FORCE STRUCTURE: Improved Cost Information and Analysis Needed to Guide Overseas Military Posture Decisions

In January 2012, DOD issued new strategic guidance on defense budget priorities, indicating that it must rebalance its overseas force posture- including the forward stationing of Navy ships in Spain for ballistic missile defense and the reduction of the United States Army forces in Europe- in the face of deficit reduction.

American military bases encircle the globe; from Italy to the Indian Ocean, from Japan to Honduras. The far-reaching story of the perils of the U. S. military bases and what these bases say about America today.

U.S. Air Force (USAF) global posture—its overseas forces, facilities, and arrangements with partner nations—faces a variety of fiscal, political, and military challenges. This report seeks to identify why the USAF needs a global posture, where it needs basing and access, the types of security partnerships that minimize peacetime access risk, and the amount of forward presence that the USAF requires.

DOD operates six geographic combatant commands, each with an assigned area of responsibility (see fig. 1). Each geographic combatant command carries out a variety of missions and activities, including humanitarian assistance and combat operations, and assigns functions to subordinate commanders. Each command is supported by a service component command from each of the services and by a theater special operations command. The Departments of the Army, Navy, and Air Force have key roles in making decisions on where to locate their forces when they are not otherwise employed or deployed by order of the Secretary of Defense or assigned to a combatant command.

"Why GAO Did This StudyIn January 2012, DOD issued new strategic guidance on defense budget priorities, indicating that it must rebalance its overseas force posture-including the forward stationing of Navy ships in Spain for ballistic missile defense and the reduction of U.S. Army forces in Europe-in the face of deficit reduction. Similarly, DOD reported in its 2011 Global Defense Posture Report to Congress that savings associated with permanently stationing forces in the United States rather than overseas are often offset by such factors as increased rotational costs. Based on direction from the Senate Armed Services Committee, GAO evaluated the extent to which DOD has (1) conducted analysis to support recent overseas posture decisions and (2) developed a process for making posture decisions that align with strategy and consider costs. GAO assessed two recent posture initiatives, DOD plans and guidance related to posture, and theater posture plans from each combatant command.What GAO RecommendsGAO recommends that DOD conduct a comprehensive cost analysis associated with the Navy's decision to station ships in Rota, assess options and costs related to rotating forces in Europe, and clarify roles and responsibilities of key entities to collect cost data on initiatives. DOD generally agreed with GAO's recommendations and identified corrective actions, but additional steps are needed to fully address GAO's recommendation"