{"id":50302,"date":"2023-10-05T19:40:54","date_gmt":"2023-10-05T19:40:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2023\/10\/05\/army-has-a-draft-plan-to-fix-its-barracks-by-2030-but-will-it-happen\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T04:24:34","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T04:24:34","slug":"army-has-a-draft-plan-to-fix-its-barracks-by-2030-but-will-it-happen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/your-army\/2023\/10\/05\/army-has-a-draft-plan-to-fix-its-barracks-by-2030-but-will-it-happen\/","title":{"rendered":"Army has a draft plan to fix its barracks by 2030, but will it happen?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Army knows it has a barracks problem. Now the service has a plan to fix it. But it will take additional funding \u2014 $4 billion more, to be specific.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s what Paul Farnan, the service\u2019s principal deputy assistant secretary for installations, energy and environment, said <\/b>in a Thursday interview in the wake of a watchdog report<\/a> that detailed the dire condition of military barracks conditions. Of the service\u2019s barracks buildings used by permanently stationed junior enlisted soldiers, just over 300 facilities (or one-in-five) are rated as poor or failing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Farnan and internal documents shared with Army Times, the Army has a plan that it believes will fix or replace nearly all of those buildings by fiscal year 2030 \u2014 if the money\u2019s there. That funding will depend <\/b>on whether Army leaders decide the issue is more pressing than other competing requirements and whether Congress agrees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Army\u2019s \u201cPermanent Party Barracks Resourcing Strategy\u201d recommends surging more than $4 billion into barracks maintenance, repair and construction over the rest of the decade to ensure all single junior enlisted soldiers live in \u201cquality housing\u201d by 2030. These resources would be in addition to the Army\u2019s previous commitment to spend $1 billion per year on military barracks. The recommendations, developed from a facilities investment statistical model<\/a>, were signed by former Sergeant Major of the Army Michael Grinston, Army G-9 Lt. Gen. Kevin Vereen, and the service\u2019s top civilian official for installations, Rachel Jacobson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re showing our work. We\u2019re showing our problems,\u201d Farnan, who reports to Jacobson, said. \u201cWe understand that we can\u2019t fix it if we don\u2019t admit the problem \u2014 and that\u2019s exactly what we\u2019re doing here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Farnan cautioned, though, that the document \u201cwas strictly meant to be internal planning to better inform our leaders so they can make decisions to fix the problem.\u201d He said the decision lies with Army Secretary Christine Wormuth, who will determine where the barracks lie in the Army\u2019s priorities ahead of the fiscal 2025 budget process, which will likely begin in February 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Barracks conditions have caught the attention of lawmakers<\/a> thanks to media and watchdog reports, with some members of Congress pressing Army officials for a price tag to fix the problem all at once.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If implemented in line with the officials\u2019 recommendations, the strategy will fully fund barracks sustainment, which provides for regular maintenance to prevent decay of existing buildings. That will cover things like \u201cpreventive maintenance, minor repairs, and the [routine] replacement\u201d of roofs, HVAC units and other similar building components. Currently, sustainment funds are around 92% of the Army\u2019s need, Farnan said. A boost to 100% would cost a projected $342 million, according to the documents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The strategy also recommends a nearly $2 billion funding boost that will allow the Army to fix all of its repairable barracks that it rates as poor and failing. Under the service\u2019s current budget, the plan is to fix just over a third of those buildings, Farnan\u2019s fellow deputy assistant secretary Carla Coulson told House lawmakers Sept. 27.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The document also proposed constructing new buildings to replace all unrepairable barracks, as well as facilities meant to address housing shortages at some installations \u2014 but the move carries an estimated cost of just under $1.8 billion on top of current barracks funding commitments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet even that money won\u2019t cover the entirety of the service\u2019s projected housing shortages, according to the strategy. In order to reduce construction costs, the Army may reevaluate which junior troops are eligible to live off base, with possible considerations being rank, time in service or the size of the installation and local availability of affordable private housing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another option that lawmakers broached in the Sept. 27 hearing is exploring privatized barracks<\/a> for junior enlisted soldiers. A small number of mid-career and senior enlisted troops live in privatized barracks at five installations, Farnan said, and a new facility is under construction in Miami.<\/p>\n\n\n\t