Construction of a Plastic Media Blasting Facility, Laughlin Air Force Base, Texas.

Abstract

This report resulted from our Audit of the DoD Aircraft Paint Application and Removal Capabilities (Project No. 4LB-0027). Additional issues related to painting and paint removal for DoD aircraft will be addressed in separate reports. The Air Force proposed construction at Laughlin Air Force Base (AFB), Texas, of a plastic media blasting facility to remove paint from aircraft. The total cost for the new facility and related equipment was estimated at $2.9 million, to be funded from the DoD Base Realignment and Closure Military Construction account. Objective. The objective of this part of our audit was to evaluate the economy and efficiency of constructing a plastic media blasting facility at Laughlin AFB. Audit Results. The Air Force was planning to construct a plastic media blasting facility at Laughlin AFB to strip paint from aircraft even though existing Air Force facilities and equipment would accommodate the paint stripping work load. Because of the time-sensitivity of this report, internal controls were not covered, but will be discussed in a later report. Implementation of the recommendations will allow the Air Force to return $2.9 million to the DoD Base Realignment and Closure Military Construction Account. See Appendix B for a summary of potential benefits of audit. Summary of Recommendations. We recommend that the Air Force terminate the planned construction of the plastic media blasting facility and related equipment for Laughlin AFB; modify the paint stripping facility at Columbus AFB, Mississippi, to accommodate the T-1 aircraft; and discontinue plans to strip paint from F-15 and F-16 aircraft at field level.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 03, 1995
Accession Number
ADA372601

Entities

People

  • Christian Hendricks
  • Elizabeth Freitag
  • Gerald P. Montoya
  • John A. Gannon
  • Shelton R. Young

Organizations

  • Office of the Inspector General, U.S. Department of Defense

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Aerospace Industry
  • Air Force
  • Air Force Facilities
  • Aircrafts
  • Base Closures
  • Budgets
  • Composite Materials
  • Cost Analysis
  • Department Of Defense
  • Economic Analysis
  • Education
  • Logistics
  • Maintenance
  • National Security
  • Navy
  • Training
  • United States

Readers

  • Defense Financial Management and Audit.
  • Environmental Engineering.
  • Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of Proposed Air Force Base Actions.