Optimizing the Army's base realignment and closure implementation while transforming and at war

Abstract

The United States Army is transforming and at war. This transformation is enabled by the 2005 round of Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC). If approved, this BRAC round will require the Army to spend about $13 billion over six years, moving over 2,500 distinct units and undertaking military construction projects at about 180 locations. An anticipated savings of $24 billion over 20 years motivates this expense. During implementation of the last BRAC round in 1995, the Army used an integer linear program, the BRAC Action Scheduler (BRACAS), to prescribe BRAC implementation schedules. We modify BRACAS by adding unit-level resolution, including schedules and personnel strength to account for wartime deployments and transformation initiatives. The improved BRACAS produces realistic execution plans, and generates a schedule of feasibly timed unit moves. We conduct an extensive analysis using data provided by the Army. Our analysis shows the Army can synchronize BRAC implementation, transformation initiatives and wartime requirements. We find that including the deployment and transformation schedule limitations of major units does not significantly impact BRAC savings. We also find unlimited annual implementation budgets make additional savings approaching $900 million possible. Returning forces from Germany early in implementation may save more - up to $4 billion minus additional facilities costs.