Troop Reductions

During inactivation of the 9th Infantry Division at Fort Lewis, Washington, the Division's emphasis on maintaining unit readiness and minimizing relocation hardships prevented significant troop reductions until relatively late in the downsizing process. If rapid reduction of troops were a key goal in future downsizings, the approach used at Fort Lewis would not work well. The Division's goal of minimizing relocation hardships meant that the number of Division troops leaving Fort Lewis was relatively small. The Division's approach to equipment maintenance affected the downsizing in several ways. By not doing all the normally required maintenance and repairs, units were able to inactivate quickly and the new brigade's equipment needs were met promptly. Also, deferring maintenance and repairs shifted some responsibilities from the division to the fort, thus increasing installation costs and delaying completion of other repairs.

GAO found that: (1) Fort Lewis officials chose an inactivation approach that emphasized maintaining readiness, minimizing reassignment hardships for soldiers and their families, and minimizing time spent to prepare equipment for return or transfer; (2) Fort Lewis personnel practices included laterally transferring troops from inactivated units to units that would transition to the new brigade, and reassigning troops to other Fort Lewis units; (3) Fort Lewis equipment management practices included requiring the return of mission-capable equipment to the installation supply system, exercising flexibility about maintenance schedules, and accepting non-working but repairable weapons into the installation supply system; (4) about 67 percent of troops from inactivated units were reassigned at Fort Lewis; (5) the fact that most of the troop reductions occurred after activation of the new brigade suggests that there is a trade-off between maintaining readiness and achieving rapid personnel reductions; and (6) although the Fort's modified equipment maintenance policy resulted in quick relocation of division equipment, it exacerbated maintenance and repair backlogs and shifted some repair work to the Fort, where repair costs are higher.