What are Compatibility Factors?

Compatibility factors are one tool that installations and adjacent communities can use to organize shared interests and areas of potential conflict. These factors should be evaluated during the Compatible Use Study process to determine potential effects on people, natural resources, and development. Military Installation Resilience projects focus in greater detail on resilience factors beyond the installation fence line that may adversely impact the installation and military operations including water availability, stormwater, wastewater, energy, communication, and transportation logistics, and installation access.

Compatibility factors are evaluated against existing conditions and potential future activities that may impair continued military operations, mission assurance and readiness, as well as community growth and development. Specific actions are then recommended to address identified issues together with a detailed implementation strategy and potential funding sources to ensure long-term readiness, military value, and continued community growth and economic development.

A community may evaluate several compatibility factors to better understand military operations, further communications with the installation, and help make informed decisions that respond to, address, and mitigate activities with a potential to impair installation use, diminish public safety, and reduce quality of life. When done successfully, a compatibility analysis can increase the value of a military installation by preserving its mission and protecting an important economic asset for the community, region, and state.

A compatibility analysis should consider these 24 Compatibility Factors to determine the existing and potential effects military operations and community growth may have on people, natural resources, and community development beyond the installation fence line. Using the results of this analysis, either in a Compatible Use Study or other joint planning effort, planners can recommend specific actions to address identified compatibility issues, together with a detailed implementation strategy and potential funding sources, to ensure long-term military readiness, military value, and continued community growth and economic development.

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