Defense Infrastructure

GAO analyzed the infrastructure portion of the Defense Department's (DOD) 1997 Future Years Defense Program, which covers fiscal years 1997-2001, and found that infrastructure costs are projected to rise from $146 billion in 1997 to $155 billion in 2001. Although the infrastructure portion of DOD's budget is projected to decrease from 60 percent in 1997 to 57 percent in 2001, this is primarily because the total military budget is expected to increase at a faster rate than the infrastructure portion. The installation support portion of DOD's infrastructure budget is projected to decline between 1997 and 2001, but all other categories of infrastructure are projected to increase. The combination of operation and maintenance and military personnel appropriations fund about 80 percent of infrastructure activities that can be clearly identified in the Future Years Defense Program. The upshot is that DOD must look to these two appropriations if it plans to spend less on infrastructure activities.

GAO found that: (1) its analysis of the infrastructure portion of the 1997 FYDP shows that infrastructure costs are projected to increase about $9 billion from $146 billion in 1997 to $155 billion in 2001; (2) although the infrastructure portion of DOD's budget is projected to decrease from about 60 percent in 1997 to about 57 percent in 2001, this is primarily because DOD's total budget is projected to increase at a faster rate than the infrastructure part of that budget; (3) although the installation support portion of DOD's infrastructure budget is projected to decline during the 1997 to 2001 period, all other categories of infrastructure are projected to increase; (4) the combination of operation and maintenance and military personnel appropriations fund about 80 percent of infrastructure activities that can be clearly identified in the FYDP; and (5) DOD must look to these two appropriations if it intends to spend less for infrastructure activities.