Publicly Released: 3/10/2023
Objective
The objective of this evaluation was to determine the extent to which the Army implemented the online Real Property Space Availability (RPSA) application to identify the existing inventory of space available at select Army installations, in accordance with the FY 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, Public Law 116-283, section 2866.1 We self-initiated this evaluation to ensure the Army was on track to meet the requirements of section 2866, which aligns with the National Defense Strategy goal of finding greater efficiencies within the DoD.
Background
The Army has over 1 billion square feet of real property inventory within more than 143,000 buildings distributed across the world. When an organization looks for available space at an Army installation for a stationing or leasing action, the organization typically contacts multiple installations by telephone or e-mail to identify suitable facilities. Often the organization sends out a major data call to multiple installations and the installation officials manually populate the data elements associated with the particular action.
Section 2866 requires the Secretary of the Army to establish a pilot program for the development of an online real estate tool to identify the existing inventory of space available at Army installations selected by the Secretary.
In addition, section 2866 requires the Secretary of the Army to, among other things:
• evaluate the tool at 5 to 10 Army installations;
• protect sensitive or classified information from being included with the online inventory tool
• evaluate the pilot program and report to Congress by February 15, 2025.
Finding
Army officials made progress establishing the online RPSA application in accordance with section 2866. Specifically, Army officials developed a proof of concept for the pilot program that includes milestones for the implementation of the online RPSA application, selected 10 installations to evaluate the online RPSA application, and consulted officials from the General Services Administration (GSA) and the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Energy, Installations, and Environment – OASD[EI&E]) before developing the RPSA application.2 In addition, i n June 2021, Army officials started developing a layered security framework and policy that would require the pilot sites to use the online R PSA application. T o d ate, Army officials have completed the initial required steps that set them on the path to meet the 2025 congressional reporting requirement.
Recommendations
We recommend that the Army Deputy Chief of Staff, G-9, continue implementing the layered security framework to prevent unauthorized access to sensitive or classified location data in the online RPSA application.
We also recommend that the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Installations, Energy, and Environment) complete and implement policy that would require the pilot sites to use the online RPSA application to query for existing inventory before agreeing to military construction or off-post leases.
Management Comments and Our Response
Army leaders who responded agreed to take actions that meet the intent of our recommendations.
This report is a result of (Project No. D2022-DEV0PA-0147.000)