Border wall $21.6 billion July 4th event going up with millions diverted from National Parks and then there was the government shutdown...but some of my Republican friends refuse to notice what else is going on that should hit them where their hearts used to be...
As Housing Mold Derails Military Moves, This Is the Solution We Need
Military.com
By Joyce Wessel Raezer
July 1, 2019
Joyce Wessel Raezer is the outgoing executive director of the National Military Family Association.
Contracted personnel perform an accountability assessment and pack items belonging to a U.S. Soldier before her moving to a different state June 12, 2019. (U.S. Transportation Command/Stephenie Wade)
Military families are at risk once again.
After suffering untenable living conditions, rodent and other infestations, loss of property and chronic health problems, military families dealing with mold in their privatized, on-base housing now face another challenge: moving.
While installations and contractors move ahead with remediating dangerous living conditions, many families must simultaneously navigate an unusually complex PCS season. And the damage done by the mold in their houses is affecting not just their furniture and their health, but also their ability to complete their PCS move on schedule. Shortages of movers as well as potential housing delays at installations where remediation work continues further complicate an already stressful time.
Moving companies, appropriately unwilling to assume the liability of moldy belongings that could create higher costs for themselves or safety problems for future customers, are now backing out of pack-outs in homes where mold is present, according to a story in Military Times. That includes the homes of thousands of families whose very safety has been affected by substandard conditions.
read it here
You can catch up on that here....if you care more about our troops and veterans than you do a political party.
The Bad Decisions that Led to Privatized Military Housing Woes
Military.com
By Thomas Spoehr
2 Apr 2019
Privatization began around 1996, when Congress authorized the Defense Department to enter into long-term agreements with private companies to repair, renovate, construct and operate base housing.
Retired Army Lt. Gen. Thomas Spoehr is the director of The Heritage Foundation's Center for National Defense.
Outdated family quarters at Fort Lee get demolished to make room for modern replacement units. (U.S. Army/T. Anthony Bell
Privatized military housing is under fire. It started with a Feb. 13 hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee, where multiple witnesses reported horrendous living conditions including "black mold, lead, infestations of vermin, flooding, radon and faulty wiring." Worse, family members testified, complaints were often met with denials, resistance, and even retribution from the private management companies and military chains of command.
None of this is acceptable. But given decisions made years ago, it was predictable.
Roughly a third of military personnel live on installations, where 99 percent of the housing has been privatized.
read more here
Personnel chiefs blame unsafe base housing on leadership failures
Stars and Stripes
By TOM PHILPOTT Special to Stars and Stripes
Published: February 28, 2019
Three-star personnel chiefs and senior non-commissioned officers of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps testified Wednesday that unsafe and sometimes scandalous conditions of base housing units, which has sparked waves of complaints from military families, can largely be blamed on leadership failures.
Urgent reforms are underway, they contend, after military leaders and private partnership contractors that operate on-base housing analyzed failings which harmed the health of, and lowered quality of life for, some military families.
Commands across the military had not been attentive enough to the performance of housing contractors who, under a 1997 Military Housing Privatization Initiative, became responsible for construction of new housing and refurbishing legacy units on base. Under long-term contracts, companies profit from maintaining, managing and renting to military tenants who in turn forfeit their monthly Basic Allowance for Housing and sometimes even pay a little more.
Increasingly dissatisfied military families say maintenance problems and health hazards from leaky roofs or pipes, dangerous mold, problem-plagued heating or air conditioning systems, high radon readings or infestations of bugs and rodents have gone unaddressed or resulted in only temporary fixes to await new renters.
read more here
But...they want to take money from their budget to build a wall instead of FIX THE PLACES WHERE THEY MAKE TROOPS AND FAMILIES LIVE?
