To enable DOD to more readily close unneeded bases and realign others to meet its national security requirements, the Congress enacted base realignment and closure (BRAC) legislation that instituted base closure rounds in 1988, 1991, 1993, and 1995. A special commission established for the 1988 round made recommendations to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and House of Representatives. For the remaining rounds, special BRAC commissions were set up to recommend specific base realignments and closures to the President, who in turn sent the commissions’ recommendations with his approval to the Congress. The four commissions generated nearly 500 recommendations—on 97 major base closures and hundreds of realignments and smaller closures. As a result of the BRAC process, DOD has reported that it reduced its infrastructure by about 20 percent; has transferred over half of the approximately 511,000 acres of unneeded property to other federal and nonfederal users and continues work on transferring the remainder; and generated about $16.7 billion in estimated savings through fiscal year 2001, with an estimated $6.6 billion in annual recurring savings expected thereafter. We and others who have conducted reviews of BRAC savings have found that the DOD’s savings are substantial, although imprecise, and should be viewed as rough approximations of the likely savings. Under the property disposal process, unneeded DOD BRAC property is initially made available to other federal agencies for their use. After the federal screening process has taken place, remaining property is generally provided to state and local governments for public benefit and economic development purposes. In other cases, DOD has publicly sold its unneeded property. Under the decision-making processes during the last 3 BRAC rounds, DOD assessed its bases or activities for closure or realignment using an established set of eight criteria covering a broad range of military, fiscal, environmental, and other considerations. DOD subsequently forwarded its recommended list of proposed realignments and closures to the BRAC Commission for its consideration in recommending specific realignments and closure actions. Although military value considerations such as mission requirements and impact on operational readiness were critical evaluation factors, potential costs and savings, along with estimated payback periods associated with proposed closure or realignment actions were also important factors in the assessment process. To assist with the financial aspects of proposed actions, DOD and the BRAC Commissions used a quantitative analytical model, frequently referred to as the Cost of Base Realignment Actions (COBRA), to provide decision makers with a relative assessment of the potential costs, estimated savings, and payback periods of proposed alternative realignment or closure actions. Although the COBRA model was not designed to produce budget-quality financial data, it was useful in providing a relative financial comparison among potential alternative proposed base actions. DOD generally provided improved financial data for each of the services in its annual BRAC budget submission to the Congress following a BRAC Commission’s recommendations. The four previous BRAC Commissions recommended 27 actions in which either a reserve enclave or similar reserve presence was to be formed at a base that was to be realigned or closed (see app. II). In many instances, these actions were relatively minor in that they involved only several acres, but in other cases the actions involved creating enclaves with large acreages and millions of square feet of facilities under reserve component management to conduct training for not only the reserve component but also the active component as well. Figure 1 shows the locations of DOD’s 10 major (i.e., sites exceeding 500 acres) reserve component enclaves established under the previous BRAC rounds. As shown in figure 1, the Army has 7 enclave locations; all of these enclaves, with the exception of Fort Devens (a 1991 round action), were created during the 1995 round. The Air Force has the remaining 3 enclaves: Air Reserve—Grissom Air Reserve Base (a 1991 round action); Homestead Air Reserve Base (a 1993 round action); and March Air Reserve Base (a 1993 round action). Neither the Navy nor the Marines created any major enclaves. Many of DOD’s specific enclave infrastructure needs were not identified until after the commission for a BRAC round held its deliberations and had rendered its recommendations. Although the Army’s enclave planning process—particularly for the 1995 BRAC round—began before the issuance of commission recommendations, specificity of needed infrastructure was not defined until after the recommendations were finalized. The subsequent size of several of these enclaves was much greater than seemingly reflected in commission recommendations that called for minimum essential facilities and land for reserve use. On the other hand, the Air Force’s planning process was reportedly further along and enclave needs were better defined at the time the commission made its recommendations. In addition, DOD’s enclave-planning processes generally did not include a cross-service analysis of the needs of military activities or activities in the vicinity of a realigning or closing base with a proposed enclave. As