{"id":80463,"date":"2024-02-09T21:40:55","date_gmt":"2024-02-09T21:40:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2024\/02\/09\/no-ones-been-fired-over-lousy-barracks-conditions-dod-official-says\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T16:15:48","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T16:15:48","slug":"no-ones-been-fired-over-lousy-barracks-conditions-dod-official-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/management\/pay-benefits\/2024\/02\/09\/no-ones-been-fired-over-lousy-barracks-conditions-dod-official-says\/","title":{"rendered":"No one\u2019s been fired over lousy barracks conditions, DOD official says"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

No one has been fired over mold and other \u201cdisgusting\u201d conditions in military barracks<\/a>, the Pentagon\u2019s top installations official told lawmakers Wednesday. Now members of Congress are questioning whether that lack of accountability has become a major hurdle to fixing those problems for good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Members of the House Armed Services Committee\u2019s readiness panel pressed Brendan Owens, the assistant secretary of defense for energy, installations and environment, for more oversight and accountability of barracks at a hearing Feb. 7.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo one from [Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin] down to your level, down to the services, down to the base commander \u2026 nobody has actually been held accountable, correct? No one\u2019s actually been relieved or fired?\u201d asked Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee\u2019s readiness panel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNot that I\u2019m aware of,\u201d said Brendan Owens, assistant secretary of defense for energy, installations and environment. He and the services\u2019 civilian officials responsible for overseeing <\/b>installations testified before the panel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI would submit to you that may be a critical part of the problem,\u201d Waltz said, adding that by holding people accountable, it would send a signal that the situation \u201cunacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rep. John Garamendi, D-Calif., suggested that Congress should require that the base commander be accountable and responsible<\/a> for the barracks, which is required with family housing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The living conditions in barracks<\/a> have been a persistent problem for decades. Auditors with the Government Accountability Office reported <\/a>similar problems with barracks 20 years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lawmakers cited a more recent report from the Government Accountability Office<\/a>, from September, which documented widespread barracks issues. All ten of the installations they visited reported mold infestations and \u201cbroken, malfunctioning, or non-existent heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems.\u201d A variety of other problems<\/a> at individual bases have been highlighted in recent years, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think anybody on this committee or any of you are expecting our service members to live in the Taj Mahal,\u201d Waltz said. \u201cBut this is disgusting. This is unsatisfactory.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Across the Defense Department, there are more than 850,000 bed spaces in unaccompanied housing, Owens said, in reference to permanent party barracks for service members stationed at a given base, as well as rotational spaces for those who are there temporarily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He acknowledged the problems, and that the Defense Department has a lot of work to do. \u201cThe DOD has, in too many instances, failed to live up to our role in making sure the housing we provide honors the commitment of the service members and their families,\u201d Owens said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said this year, the military <\/b>anticipates implementing 28 of the 31 recommendations for improving barracks <\/b>laid out by the Government Accountability Office in their September report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier in February, the Pentagon <\/b>stood up a team to address improvements needed in service members\u2019 living spaces, initially with a priority on unaccompanied housing and family housing or junior enlisted, he said. They\u2019ll focus on making immediate, ongoing and urgent improvements to barracks; determining new configuration and habitability standards of barracks, and developing standardized preventive maintenance plans and schedules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the age-old question is funding. Barracks compete for funding with everything else in the Department of Defense. Part of the problem is that the Defense Department doesn\u2019t track how much of the sustainment funding that does make it down to an installation is actually used on barracks, the Government Accountability Office found, nor does the military reliably assess the condition of its barracks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Owens told lawmakers that the Pentagon is working with the services on a new system that would help them track the condition of specific facilities such as barracks, look at the long-term prognosis for the facility, and account for the risk they\u2019re taking if money doesn\u2019t go to fixing that facility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The services are working on a number of initiatives. For example, the Marine Corps has just ordered a \u201cwall-to-wall\u201d inspection <\/a>of every barracks to assess the problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Should the military privatize the barracks?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The idea of privatizing barracks<\/a> is gaining momentum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI would like to get the Department of Defense, as we\u2019ve done with [family] housing, to the extent absolutely possible, out of the hotel management business. We have private sector entities that do it incredibly well at scale all over the world. And they would certainly go out of business in a second if any of their facilities looked like this,\u201d Waltz said.<\/p>\n\n\n\t