Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) and Organizational Restructuring in the DoD: Implications for Education and Training Infrastructure

摘要

Two major ways in which the Department of Defense (DoD) strives to improve its efficiency is through the consolidation of defense facilities and changes in its governance structure (e.g., reorganization of defense agencies or field activities). Both types of initiatives can have significant effects on the governance structure and physical infrastructure of institutions that offer education, training, and development (ET AND D) to DoD personnel. In anticipation of future DoD efficiency improvement efforts, the DoD Office of the Chancellor for Education and Professional Development asked the RAND Corporation to examine the ways in which selected ET AND D institutions have been affected by past initiatives. This document reviews the experiences of four institutions. Two of these institutions, the Defense Information School (DINFOS) and the DoD Polygraph Institute (DoDPI), experienced significant changes in their infrastructure in the 1990s. The other two institutions, the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center (DLIFLC) and the National Geospatial Intelligence College (NGC), did not experience much change during that decade. For each case study site, the authors document the rationale and processes that preceded decisions about infrastructure change, describe the institutional context at the time of the proposed change, provide a detailed account of the change process in cases where change occurred, and generate an assessment of the effects of changes on the institution's effectiveness and efficiency. The authors conclude with a summary of lessons learned from the case studies and recommendations to institutional leaders and sponsors faced with decisions about infrastructure change.