The Pentagon funded new European bases and schools before completing consolidation reviews.

Evidence

In 2013, the Pentagon was conducting a review of its European bases with the aim of further consolidation. And yet, before the review was even completed, the military had already asked for more than three quarters of a billion dollars in new European MilCon funding for the next fiscal year alone. The Senate Appropriations Committee questioned “the rationale for funding these projects before DOD has determined whether any missions can be consolidated or relocated, or any installations can be returned to the host nation.” The committee was struck, for instance, by 328 million in requested funding for five schools in Germany and Britain, given that “consolidation of missions could change base populations, which in turn could affect the required size or location of schools.” Since fiscal year 2008, budget documents show that the Pentagon has already received more than 320 million in funding for school construction in Germany alone. In 2012, the Pentagon opened a new school in Schweinfurt, a base set to close within three years (which indeed closed in 2014). — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 808

Categorization

• XREF: The Schweinfurt school opened on a base slated to close echoes the chapter’s earlier cases of building on soon-to-close bases.