Description:The U.S. Department of Defense and the U.K. Ministry of Defence (MoD) face acommon challenge: to modernize their forces to meet changing militarythreats under reduced budgets. To meet this challenge, both organizationsare increasingly interested in leveraging private sector capital andexpertise to provide defense activities and support services. This reportprovides an overview of private-sector involvement in the provision ofdefense support services in the U.K. MoD and the U.S. Army. It describesoutsourcing and privatization initiatives in the United Kingdom from 1980 tothe present. It then details the application of these initiatives tohousing, base operations, and logistics services in the United Kingdom andoffers examples of comparable U.S. Army initiatives. This report is based onbackground materials prepared for a three-day conference on privatizingmilitary installation assets, operations, and services held at Ditchley Parkin Oxfordshire, England, on April 14-16, 2000. The conference was organizedby the Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Army for Installations andEnvironment. It brought together U.S. and U.K. defense officials, U.S. Armyleaders, and business executives from both countries to discuss the Britishexperience with privatization and explore its applicability to the U.S.Army.