Army calls base housing hazards 'unconscionable,' details steps to protect families
Source: Reuters
U.S.FEBRUARY 15, 2019 / 12:06 PM / UPDATED 3 HOURS AGO
Joshua Schneyer, Andrea Januta, Deborah Nelson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Deeply troubled by military housing conditions exposed by Reuters reporting, the U.S. Army’s top leadership vowed Friday to renegotiate its housing contracts with private real estate firms, test tens of thousands of homes for toxins and hold its own commanders responsible for protecting Army base residents from dangerous homes.
In an interview, the Secretary of the Army Mark Esper said Reuters reports and a chorus of concerns from military families had opened his eyes to the need for urgent overhauls of the Army’s privatized housing system, which accommodates more than 86,000 families.
The secretary’s conclusion: Private real estate firms tasked with managing and maintaining the housing stock have been failing the families they serve, and the Army itself neglected its duties.
“You’ve brought to light a big issue that demands our attention,” Esper said Friday morning at the Pentagon. “It is frankly unconscionable that our soldiers and their families would be living in these types of conditions when we ask so much of them day in and day out.”
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-military-army/army-calls-base-housing-hazards-unconscionable-details-steps-to-protect-families-idUSKCN1Q4275
And then the current "commander in chief"
wants to take money out of programs to try and build a wall......................and the corporations that are suppose to clean up these housing issues is doing what...................just imagine if they build a wall and get there hands on that money..................
November 3, 2020 cannot get here fast enough....................
= new reply since forum marked as read
You don't want Mexicans coming across the border and murdering military families, go you?
Back in the day while base housing was not exactly luxurious it was very clean and very well maintained. I can remember my Mom scrubbing our house from top to bottom so that it would pass inspection when my Dad got orders for a new tour of duty. Supposedly the privatization of military housing was supposed to be a money saving move, but as we all know, it has become just one more way for unscrupulous members of Congress to throw some pork to pals who contributed to their election war chests.
Our military goes through enough as it is with non stop rotating missions to Afghanistan and the Middle East - never mind fake deployments to the border. "We support our troops!" - nothing could be further from the truth.
