[UPDATE, April 8, 2016: We published new information related to this article here.]
The U.S. Department of Defense on June 15 started what may become its first centralized lodging program. The initiative includes new booking policies and modifications to the much-maligned Defense Travel System. Even as DoD looks to upgrade or replace the aging DTS, it’s just now adding the capability to book government-owned lodging options.
Northrop Grumman built DTS in the 1990s. The defense contractor helped the Defense Travel Management Office with the latest software update for the new program. DoD for years has acknowledged how outdated DTS is. Ten vendors responded to a July 2014 request for information related to the Defense Travel System Modernization Initiative. DoD said it’s prohibited from naming them. It’s not required to use ETS2, the master travel program created by the U.S. General Services Administration for non-military federal travel.
“DTS, in its current state, does not provide the Department with an optimal travel solution for incorporating future changes,” according to DoD’s Fall/Winter 2014 newsletter. “The National Defense Authorization Act for FY2012 requires the Department to process all travel claims electronically by the end of 2016.”
According to the RFI, DTS currently “enables 2.7 million active DoD travelers to create 3.4 million authorizations per year for temporary duty travel.” DoD wants a “single, web-based access point” for all trip planning and management functions. That would include a “single, integrated traveler profile” and full support for federal travel regulations.
For now, DoD is pushing forward with a revamped lodging component. The rationale is familiar: maintain duty of care, reduce costs, provide booking convenience and hotel amenities to travelers, and improve program management and data collection.
According to an April 2014 DoD presentation, the department in FY12 spent $1.3 billion on lodging. It operates a variety of lodging programs, each serving “a subset of DoD travelers.” Lodging currently is the only one of DoD’s “key commercial travel programs” that is not centrally managed.
The presentation cited a 2013 analysis indicating that “strategic sourcing for commercial lodging” could save as much as $28 million.
The Pilot
Authorized to run to 2019, the Integrated Lodging Program Pilot covers stays of at least two nights at seven locations. When DoD dispatches a service member or civilian to one, they must book through DTS. If available, they also must book accommodations owned by the government, often located onsite at military installations.
If none are available, the traveler must book at an available preferred commercial property in the vicinity. (In those cases, the policy also covers one-night stays.) Either way, if travelers don’t comply, DoD will limit reimbursement to what they would have spent if they did.
Bookings that don’t use available government or preferred commercial lodging prompt users to justify their choice by selecting a reason code. The booking gets a “pre-audit flag” and the system notifies the traveler’s Authorizing Official.
An Office of the Under Secretary of Defense Memorandum in 2008 mandated that DoD use DTS as the sole online travel system. But “there was no specific regulatory requirement to use DTS to book lodging,” according to a DoD official.
DoD intends to “eventually” mandate DTS for lodging for all travelers and all locations. That, said the official, is in keeping with the Federal Travel Regulation.
DTS already had a “tabular” display within the lodging reservations module. Now, four tabs represent government-owned lodging; preferred commercial lodging; other commercial lodging that meets Federal Emergency Management Agency and DoD safety requirements; and other.
DoD designed the system to automatically bring travelers to the most appropriate tab. For example, if travel is to a military installation where government lodging is available, the DoD Lodging tab will be the only one active. In those cases, users must decline “available, directed lodging” to activate the other tabs. The system adds a “certificate of non-availability number” when government lodging isn’t available.
The Properties
Along with Northrop, DoD worked with the Defense Logistics Agency and DTS Program Management Office to update the interface. It also worked with each military service branch to incorporate its lodging system. “Making the technology modifications for this program was a larger, more involved effort than just displaying certain lodging properties in DTS,” according to the DoD official.
DoD is adding pilot sites and its own lodging facilities in a phased approach. For example, Air Force Lodging currently is available in the system. Navy Gateway Inns and Suites, Army Lodging, Navy Lodging and Inns of the Marine Corps will be added later. So will capabilities for booking “privatized lodging.”
To book government lodging before now, travelers either went to DoDLodging.net or called a res center or on-base lodging facility.
The new program also introduces to DoD “preferred” commercial properties. “Travelers were able to book commercial lodging in DTS; however, most travelers booked outside the system. This is something the Department is aiming to change with this program,” according to the official. “We often find that when people travel, they spend some time trying to figure out where to stay. They may search online, ask the hosting point of contact or just make a blind guess. We are taking the guesswork out of it by providing lodging options from which travelers can confidently choose.”
Many of DoD’s preferred properties are part of the U.S. General Services Administration’s FedRooms program, operated by CWTSato. But the official said FedRooms participation was not a prerequisite.
CWTSato and other travel agencies serving DoD were not directly involved in launching the program, though they “support it on a daily basis.”
