Why It Matters

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that the Department of Defense (DOD) lacks a consistent definition of remote and isolated military installations, limiting its ability to systematically identify which installations face the greatest risks and consistently assess whether critical support services are adequate. DOD has established policies and programs intended to enhance the quality of life and well-being of service members and their families, but installations considered remote and isolated often have reduced support services for those populations.

GAO also found that civilian workforce reductions DOD implemented beginning in January 2025 had "significant impacts on the ability to staff or hire civilian positions in critical support services at remote and isolated installations." Despite that finding, DOD has not specifically assessed the effects of those reductions at remote and isolated locations, where recruiting and retaining civilian personnel is already difficult.

The Big Picture

Remote and isolated installations are often far from population centers or situated in austere environments, making the delivery of services such as health care and housing consistently difficult. GAO reviewed documentation and interviewed officials from a non-generalizable sample of nine remote and isolated installations, collecting data for fiscal years 2023 through 2025 on vacancies and time to hire for civilian positions in critical support services.

Across those three fiscal years, Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska recorded 428 vacant critical support service positions, the most among the installations GAO examined, while Fort Greely and Clear Space Force Station, also in Alaska, reported no vacancies in those roles. Across all nine installations, GAO identified 624 vacancies, 607 of which were in morale, welfare and recreation positions.

GAO also found substantial differences in hiring times. Eielson had the longest average time to hire at 407 days, compared with 64 days at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in California. The average time to hire at all but one installation with sufficient GAO data exceeded DOD's 98-day average.

In 2024, DOD issued guidance for designating installations as remote and isolated. As of May, the Departments of the Army and Navy had compiled lists of remote and isolated installations under that guidance, but the Department of the Air Force had not completed the designation process. The Air Force said additional designations under the existing criteria would be premature because the guidance did not provide additional authorities, resources, or policy exceptions to address the identified challenges.

A DOD official stated that efforts to fully develop the risk assessment process outlined in the guidance would begin only after initial designations are complete. GAO found, however, that the guidance does not clearly define what constitutes a remote and isolated installation, particularly because it does not clearly define how to measure the adequacy of critical support services. Other existing DOD guidance also varies in how it defines remote and isolated locations.

The report traces its origins to the Joint Explanatory Statement accompanying the James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023, which included a provision directing GAO to assess civilian positions supporting critical services at remote installations. DOD has established policies and programs intended to enhance the quality of life and well-being of service members and their families, though remote and isolated installations often have reduced support services for those populations.

GAO found that civilian workforce reduction efforts beginning in January 2025 significantly affected the ability to staff or hire civilian positions in critical support services at remote and isolated installations. Those efforts included federal and DOD hiring freezes and a deferred resignation program. DOD has not specifically assessed the effects of those reductions at remote and isolated installations or collected lessons learned focused on those locations.

The Bottom Line

GAO issued two recommendations, both directed at the Secretary of Defense. The first calls on the Secretary to ensure the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness updates DOD's definition of remote and isolated installations in existing guidance, clarifying how to measure the adequacy of critical support services when making designations.

The second calls for a specific examination of the impact of civilian workforce reductions at these locations as part of implementing a prior GAO recommendation to collect and share lessons learned from the 2025 workforce reduction efforts. DOD concurred with both recommendations, which remained open when GAO published the report.

GAO concluded that establishing a consistent definition would improve DOD's ability to identify remote and isolated installations across the department, assess risks, and direct resources and policy changes toward gaps in critical support services. Readers tracking this issue and related defense policy activity can follow developments at Legis1.com.

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