The Air Force has more than 4,500 historic properties that are listed or eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. How the service inventories and sustains funds, and repairs and modernizes historic properties was the subject at testimony recently before the House Armed Services Committee.

Fred Kuhn, the deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force for installations, represented the Air Force during this testimony.

“A 50-year-old facility is not automatically designated historic,” Mr. Kuhn said. “Only about 20 percent of our 50-year-old structures meet the historic-category criteria and are associated with a significant person, event or the work of a master architect. In these instances, it’s important to hold on to our historic heritage while still accomplishing mission requirements.”

The Pentagon is a prime example, according to Phillip Grone, the deputy under secretary of defense for installations and environment. It continues to be renovated to meet today’s challenges, but has a long-standing place in the defense of the nation, Mr. Grone said.

Congressmen had several questions for the panel about finding other uses for historical buildings if they couldn’t be used as living quarters or work centers.

“The Air Force currently uses a management approach that focuses on adaptive reuse,” Mr. Kuhn said. “If a building no longer serves the purpose for which it was originally intended, we’d much rather find a mission-compatible use for it than waste taxpayer dollars to build a whole new facility. If something is just old and has no meaningful function, we’re better off replacing it with a modern building that is more environmentally sound, energy efficient and better meets the need of the warfighter.”

This is part of a Department of Defense review in looking for ways to balance historic preservation requirements with those of mission needs.