In Response to Warren, Pentagon Reveals New Barracks Privatization Efforts Lack Accountability Tools, Threaten Poor Living Conditions for Service Members

Pentagon locked itself into another 50+-year lease, preventing it from holding private housing providers accountable for poor living conditions
Response from the Department of Defense (PDF)
Washington, D.C. —U.S. Senator Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Personnel, published new responses from the Department of Defense (DoD) revealing the Department has entered into another 50-year-lease with its privatization of military barracks at Fort Irwin, California, removing accountability measures and threatening to cause housing quality problems for service members.
“The Department of Defense has a responsibility to make sure our service members have a safe place to live that’s free from mold, pests, and broken sewage pipes. Instead, it’s giving up its tools to hold exploitative companies accountable and risking service members being forced to live in dangerous barracks,”said Senator Warren. “The Department needs to learn from its past mistakes and stop handcuffing itself with 50-year leases.”
The new information came as a response to Senator Warren’s September letter pressing DoD on theprivatization of militarybarracks, including in Fort Irwin, California. Senator Warren has warned that decades-long leases—which DoD has used in the past for privatization of military family housing—have resulted in poor housing conditions and limited the DoD’s ability to hold failed private housing providers accountable.
The Pentagon’s responses revealed:
Senator Warren’s investigations of private military housing have repeatedly found service members are forced to live in troubling conditions, including black mold, rodents, insect infestations, lead paint, damaged plumbing, and ineffective HVAC units.
These poor living conditions are locked in because DoD signs 50-year leases, weakening its ability to hold private housing providers accountable.
On Wednesday, Senator Warren will lead abipartisan hearingon service member quality of life in the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Personnel.
Senator Warren has consistently fought to improve living standards for service members and their families:
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