The chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) last week decried the state of affairs surrounding the Kaiserlautern Military Community Center, considered the Pentagon’s largest single facility construction project in the world. Waxman termed it “over budget, behind schedule, and falling apart.” Word of the problems the Air Force has experienced surfaced earlier this year. At a hearing last week, Waxman declared, “The Air Force has failed in its responsibilities to conduct proper planning and oversight.” A committee fact sheet cites a June 22 Air Force audit that found at least “35 significant deficiencies in critical areas.” According to the auditors, the cost for the facility has grown from $131 million to at least $201 million, and its 2005 operational date is long past but it’s only 65 percent complete.
After a long period in which munitions were almost an afterthought and sacrificed to pay for other priorities, the Air Force needs to focus on them in order to have the right “package” of capabilities for future conflicts, Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. said June 7.