Over time, the military services report they have increasingly lost training range capabilities because of encroachment. According to DOD officials, the concerns about encroachment reflect the cumulative result of a slow but steady increase in problems affecting the use of their training ranges. Historically, specific encroachment problems have been addressed at individual ranges, most often on an ad hoc basis. DOD officials have reported increased limits on and problems with access to and the use of ranges. They believe that the gradual accumulation of these limitations will increasingly threaten training readiness in the future. Yet, despite the reported loss of some capabilities, for the most part, the services do not report the extent to which encroachment has significantly affected training readiness. Section 366 of the Bob Stump National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2003 required that the Secretary of Defense develop a comprehensive plan for using existing authorities available to the Secretaries of Defense and the military departments to address training constraints caused by limitations on the use of military lands, marine areas, and airspace that are available in the United States and overseas for training. Section 366 also required that the Secretary of Defense develop and maintain an inventory that identifies all available operational training ranges, all training range capacities and capabilities, and any training constraints at each training range. In addition, the Secretary must complete an assessment of current and future training range requirements and an evaluation of the adequacy of current DOD resources to meet current and future training requirements. Section 366 further required that the Secretary of Defense submit to the Congress a report containing the plan, the results of the assessment and evaluation of current and future training requirements, and any recommendations that the Secretary may have for legislative or regulatory changes to address training constraints at the same time the President submits the budget for fiscal year 2004 and provide status reports on implementation annually between fiscal years 2005 and 2008. While the initial report was due when the President submitted the fiscal year 2004 budget to the Congress, the department did not meet this initial reporting requirement. In an effort to obtain assistance from the military services in preparing this report, a January 2003 memorandum to the Secretaries of the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force, the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness directed that each of the military services develop a single standalone report that could be consolidated to form OSD’s overall report. Each service was expected to provide an assessment of current and future training requirements with future projections to 2024, a report on the implementation of a range inventory system, an evaluation of the adequacy of current service resources to meet both current and future training requirements, and a comprehensive plan to address constraints resulting in adverse training impacts. The memorandum stated that once the services’ inputs were received, they would be incorporated into a single report to address the section 366 reporting requirement. As discussed more fully later, the services’ inputs were incorporated to varying degrees in OSD’s final training range report. In completing our analysis for this and other engagements related to training ranges, we found that the department and the military services individually have a number of initiatives underway to better address encroachment or other factors and ensure sustainability of military training ranges for future use. In August 2001, the department issued its draft Sustainable Range Action Plans, which contained an action plan for each of the eight encroachment issues. Each action plan provided an overview and analysis of its respective encroachment issue along with strategies and actions for consideration by DOD decision makers. The department considered these action plans to be working documents supporting the overall sustainable range initiative. In June 2003, the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness issued a memorandum to the secretaries of the military departments providing guidance for sustainable range planning and programming efforts for fiscal years 2006-2011. The services, recognizing the importance of ranges, have begun to implement various internal programs aimed at ensuring long-term range sustainment and the ability to meet both current and future requirements. In addition, OSD and the services have various systems to assess the condition of their ranges and are attempting to develop methods to reflect the readiness impacts caused by encroachment and other factors. Our recent work and the work of the DOD Inspector General have identified a variety of factors that have adversely affected training ranges in recent years including a lack of adequate funding, maintenance, and modernization for training ranges. The Army Deputy Chief of Staff for Training is responsible for establishing range priorities and requirements and managing the Range and Training Land Program, which includes range modernization and maintenance, and land management through the Integrated Training Area Management Program. This office is creating and implementing the Sustainable Range Program to manage its ranges in a more comprehensive manner; meet the challenges brought on by encroachment; and maximize the capability, availability, and accessibility of its ranges. According to an official of the Office of the Army Deputy Chief of Staff for Training, the Sustainable Range Program will evolve into a new Army training