The Defense Department has locked itself into another decadeslong lease to privatize military barracks — expanding a housing model that has posed significant challenges for military family housing for decades. The move, a Senate lawmaker warns, will limit the Pentagon’s ability to change contract terms and hold private companies accountable for poor living conditions.
Last year, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) pressed the Pentagon for details on its plan to privatize barracks, starting at Fort Irwin in California. New responses from the Pentagon reveal that DoD has locked in a lease running through 2079 with the Michaels Organization, a private housing developer.
In September, military families who lived at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, filed a lawsuit against the company over hazardous living conditions, including toxic mold and persistent water damage, saying their calls for help were met with “corporate indifference” and alleging the company had a “cartel-like hold on the housing monopoly.” The company has also faced scrutiny for requiring families to sign non-disclosure agreements that prohibit them from discussing their living conditions.
Who knew that they were privatizing our military barracks, raise your hands. No one? No one? Alrighty then.
All the warnings in the world vs all the money in the world.
Ten years ago we had to inspect every house in the Army’s inventory for mold now we get to do it for the barracks too….great
