Moving from one house to another is a big hassle and a bigger expense for most Americans, but a new federal report reveals the Pentagon has managed to one-up the nation — paying more to move service members and their families, even while doing so less often.
According to the report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the Pentagon is spending 13 percent more in 2014 than it did in 2001 to move service members and their families to new duty assignments — known as permanent change of service (PCS) moves.
The same report noted that these higher costs — hundreds of millions of dollars per year — came despite the total number of annual moves actually declining by 12 percent, from about 731,000 in 2001 to about 646,000 in 2014.
Sen. John McCain, Arizona Republican and head of the Senate Armed Services Committee, not only flagged the Pentagon’s wasteful PCS spending this week, but he blasted the Defense Department for failing even to analyze how to lower costs.
“Despite the crippling effects that sequestration is having on our military services, the Defense Department continues to throw millions of dollars out the door as it fails to adequately manage the costs and budget for service member relocations,” the former GOP presidential candidate said in a statement.
For poorly managing millions of dollars in moving costs for service members at the expense of the taxpayer, the Department of Defense wins the Golden Hammer, a weekly distinction awarded by The Washington Times highlighting the most egregious examples of wasteful federal spending.
SEE ALSO: Golden Hammer: VA’s record of waste, fraud, abuse keeps piling up
In 2014 the Pentagon spent $4.3 billion on permanent moves, the GAO reported, compared to just $3.8 billion in 2001, as measured in inflation-adjusted 2014 dollars. Since 2001 the adjusted cost of an average PCS move has risen 28 percent, from $4,200 then to about $6,700 today.
The costs have risen despite Congress urging the Pentagon to cut PCS-related spending, which includes shipping costs for household goods, storage fees, travel allowances, temporary lodging expenses and other costs.
According to the report, the services consistently fail to meet their own goals for keeping service members in one place for at least several years.
The GAO audit also highlighted that the Defense Department has failed, for years, to keep proper track of critical cost data needed to effectively manage the program.
“The specific factors driving the growth in per-move costs are unclear, however, because DOD does not periodically evaluate whether the PCS program is efficiently supporting requirements to relocate personnel,” the GAO wrote in the report. “DOD therefore is not in a position to identify and evaluate changes that may be occurring over time in PCS per-move costs, or to take steps to manage and control cost growth.”
The moving costs vary significantly across the services. For example, the Air Force has the highest average total per-move cost at $8,548, nearly twice the Marine Corps’ average cost of $4,679.
The Air Force told the GAO that cost difference is likely because the Air Force has more officers than other services do, and officers are more expensive to move than enlisted troops due to the higher allowances they receive for household good-shipment weights and travel expenses.
Spending watchdogs say the report is another example of how the Pentagon consistently tends to bloat its $600 billion budget and say the agency won’t be able to effectively cut costs if it does not record data on moving costs for analysis.
“Poor record keeping effectively puts taxpayers behind the 8-ball in a dark poolroom; they are forced to risk the prospect of throwing good money after bad while better oversight is being put into place. Yes, each service has different qualities and needs, but why does the Army pay so much less to move or store personal vehicles than the other services? There might be a logical explanation, but do we have one?” said Pete Sepp, president of the National Taxpayers Union.
“Meanwhile, there is a hidden and potentially bigger cost to the PCS issue. Even though time-on-station rules have been changed, the actual time has been cut short in many cases. This cannot only hurt morale, it can hurt productivity. When war fighters and their families have to suffer those burdens, we all pay a price,” Mr. Sepp added.
In a statement to The Times, Matthew Allen, a spokesman for the Defense Department, said the department “recognizes the importance of improving the availability of information needed for effective management of the PCS program.”
Although the services have reduced their total number of PCS moves, the GAO suggested the services should consider lowering their figures even further.
Auditors noted the services consistently fail to meet their own “time-on-station” requirements, moving service members and their families before they complete the standard 36- or 48-month minimum stay in one place.
Mr. McCain echoed the GAO in his statement, suggesting the services normalize weigh-allowance policies for shipments, enforce duty station tour lengths and move troops less frequently.
“It is critical that the Pentagon finally start budgeting for its expenses instead of coming to Congress hat-in-hand when funding inevitably runs dry,” Mr. McCain said.
• Kellan Howell can be reached at khowell@washingtontimes.com.
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