Official overseas base costs undercount true spending by more than threefold.

Evidence

Having started with the OCS figure of 22.6 billion, my total now reaches 71.8 billion, which is more than three times the Pentagon’s calculation. Given my very conservative estimates, the true total could easily be much higher. For example, the Pentagon never replied to my inquiries asking whether all the costs of Department of Defense schools overseas are included in the OCS. If they are not, school costs could add more than $1.3 billion more to my total. — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 642

Categorization

• QUESTION: Does the OCS include Department of Defense overseas school costs? The Pentagon never replied.
• DEEPTHINKING: The systematic undercount of overseas base costs by official accounting is a core, paradigm-shifting finding of the book.