The US military's infrastructure is in a state of crisis, with nearly 80 percent of installations established before 1970 and one-third of buildings over 50 years old. A recent example is the damage caused by Winter Storm Uri at Fort Hood, which resulted in nearly $50 million in damage and forced soldiers to relocate.
The Department of Defense's infrastructure portfolio is vast, with over 700,000 facilities across nearly 5,000 sites, but the budget allocated for maintenance and modernization is less than 5 percent. This has led to a deferred maintenance backlog of over $278 million.
To address this issue, the government and private sector should invest in technologies such as predictive maintenance software, smart sensors, and data modernization platforms to aid in the management and sustainment of military infrastructure. This would enable budget officials to direct limited resources towards meaningful modernization efforts rather than costly emergency work orders.
