{"id":59999,"date":"2019-06-28T09:00:19","date_gmt":"2019-06-28T09:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/06\/28\/mold-meets-military-moves-you-cant-take-it-with-you\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T11:25:53","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T11:25:53","slug":"mold-meets-military-moves-you-cant-take-it-with-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/management\/pay-benefits\/2019\/06\/28\/mold-meets-military-moves-you-cant-take-it-with-you\/","title":{"rendered":"Mold problems adding to military moving misery"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This article was updated June 29 to add clarification to a quote from Randolph AFB.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On May 29, Army wife Becky Vinales got the news: their moving company was refusing to move their household goods because of the mold contamination<\/a> in their house at Randolph Air Force Base, Texas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe were frantic,\u201d said Vinales. \u201cWe had put in our notice to be out of our house by June 15, and were scheduled to leave on a plane for Hawaii on June 30. We didn\u2019t know what to do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One day later and not far away on Randolph AFB, workers had loaded about one-third of the Daniels family\u2019s household goods on the truck when Air Force wife Barbara High-Daniels got a call from the moving company\u2019s headquarters, asking her if she knew there was mold on their belongings. Within a half hour, company officials had ordered workers to remove the Daniels\u2019 household goods from the truck and place them in the front yard alongside another third of their household goods waiting to be loaded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In California, Marine wife Samantha Keller and her family have moved to a house in the community near Camp Pendleton for her husband\u2019s new duty assignment \u2013 while their entire mold-contaminated household goods remain sealed in their previous home at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These three military families have been battling with their privatized housing companies, trying to get their mold problems<\/a> addressed. Now they \u2013 and an unknown number of other military families \u2013 are finding the problems of mold are reaching further into their lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For some, an already difficult PCS season has become even more challenging thanks to the presence of spores.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a spot where housing issues are colliding with PCS issues<\/a>,\u201d said Megan Harless, an Army wife and veteran who is part of an advisory group providing input to the U.S. Transportation Command to help improve the moving process for military families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year, some service members have already had problems scheduling their household moves for various reasons unrelated to mold, such as shortages of capacity in the moving industry. The sheer volume of military moves, along with shortages of trucks and labor with the improving economy have made it more difficult, especially in certain regions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the case of the Vinales family, their joint personal property shipment office worked for several days before they could find another company to move the shipment, contingent on clear mold tests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the past year, as first reported by Reuters<\/a>. and testimony by military families have brought attention to black mold growing out of walls, floors and ceilings, with entire families getting sick and frustration in getting families problems addressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While these three spouses said their mold issues are not entirely resolved, they did report one positive development: Once they were out of their houses, their families\u2019 health has dramatically improved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Across the country, hundreds of military families across the country have been affected by problems with mold, vermin and other issues in their military housing. It\u2019s not known how many of those are moving this summer, but at some point in the future, they will move.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This issue with mold affecting moving is apparently not being tracked, so information was not available about how many military families have faced the issue. U.S. Transportation Command officials said the issue has not been raised at their level. But families said their local personal property officials have been working with them to help them get the situation resolved and get their household goods moved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is about to get bigger, because the moving companies won\u2019t wrap up and put furniture on their trucks if there\u2019s visible mold on it,\u201d said Crystal Cornwall, executive director of the Safe Military Housing Initiative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhere does this leave military families?” she asked. “DoD is not looking ahead to the bigger, broader, macro picture.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whose responsibility is it?<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy heart sank. I was in a panic,\u201d said Becky Vinales, remembering the day they got the call from the government Joint Personal Property Shipment Office, or JPPSO, that their moving company had backed out of their move because of the mold. The personal property offices are the government liaisons between service members and the moving companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She said she understands why the moving company wouldn\u2019t want the liability of moving the household goods, which could possibly contaminate other shipments, too. And the moving company didn\u2019t cause the problem, she notes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to TRANSCOM, if mold is identified before household goods are packed or picked up, it\u2019s the responsibility of the resident to have a mold remediation firm inspect and clean up the property. The families interviewed by Military Times said their privatized housing companies have been arranging for and paying for remediating the mold on their property, although the families aren\u2019t necessarily satisfied with the results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And according to TRANSCOM, if mold is identified at delivery, the remediation is the responsibility of the moving company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe instruct the movers, that if they identify something that appears to be mold, not to load it, because we could end up with significant liability for home cleaning or medical issues caused by that and we didn\u2019t do anything to cause the mold to begin with,\u201d said Scott Kelly, president of Suddath Government Services, a moving company that does a lot of military move business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe also risk contaminating other people\u2019s shipments,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It could cost $20,000 to $30,000, Kelly said, to get rid of mold contaminating a large shipment of household goods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kelly said the company has a claims manager who has become \u201cquite knowledgeable on the subject of mold over the last couple of years, because it does seem more prevalent. I don\u2019t know the reason for it. I\u2019m not suggesting it\u2019s military housing causing it, because I could not say one way or the other.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Randolph AFB, the environmental team can conduct a pre-move inspection six to eight weeks before move-out, working directly with the personal property office and Hunt Military Communities officials, according to a statement from the installation. \u201cOur participation allows families to have peace of mind that standards are met, or, solicit expert advice if cleaning is needed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Mold in the Daniels family’s house has contaminated their belongings, including her son’s bed skirt, and interfered with their military move. (Photo courtesy Daniels family)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The issue is not common at Randolph, officials said. \u201cWith 34 homes scheduled for summer move out, and only two [of those 34] having issues of visible mold, it is an uncommon occurrence. Even so, our team is driven to provide families assurances that their household goods are ready for transport.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Barbara High-Daniels saw her move stopped in mid-loading, with her household goods being removed from the moving van because of the mold issues, she said, \u201cOut of this entire situation, it was probably rock bottom.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The stress, the Texas heat became too much. \u201cI lost it,\u201d she said. She called their point of contact in the Randolph AFB management office for their housing company, Hunt Military Communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She said the government\u2019s personal property officials, and Hunt officials came to the house. \u201cNobody knew whose responsibility it was.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hunt Military Communities \u201ctakes the safety and security of our residents extremely seriously,\u201d said Cindy Gersch, spokeswoman for the company. \u201cAs with every situation, we responded quickly and are working closely with the family to ensure their home and items are safe and healthy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Defense Department spokeswoman Heather Babb referred to the general procedures in place for damage to household goods: \u201cService members who experience damage to personal property in their homes, whether on or off base, are encouraged to request assistance from their installation\u2019s government housing office.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t