{"id":72072,"date":"2023-04-24T21:54:50","date_gmt":"2023-04-24T21:54:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2023\/04\/24\/as-military-maintenance-projects-languish-funds-often-go-unused\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T15:19:50","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T15:19:50","slug":"as-military-maintenance-projects-languish-funds-often-go-unused","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2023\/04\/24\/as-military-maintenance-projects-languish-funds-often-go-unused\/","title":{"rendered":"As military maintenance projects languish, funds often go unused"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If the Defense Department could better manage its finances, it could put unused dollars into tackling the maintenance backlog at military facilities<\/a>, according to an official with the Government Accountability Office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGAO has found that each year DoD doesn\u2019t obligate \u2014 and eventually returns to the U.S. Treasury \u2014 billions of dollars in operation and maintenance funding, the same type of funding that can be used to fund facility sustainment,\u201d said Elizabeth A. Field, director of defense capabilities and management for GAO, testifying before the Senate Armed Services panel on readiness and management support April 19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When GAO conducted a review of DoD\u2019s deferred maintenance backlog, \u201cwe found that the facilities that are so often the first to lose out on funding are the ones most directly tied to quality of life \u2014 barracks<\/a> where junior enlisted service members live, for example, or child care centers,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In discussion groups GAO has held at military installations around the country, \u201cservice members have consistently told us that the condition of their housing, whether government-owned or privatized, impacts their perception of the military and in some cases their decision on whether to reenlist,\u201d Field said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs one young soldier said to us, \u2018if we get the bare minimum in the barracks, the Army will get the bare minimum from us,\u2019 ” Field said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The deferred maintenance backlog is about $137 billion, \u201cwhich is only compounding,\u201d Field said, adding that it equates to about one-seventh of DoD\u2019s total budget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The significant infrastructure and environmental challenges DoD faces \u201crequire urgent attention because they are, in many if not most cases, on track to worsen in coming years,\u201d Field said.<\/p>\n\n\n\t