Excess Military Infrastructure and the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Process : Congressional Research Service (CRS) , May 27 , 2025
May 27, 2025
Congressional Research Service (CRS)
Excess Military Infrastructure and the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Process : Congressional Research Service (CRS) , May 27 , 2025
May 27, 2025
Congressional Research Service (CRS)
From the report: “The Department of Defense (DOD) has maintained excess infrastructure for decades, which some defense officials and Members of Congress have said is fiscally inefficient and results in increased operation and maintenance costs to support unnecessary facilities.
The Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process has been the primary means by which DOD and Congress determine how to dispose of military infrastructure. Other authorities for identifying and reducing sizable elements of excess infrastructure or for identifying and reducing infrastructure for disposal exist in statute but have been rarely exercised. Individual buildings and facilities may be eliminated by demolition through the traditional military construction (MILCON) process.
Congress has authorized five rounds of base closures under BRAC authorities – 1988, 1991, 1993, 1995, and 2005. DOD last requested that Congress authorize new BRAC authorities in 2017. DOD’s estimates for the amount of excess infrastructure have evolved over the past decade, due to factors that include new methodologies for evaluating infrastructure and changes to the size of the current and projected force structure.
Among the bases that the five previous BRAC rounds identified for closure, DOD has completed the disposition of land for about 90% of those properties. Disposal of some acreage of land remains pending for 42 of the bases, according to DOD data for 2023, the most recent data available.
In January 2025, DOD provided to Congress an updated report about excess infrastructure and indicated that the military services continue to have excess capacity in certain types of facilities at some military installations. According to this report, the services have developed plans to address excesses and deficits primarily by working within the existing programs for MILCON and facilities, sustainment, restoration, and modernization (FSRM). These long-term plans involve a combination of consolidation, demolition, and, when appropriate, new construction.”
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