about who should live in barracks, appears to be out of date and is under revision, and the military services have adopted different barracks occupancy requirements. The 'In November 1995, DOD adopted a new barracks construction standard, referred to as the 1 + 1 design standard, for servicemembers permanently assigned to an installation. The standard, which does not apply to barracks for members in basic recruit or initial skill training, provides each junior enlisted member with a private sleeping room and with a kitchenette and bath shared by one other member. The Marine Corps has a permanent waiver from the Secretary of the Navy to use a different barracks design standard-one sleeping room and bath shared by two junior Marines. 2 U.S. Department of Defense, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Acquisition and Technology), DOD Housing Management, 4165.63-M (Washington, D.C.: Sept. 30, 1993). GAO-03-257R Military Housing

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