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PRIVATE FIRMS ARE BUILDING HOUSING ON MILITARY BASES
DALLAS MORNING NEWS | May 12, 2003 | David McLemore

Posted on 05/12/2003 10:34:45 AM PDT by bruinbirdman

The U.S. military has turned to the private sector to renovate or replace inadequate base housing in an effort to recruit and retain more of the all-volunteer force.

o More than half of the 1.2 million enlisted personnel in today's military forces are married.

o With approximately 270,000 housing units, base housing accommodates only about one-third of military families, who otherwise use their housing allowances in local communities.

o Military families may wait two to four years to get into base housing.

The armed forces have undertaken a $7 billion effort to upgrade military housing nationwide. A 1996 law is turning construction and management of base housing over to the private sector, enabling the military to stretch its housing budget.

o The Pentagon identifies about 60 percent of military housing units -- including 163,108 for military families - - as inadequate or too costly to modernize.

o The average age for on-base housing is 33 years, and about one-quarter is more than 40 years old.

o Defense planners estimate it would take 20 years and about $16 billion to complete the required renovations and improvements through its regular military construction program.

However, the goal is to revitalize, replace or demolish all inadequate housing by 2007 with private-sector help.

o As of April, the Department of Defense has awarded 18 housing privatization projects nationwide, totaling 27,884 units.

o These include detached new homes that are landscaped and equipped with garages, microwave ovens and ceiling fans. There are playgrounds, jogging trails, basketball and tennis courts and a community pool.

o Private companies build and manage the housing, which is free to military families.

According to one Defense Department study, the reenlistment rate at bases with high-quality housing is about 15 percent higher than at places with low housing quality.

Source: David McLemore, "Privatized housing a base hit," Dallas Morning News, May 11, 2003.

For text

For more on Defense Privatization


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Government
KEYWORDS: housing; military; privateenterprise

1 posted on 05/12/2003 10:34:46 AM PDT by bruinbirdman
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To: bruinbirdman
It's about time...
2 posted on 05/12/2003 10:44:43 AM PDT by Lunatic Fringe (When news breaks, we fix it!)
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To: Lunatic Fringe
You said it. The squalor that soldiers, sailor, airmen and marines have been forced to withstand has been long overdue for DEMOLISHING.

But then again, I've seen soldiers packed four to a room because some idiot was allowed to join up with a wife and five kids, so they got the brand new home.
3 posted on 05/12/2003 10:47:14 AM PDT by SJSAMPLE
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To: bruinbirdman
This is great and much needed. Provided there are no restrictive rules, ie. union labor only, inflated minimum wages pegged to union wages, cumbersome envoronmental regs.or other non-competative laws, this is an excellent move.
4 posted on 05/12/2003 10:49:57 AM PDT by caisson71
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To: caisson71
I believe that since the work would be performed under a Federal contract, then the Davis-Bacon Act would apply - meaning that "prevailing wage" (read: union wages) must be paid.

5 posted on 05/12/2003 10:59:59 AM PDT by So Cal Rocket (Free Miguel and Priscilla!)
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To: So Cal Rocket
If Davis-Bacon is in effect, you are correct.
6 posted on 05/12/2003 11:05:06 AM PDT by caisson71
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To: SJSAMPLE
But then again, I've seen soldiers packed four to a room

There are many on this forum who know better than I about military housing.

Does anyone remember AFE-6, a sergeant in the Air Force. He was given a housing allotment of $600+ to live off base in Texas. He and two buddies lived in a fine apartment on their combined stipends.

I lived in Orange County, California a few years ago. There was a Marine sergeant, wife and two kids who lived across the street. He commuted to Camp Pendleton, 50 miles away. He was buying the house.

yitbos

7 posted on 05/12/2003 11:12:57 AM PDT by bruinbirdman (Cut government spending)
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To: bruinbirdman
o Private companies build and manage the housing, which is free to military families.

This is one of my all-time pet peeves, ranking right up there with reporters who say:

"the military pay no taxes"

"Food at the Commissary is free"

To set the record straight. Military housing is not free. Service members receive a housing allowance as a part of their overall compensation package. When a service member lives in government quarters, they forfeit this housing allowance - this is, in effect, their "rent". Not free.

8 posted on 05/12/2003 11:17:35 AM PDT by centurion316
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To: bruinbirdman
Hell, I had two soldiers in my company motor pool (one male, one female - of course) who decided to get "married" so they could move out of the slums the Army called barracks. Everybody, including myself, knew this was a sham marriage, but married soldiers get housing.

$600 is nothing. When I was a 1LT in Germany, they paid my landlord $1200 a month for my one bedroom apartment. Housing in some areas was very tight. That same year, the Army's European "Military Family of the Year" was a Chaplain with 9 kids living with him in three combined apartments. That caused a lot of dissention, as soldiers were crammed into living conditions similar to a cellblock.

Personally, I had no complaints. But my soldiers were packed in with little regard.
9 posted on 05/12/2003 12:03:37 PM PDT by SJSAMPLE
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To: centurion316
I'm glad you said it, because I was going to.

The AAFES (PX,BX,NX) is another sore spot with me. Sure, they sell products with a minimal mark-up. The O-5 and O-6's control the exchange, inputting their desires. As a result, they sell top of the line products (White stag, Members Only, Dell computers) well out of the reach of the average enlisted man.

The enlisted folks buy at Wal Mart, K-mart, and Sams. Lesser quality but fits the budget.
10 posted on 05/12/2003 12:31:54 PM PDT by Lokibob
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To: Lokibob
I've seen little evidence that any human being, especially one who shops, controls what is on PX shelves.
11 posted on 05/12/2003 1:13:29 PM PDT by centurion316
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