{"id":18169,"date":"2019-10-16T15:31:10","date_gmt":"2019-10-16T15:31:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/10\/16\/here-are-army-leaders-lessons-learned-from-housing-problems\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T05:44:04","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T05:44:04","slug":"here-are-army-leaders-lessons-learned-from-housing-problems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/management\/pay-benefits\/2019\/10\/16\/here-are-army-leaders-lessons-learned-from-housing-problems\/","title":{"rendered":"Here are Army leaders\u2019 lessons learned from housing problems"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Senior Army leaders said they\u2019ve learned lessons from the problems with privatized housing <\/a>that can be applied to prevent similar failures in privatizing any quality of life program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some lessons: Don\u2019t abdicate responsibility<\/a>. Keep your eye on the ball. Listen to your people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The leaders held a town hall<\/a> Tuesday with soldiers and family members at the Association of the United States Army annual meeting in Washington.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One example is the expected transition of the process for managing household goods<\/a> moves to a single civilian contractor, noted Joyce Raezer, former executive director of the National Military Family Association, who asked for the leaders\u2019 input on lessons learned. U.S. Transportation has started the process of handing over the move management, in efforts to make the quality of household goods moves better for service members and their families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All the senior leaders urged soldiers and families to push to get the right person to resolve their issues in any area. \u201cWe\u2019d like things solved at the lowest level, but get them up to the right level where people have the authority to fix it,\u201d said Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you can\u2019t, get it up to us and we\u2019ll fix it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy said that when the problems with mold, lead paint, rodent infestations and other issues in housing surfaced in the Spring, and officials conducted inspections, he visited housing at Fort Jackson, S.C., and Fort Eustis, Va., \u201cand realized that we just essentially outsourced it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe reduced the resources and abdicated responsibility,\u201d he said. When he returned to give his assessment to former secretary of the Army and former chief of staff, \u201cIt was pointing the thumb more so than pointing the finger…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou can put a lot of policies in place and you can float resources, but it\u2019s a leadership issue,\u201d McCarthy said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These efforts require communication and relationships with all all involved, he said. The process to resolve the housing problem is ongoing. McCarthy said he will continue to meet with the CEOs of the companies to drive toward solutions and needed outcomes, he said. But when leaders aren\u2019t engaged as they should be, they can\u2019t put together the right metrics for incentive award fees, to reward the best performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

McCarthy said leadership must make sure the companies build a recapitalization schedule to rebuild the homes, make sure the companies are making the right investments in the houses, and monitor the depreciation of the houses over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, he said, commanders on the ground weren\u2019t empowered to do the right things for soldiers and families with housing issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was a leadership issue and had gone on for far too long,\u201d McCarthy said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville said he\u2019s learned that the Army leadership has to keep the chain of command involved, and have feedback loops for soldiers and families. When new housing was first being built at Fort Campbell, Ken., under the privatized housing initiative, \u201cWe said, \u2018Wow, we\u2019re finally getting this right.\u2019 But we took our eye off the ball, quite frankly,\u201d McConville said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBecause we kind of walked away from it, weren\u2019t checking it, it just wasn\u2019t getting done,\u201d he said. The chain of command needs to understand they\u2019re responsible for barracks, and for family housing. \u201cThat\u2019s just good leadership in caring for people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There also must be checks and balances to make sure that the entities being paid to deliver quality housing, quality moves, quality health care are actually doing so \u2013 or they don\u2019t get paid, McConville said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re a military organization. We\u2019re not a private company,\u201d he said, and the Army leadership has responsibility for the well-being of their soldiers and families. \u201cWe own that responsibility. That\u2019s what makes us different,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\t