a result, the commission often held deliberations without the benefit of some critical information, such as the extent of the enclave infrastructure needed to support training and potential opportunities to achieve benefits by collocating nearby reserve components on enclave property. While the Army’s enclave planning process for the 1995 round began previous to completion of the BRAC Commission’s deliberations, specific enclave infrastructure needs were not identified until after commission recommendations had been issued on July 1, 1995. Army officials told us that it was recognized early in the process that the Army wanted to retain the majority of existing training land at some of its bases slated for closure or realignment that also served as reserve component maneuver training locations, but time constraints precluded the Army from fully identifying specific enclave needs before the commission completed decision-making. According to a 1999 DOD report on the effect of base closures on future mobilization options, the retention of much of the Army maneuver training acreage at the enclave locations served not only to meet current training needs but also could serve, if necessary, as future maneuver bases with new construction or renovation of existing facilities for an increased force structure. In testimony before the commission, the Army had indicated that much of the training land should be retained, but the Army was less specific on the size and facility needs (i.e., in total square footage) for the enclaves. Most facility needs fall within the enclaves’ primary infrastructure (or cantonment area) necessary to operate and maintain the enclaves. The Army formed an officer-level committee—a “Council of Colonels”— that reviewed reserve component enclave proposals but did not approve them for higher-level reviews until July 7, 1995—about 1 week after the BRAC Commission had issued its recommendations. Following the Council of Colonels’ approval, a General Officer Steering Committee worked with the Army reserve components to refine the infrastructure needs for the enclaves, needs that the steering committee approved (except for Fort Hunter Liggett) in October 1995–-more than 3 months following the 1995 BRAC Commission’s recommendations. Although Army approval for most of its enclaves’ infrastructure needs occurred in late 1995, the number of acres and facilities for some installations changed as various implementation plans took effect to establish the enclaves. Changes occurred as a result of Army decisions and community reuse plans for property disposed of by the department, as illustrated in the following examples. At Fort Hunter Liggett, the number of facilities to be retained in the enclave increased over time based on an Army decision to retain some of the family housing (40 units); morale, welfare, and recreation facilities (9 facilities) and other training-related facilities (3 barracks and 2 classrooms) that had originally been excluded from the enclave. At Fort McClellan, the expected cantonment area decreased considerably from an initial proposal of about 10,000 acres (excluding about 22,200 training-range acres) to about 286 acres in response to concerns raised by the local community. The Air Force’s enclave infrastructure needs were reportedly more defined than those of the Army at the time of commission deliberation and decision making. Air Force officials told us that the base evaluation process for the 1991 and 1993 rounds—the rounds when the Air Force’s major reserve enclaves were created—included a detailed analysis of the infrastructure needed for the enclaves, including enclave size, identification of required facilities, and expected costs to operate and maintain its proposed enclaves prior to commission consideration of its proposals. These officials did note that some revisions in the sizing of the enclaves and associated enclave boundaries were minor and have occurred over time as plans were further defined, but stated that these changes did not materially affect enclave costs. Although documentation on the initial plans was not available (due to the passage of time), we were able to document some enclave revisions made after the issuance of the BRAC Commissions’ recommendations as follows: At March Air Reserve Base, the Air Force made at least 3 sets of revisions to its enclave size which now encompasses 2,359 acres. These revisions were relatively minor in scope, such as one revision that expanded the boundaries by about 38 acres to provide a clear zone for flight operations. At Grissom Air Reserve Base, the Air Force has made one revision—an exchange of about 70 acres with the local redevelopment authority—to its enclave configuration, which now encompasses 1,380 acres. In addition, base officials are negotiating with the redevelopment authority for acquisition of a small parcel to improve force protection at the enclave’s main gate. At Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base, the Guard made several revisions prior to reaching its current 168-acre enclave, including the transfer of 3.5 acres of unneeded property to the local redevelopment authority after the Guard relocated its fuel tanks for force protection reasons. The degree of specificity in a commission’s recommendation language for proposed enclaves varied between the Army and the Air Force.