May 1, 2025
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Alissa Czyz, Director of Defense Capabilities and Management at the Government Accountability Office (GAO), joins
Czyz explains that managing federal real property has been on GAO’s High-Risk List for over 20 years. For the Defense Department, the problems are especially acute. Despite longstanding guidance from DOD on how to measure facility utilization, many military services continue to use their own outdated methods. Only the Air Force has adopted the department’s recommended measurement approach—and even then, only recently. Meanwhile, the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps rely on inconsistent or manual processes that fail to give DOD an accurate, holistic view of how its properties are actually being used.
The inconsistency has real consequences. Czyz points out that DOD continues to spend money maintaining buildings it no longer needs, simply because it lacks the funding to demolish them. She highlights the Navy’s $700 million backlog of facilities identified for demolition. Some structures have remained on demolition lists for five to seven years, draining resources that could be redirected to more critical needs. Whether it’s a hospital that’s been replaced but still maintained, or buildings that share utilities with active facilities, the lack of strategic visibility causes inefficiencies that add up across the enterprise.
While Czyz acknowledges some positive developments—like the Army piloting a tool to better measure space utilization by square footage—she stresses that overall inconsistency still plagues the services. Decisions about facilities are largely made at the installation level, which makes sense locally, but leaves the services blind to bigger-picture risks and costs across their portfolios.
The historic preservation of aging buildings adds another layer of complexity. Czyz shares examples from the GAO’s latest report, including buildings damaged by hurricanes and frequent flooding that must still be maintained because of their historic designations—even though they are no longer in use. The photo of a deteriorating structure at Fort Bliss, Texas, highlights the tension between maintaining historic properties and making smart financial decisions.
GAO makes five recommendations in its report to help DOD address these challenges. One key recommendation urges the department to hold services accountable for following standardized utilization measurement methods. Another calls for establishing guidance to better assess and manage risk across installations. Czyz is encouraged that DOD has concurred with all recommendations and notes that GAO will continue monitoring progress through on-the-ground reviews and data tracking.
Czyz’s message is clear: without accurate, consistent data and strong oversight, DOD cannot make the smart, strategic decisions it needs to optimize its vast real property portfolio. Solving the Pentagon’s facilities problem starts with better information—and the will to act on it.
You can read Czyz's full report here