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US Army bases and facilities are 'falling apart' - reports

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: 19FortyFive
3 Dec 2022 22:49
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According to 19FortFive military news site the US military is neglecting maintenance on large number of already "ancient" bases and equipment which affects the army's readiness.

A new F-35 jet parked in a hangar Oct. 29, 2015, at Hill Air Force Base, Utah (U.S. Army contractor)

According to a report by 19FortyFive military news site, the US military bases and facilities are so out-of-date that more than one-third of the US Navy's aviation depot space was built back in the 1940s, which in turn is affecting the preservation of their modern and high-tech equipment and advanced war jets.

The report also points out that other facilities such as barracks, hangars, motor pools, and depots "that help keep the military running and ensure readiness are falling apart."

The facilities have “electrical systems built for different weapon systems, historical preservation requirements, and suboptimal layouts,” the report adds according to GAO (Federal Aviation Administration U.S. Government Accountability Office).

The website highlights that one of the main reasons for not upgrading the areas is tight budgets that discard the facilities' modernization and sustainment as a priority.

Earlier this year, GAO said in a report that the cost of "deferred maintenance for the services and select defense agencies" was at $130 billion back in 2020.

In 2020, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the cost of sustaining and renovating facilities belonging to the Army was $34 billion.

The CBO added that the price tag on following up with all late maintenance to keep facilities "in line with Pentagon standards" would be around $19 billion, which raises the total to $53 billion in 2020, or 61 billion in 2022 dollars.

According to the findings of the CBO study conducted on around 49,000 Army buildings, the average age of the facilities is about 47 years, which is "over a decade from what the Army considers the intended useful life of its buildings".

“Thousands of those buildings, some of which are probably designated as historic [are] 75 years old or older,” CBO pointed out.

"The cost of just updating Army buildings alone is the same as the cost of 679 Joint Strike Fighters or 15 upgraded Virginia-class attack submarines," the 19FortyFive report added.

One of the main reasons for the growing repair and maintenance costs is that older buildings and equipment "become more expensive to maintain".

Out of all the US Army factions, the US Navy apparently seems to take "the cake when it comes to aging and outdated real estate," the news site said.

The report adds as an example that the lack of maintenance of one of the barracks led to the relocation of more than 1,000 soldiers.

"At Fort Bragg in North Carolina, over a dozen barracks were so infested with mold that nearly 1,100 soldiers were forced to relocate."

The US is now in a fitting place to unquestionably fund the maintenance and sustainability of its bases and equipment as efforts of the country to deter China.