Partnership Contract Negotiations, Cost Cutting, Business Performance Improvements, Enterprise Program Management

The Client

Brooks Air Force Base (BAFB) in San Antonio, Texas, is well known as a focal point for Air Force research and development, acquisition management, environmental and privatization management, education and training, and operational support activities. However, the cost of operating BAFB, which includes 2.2 million square feet of facilities and 1,310 acres of land, had been significantly higher than the operational costs for similar Air Force bases.

The Challenge

In 1998, the City of San Antonio responded to a challenge to help the Air Force "significantly reduce infrastructure costs—while maintaining or improving the support provided for Department of Defense missions and personnel." This resulted in the Air Force completing a study to determine the true costs of BAFB’s operations and an analysis of available options and barriers to decreasing those costs. The study, in turn, led to special legislation that expanded the authority of the Secretary of the Air Force to implement a cost reduction demonstration project at BAFB—a project that has forever changed the way the U.S. Air Force operates numerous installations.

The Solution

The Brooks City-Base Project is a pioneering effort involving the Air Force, the City of San Antonio, and BearingPoint. Utilizing our extensive experience and expertise in military base conversions and private-sector business practices, the Air Force and the City launched an initiative to transfer ownership of BAFB from the Air Force to the City of San Antonio. The core activities that reduced costs for the Air Force include:

1. The Air Force leasing back the property it needs to conduct its missions and operations
2. The City marketing raw land and facilities no longer needed by the Air Force to attract new development and additional tenants to the property
3. Transforming BAFB into the Brooks Technology and Business Park ("the Park").

Of significant note, the Brooks City-Base Project marks the first "public-public partnership," with both parties sharing a common vision and contributing assets and services to create a win-win situation—one that has the potential to produce a significant return on investment for both parties.

Pat McCullough, director of the Air Force’s Brooks City-Base Project Office, explains the immense size and complexity of the project and points to the critical role BearingPoint is playing in helping the Air Force achieve this visionary undertaking. "The number of processes and the interrelationships f sub-processes that occur during a base conversion re overwhelming. Success on a project like this requires a very detailed level of knowledge in multiple areas: federal, state, and local statutory and regulatory processes; federal property disposal procedures; environmental planning, restoration, and compliance processes; and installation management—before, during, and after the transfer of the property. BearingPoint understands the interrelationships among these processes and has been invaluable in helping us, and our City partner, integrate the myriad tasks needed to finish the overall project. Importantly, our ability to facilitate meetings between the Air Force and the City of San Antonio has enabled us to achieve an enormous amount of progress in a relatively short amount of time. Our facilitation of discussions between the Air Force and the City for the last year, and their work to help us resolve significant issues, has enabled us to reach an agreement we both feel comfortable with."

The Benefits

With critical assistance from BearingPoint, the Air Force gained the following benefits through its public-public partnership with the City.

• Reduced facility costs by transforming the base to a non-federal property, and saved federal funds
• Improved revenue through leasing opportunities with existing facilities and available land
• Reduced manpower expenses without cutting staff, i.e., Air Force personnel became employed by the City or another onsite tenants

The increased efficiency of operations itself is expected to reduce the Air Force’s operating costs by as much as $8 million to $10 million per year within the first five years of implementation. "It’s really groundbreaking," McCullough remarks. "It’s a wonderful new way of doing business that saves money for federal taxpayers."

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