“We did take our eye off the ball”: Service chiefs and secretaries face questions from Senate Armed Services Committee over poor conditions including mold, vermin and lead paint.
By Paul Sonne Paul Sonne National security reporter focusing on the U.S. military Email Bio Follow March 7 at 11:52 AM The top uniformed and civilian officials in the Army, Navy and Air Force faced a rare group grilling in the Senate on Thursday over deficiencies in privatized military housing that have subjected service members and their families to hazards including lead paint, mold and vermin.
Gen. David L. Goldfein, Chief of Staff of the Air Force, recounted spending 50 of the last 60 years living in military housing, first as the child of an officer and later as an officer himself, and said he never worried about the safety of his children, infrastructure or the possibility of reprisal if he complained. He said airmen now have those concerns, a situation he described as unacceptable.
More than 55 percent of 16,779 individuals surveyed in a recent study by the Military Family Advisory Network reported a negative or very negative experience with such privatized military housing, citing issues including black mold, lead paint, faulty wiring, poor water quality, pesticides, vermin and insects in their homes.
The service secretaries testified that the system of privatized military housing introduced in the 1990s overall has improved the quality of accommodations and did not recommend taking the facilities out of private hands.
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