range regulation that will replace the current Army Regulation 210-21, Range and Training Land Program, and Army Regulation 350-4, Integrated Training Area Management. On December 1, 2003, the Navy centralized its range management functions, to include training and testing ranges, target development and procurement, and test and evaluation facilities, into the Navy Range Office, Navy Ranges and Fleet Training Branch. The Navy Range Office integration will streamline processes, provide a single voice for range policy and management oversight, and provide a single resource sponsor. Recognizing the importance of Navy training ranges and to meet congressional reporting requirements, the Navy is developing a Navy Range Strategic Plan. The Navy plans to have this completed by June 2004. In addition, the Navy is working with the Center for Naval Analysis to develop a transferable analytical tool for systematic and rigorous range assessment. This tool is expected to integrate existing initiatives, such as the range complex management plans, the Navy mission essential tasks lists, and an encroachment log, into a methodology to identify, assess, and prioritize physical range resource deficiencies—to include those caused by encroachment issues—across ranges. An official of the Navy Range Office stated that the Navy plans to pilot the tool at the Southern California Complex by November 2004. In October 2001, the Marine Corps established an executive agent for range and training area management to implement its vision for mission- capable ranges. The Range and Training Area Management Division is located within the Training and Education Command. These offices are charged with developing systems, operational doctrine, and training requirements for Marine Corps forces. In addition to its own ranges, the Marine Corps engages in extensive cross-service utilization by depending on extensive and extended access to non-Marine Corps training ranges. The Air Force’s Director of Operations and Training, Ranges and Airspace Division acts as the executive agent for range management for the Air Force. The associate director for ranges and airspace stated that Air Force range issues have become much more sensitive due to a number of recent events, including the Navy’s departure from Vieques, Puerto Rico; controversy with the Mountain Home Range, Idaho; the loss of naval ranges in Hawaii; and the push to redesign the national air space. As a result, Air Force leadership has become more aware of range needs. The Air Force has an integrated approach to range management, to include range planning, operations, construction, and maintenance. Air Force Range Planning and Operations Instruction is the primary document governing Air Force planning as it relates to its ranges. In addition, the Air Force, using RAND, has conducted two studies addressing its training requirements and training range capacities, capabilities, and constraints. In general, the studies found that the Air Force’s training ranges did not always meet the services’ training requirements. For example, one study found that the distance between Air Force training ranges and bases exceeded the established flying limitation for 19 percent of the total air-to-ground training requirements for fighter jets. In 2002, the department prepared and submitted to the Congress a package of legislative proposals to modify or clarify existing environmental legislation to address encroachment issues. The proposals, known as the Readiness and Range Preservation Initiative, were tailored to protect military readiness activities, not the entire scope of DOD activities. The proposals sought, among other things, to clarify provisions of the Endangered Species Act; Marine Mammal Protection Act; Clean Air Act; Solid Waste Disposal Act; Resource Conservation and Recovery Act; Comprehensive Environmental Restoration, Compensation, and Liability Act; and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. The Bob Stump National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2003 enacted three provisions, including two that allow DOD to cooperate more effectively with third parties on land transfers for conservation purposes, and a third that provides a temporary exemption from the Migratory Bird Treaty Act for the unintentional taking of migratory birds during military readiness activities. In March 2003, the department submitted five provisions to the Congress; the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004 enacted two provisions including a clarification of “harassment” under the Marine Mammal Protection Act and allowing approved Integrated Natural Resource Management Plans to substitute for critical habitat designation under the Endangered Species Act. DOD submitted proposed legislation to the Congress on April 6, 2004, in a continuing effort to clarify provisions of the Clean Air Act; Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act; and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. In 2002, we issued two reports on the effects of encroachment on military training and readiness. In April 2002, we reported that troops stationed outside of the continental United States face a variety of training constraints that have increased over the last decade and are likely to increase further. In June 2002, we reported on the impact of encroachment on military training ranges inside the United States and had similar findings to our earlier report. We reported that many encroachment issues resulted from or were exacerbated by population growth and urbanization. DOD was particularly affected because urban growth near 80 percent of its installations exceeded the national average. In both reports, we stated that impacts on readiness were not well documented.