Inadequate BRAC planning led to ballooning costs, GAO finds

Inadequate planning caused costs to balloon for the Department of Defense's 2005 base realignment and closure efforts, which resulted in 48 major base changes, according to a report by the Government Accountability Office.

Additionally, lack of documentation prevented the DOD from estimating how much leased space it vacated during the process.

In particular, military construction costs increased from the $13.2 billion estimated by the BRAC commission in 2005 to $24.5 billion after implementation…