Test and Evaluation
A Proposed Framework for Measuring the Use of Test Facilities Gao ID: NSIAD-90-91 August 8, 1990Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO developed a framework for measuring the use of the Department of Defense's (DOD) Major Range and Test Facility Base test ranges, managed by the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD).
GAO found that: (1) DOD could not readily identify excess testing capacity or the need for additional capacity at the ranges; (2) the ranges maintained, but could not use automated records of staff and equipment to measure test site use among ranges on a common basis or to identify potential excess capacity; (3) test ranges did not consistently track and report the reasons for not using test facilities; (4) OSD did not adopt the DOD-proposed Range Utilization Measurement System, since system implementation would be labor intensive and too costly; (5) the GAO-developed framework would identify similar test functions, establish common capacity levels, and identify constraints preventing testing at a test site; and (6) only minor modifications to the ranges' data collection systems would be necessary to use the GAO-proposed framework.