The Army could not produce a cost analysis supporting its changed basing decision
Evidence
I contacted Bruce Anderson, a spokesperson for U.S. Army Europe, and asked him why the Army had decided to keep the brigade split between Italy and Germany given that consolidating the 173rd was the explicit justification for creating the base. Anderson replied in an email that European troop reductions had opened unexpected space in Germany. Moving two of the 173rd’s battalions within Germany rather than to Italy, he said, means the Army will save on moving costs, on transportation costs when the battalions need to conduct regular training in Germany, and on closing costs for the two bases being vacated in Germany. … I repeatedly asked Anderson and other Army public affairs officials by telephone and email whether the Army had performed a cost analysis supporting these claims. I asked whether such an analysis had been shared with Congress, and if I could see the cost data. I received no response. — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 764
Categorization
Category: Factual Claims
- QUESTION: Did a cost analysis ever exist? The Army’s refusal to answer leaves this unresolved and worth pursuing.
Related
- The Pentagon’s cost-saving justifications for European base moves are unreliable (similarity 0.83)
- Split basing forces soldiers on a nine-hundred-mile round-trip for training (similarity 0.83)
- U.S. combatant commanders make basing decisions without access to cost data. (similarity 0.82)
- The Army chose a free-site base in Italy over a costly, better-located one. (similarity 0.81)
- Congress funded a base whose stated purpose was abandoned after most money was spent. (similarity 0.79)
- The Army abandoned its stated consolidation purpose after spending most of the build funds. (similarity 0.79)
- Army savings estimates for base moves have been inflated and poorly documented. (similarity 0.78)
Broader Connections
- Top military commanders make basing decisions without access to cost data or alternatives analysis.
#expands(0.60) — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 809