ASIP: A Tool for Army Transformation

In the realm of installation management, few tools are as useful as the Army Stationing and Installation Plan (ASIP) database. Created in the 1980s, ASIP is a database that represents the planning populations for Army installations; it is typically used for decision support on military construction, base operations and installation management.

Now a Web-based application employed by over 2,500 individuals throughout the Army, ASIP has also become the primary data feed source for many decision processes including Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC).

The ASIP database projects home station and end strength of all Army Units - Active, Guard, and Reserve - throughout the Army's budget period. For both installation managers and logistics planners, projected home station information is important to ensure that the right equipment, repair parts, expendables and so forth are budgeted or programmed for the appropriate Army installations in the future.

A tool for transformation

The purpose of the ASIP is to provide Department of the Army (DA) planners and programmers with consistent population projections to determine facilities and other resource requirements at worldwide DA installations. As such, it is the foundation of the installation or facility's master plan. Monthly processing of ASIP source data is imperative to ensure data consistency and tracking of force structure changes occurring across the Army. These monthly updates are used to constitute an ASIP working file that is the basis for the annual update and "out-of-cycle" assessments required by the ARSTAF as part of the Army's planning processes.

The ASIP is used within the Army to validate and justify Military Construction Army (MCA) budgets, Base Operations (BASOPS) budgets, stationing decisions and other installation resource planning and decisional requirements.

With ASIP, the Army has a time-tested process to capture population and demographic changes and apply that process to resource requirements processes. The ASIP is a government-owned data integration process, a fully Web-based data presentation and reporting tool, and a Web-based distributed database update and collaboration tool. It provides current and projected military, civilian and other installation tenant stationing and authorized planning strengths, as well as a plan for installation demographics. It covers all Active Army, Army National Guard, and Army Reserve installations, as well as leased facilities and non-Army locations where Army organizations are stationed.

Over the years, all elements of the Army Staff have recognized the value and accuracy of the ASIP database. In testament to this, the non-Installation Management users of the ASIP number over 2,000 persons throughout the Army Staff, in DoD, other services, and other Federal agencies. The ASIP processes and data have been validated and refined by numerous Government Accountability Office (GAO) and Army Audit Agency (AAA) audits.

Unit stationing and facilities requirements

The ASIP provides population detail based on the actual authorizations, and it is maintained by a network of installation management personnel whose job is to ensure that the ASIP accurately portrays the force structure, military, civilian, contractor, other services and all others that are found on an installation. The ASIP is coordinated with the Army G3 Force Management community and has been certified as the HQDA Common Operating Picture for unit stationing. The geographic detail includes the Unit Identification Code (UIC) and Standard Requirements Code (SRC) of every unit and organization in the Army Force Structure. This information can be directly applied to unit level requirements for all classes of supply.

The ASIP can aid all logistics planners and policy makers who need accurate and detailed projections of Army unit stationing and actual installation demographics. With this data, planners can match the UIC or SRC to MTOE and OTOE organizational documents, providing an accurate picture of equipment, personnel and organizational structure.

Because the ASIP is very accessible and always available with an Internet connection, logistics planners can easily assemble the details about the supported units and population on an installation or within any regional support area. The ASIP makes planning quick and easy, but probably the most important value it adds is to increase the level of confidence in the planner's results.

Conclusion

Viewing the projected population for all installations during transformation has been a challenge, compounded by the many large and small restationing actions throughout the Army. The ASIP is an expedient reference to view all of these programmed changes. Changes in unit organization and home station are easy to reference and in fact, are used as the basis for facilities planning within the ARRM.

The ASIP provides the essential information to show which units are being activated and deactivated, which units are changing organizational structure and the expected flow of units facing restationing actions. This input is valuable for any forecasting tool. The ASIP also tracks actual versus planned progress of stationing actions because it monitors the spaces, providing greater value for near-term planning.

The ASIP Web-application is accessible at asip.hqda.pentagon.mil. Accounts may be requested from the Web site through HQDA ACSIM Plans & Operations.