Review of Management of Military Reserve Forces Facilities

A review was made concerning the advisability of leases for Army Reserve centers located at Lawrenceville, Virginia, and Oxford, North Carolina.

Army officials stated that a Reserve unit was moved to Lawrenceville in 1979 because Lawrenceville is a better recruiting area. However, GAO questioned the advisability of the move for the following reasons: (1) the regulations state that facilities will be provided only for Reserve Forces with approved mobilization missions, but the Lawrenceville unit does not have such a mission; (2) the required determination had not been made that the number of Reserve units located in the area would not be larger than the number expected to be maintained at authorized strength; (3) it is doubtful that the Lawrenceville area can support the unit at authorized strength level because the county is losing population and the current population cannot support units already in the area; and (4) the area already has several military facilities about 25 miles from Lawrenceville. By terminating the Lawrenceville lease and using the other facilities in the area, the Department of Defense could save $23,150 annually. A replacement facility also planned for this unit should be deleted because the Lawrenceville unit does not have a mobilization mission. Reserve officials stated that Oxford personnel often have to travel to Durham for joint training with the battalion, but GAO believed that the Oxford lease could be canceled and the units moved to Durham at an annual saving of $9,500. It was observed that the Durham center is within the maximum distance that Reserve members can be expected to travel between their residence and the training site.