Military families don’t want or need glamorous living accommodations — they just want safe homes that are inhabitable, according to military housing advocate and military spouse Crystal Cornwall.
“Military families understand that quality housing does not mean entitlement to elegant mansions,” Cornwall told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Wednesday. “We simply ask for homes free of mold, pests, lead, and other hazards. We expect homes free from the stressors of deployments, work-ups, trainings, and the day-to-day military service. As parents, we want safe places for our children to sleep at night.”
Cornwall, who is married to a U.S. Marine, knows firsthand the conditions military families endure in privately managed housing on a military base. When her family was stationed at Keesler Air Force Base in Mississippi, termites dropped from light fixtures into her family’s beds. Housing office staff at the base allegedly dismissed her concerns and said that termites were expected, given the region.
As a result of her two years of advocacy and research on the issue, Cornwall claims that she has received hundreds of reports from military families who have experienced mold growth, infestations of rodents and other pests, lead and asbestos exposures, and other issues.
“All of this was too often compounded by defensive, sometimes abusive, housing staff,” said Cornwall, who was joined by other military spouses sharing their health horror stories to the congressional panel.
According to the Military Family Advisory Network, these living conditions are all too common — despite Pentagon reports to Congress suggesting that residents are satisfied with the privatized military housing. The advisory organization released a survey Wednesday morning showing 56 percent of the roughly 16,000 respondents said they hold a “negative” or “very negative” opinion on their living conditions.
“Our results show a systemic problem that does not discriminate among location, rank, or branch of service,” the report said.
Military housing was privatized in 1996, with the Military Housing Privatization Initiative designed to combat the subpar conditions and provide affordable housing. The initiative came after the Pentagon warned Congress that federal housing conditions could compromise the force.
Chris Williams, president of Balfour Beatty Communities, LLC, noted the Military Housing Privatization Initiative has improved conditions and told the panel it was previously standard for service request responses to take weeks or months. John Picerne, founder and CEO of Corvias Group, told the Senate that some of the residents had been “let down” but promised Corvias would work to correct the problems they have encountered.
“I expect your 100 percent commitment to solving this problem,” Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., told the leaders of the contractor companies.
Leaders from the Pentagon also appeared before the Senate panel. Assistant Secretary of Defense for Sustainment Robert McMahon defended privatizing military housing, arguing that conditions have “dramatically improved.”
“All resident complaints will be taken seriously and acted upon in a timely manner,” McMahon said. “Residents of privatized housing also have the option of filing an anonymous complaint with the Inspector General.”
Even so, McMahon vowed that “we must and will do better” for military families who live on base.
But Phyllis Bayer, assistant secretary of the Navy for energy, installations, and environment, took it a step further and offered an apology to the military families who were subjected to unhealthy conditions.
“I want to on behalf of Secretary Spencer and for the Navy and Marine Corps families, and particularly for the ladies here today, I want to apologize for the horrible experiences that you have experienced in your families and in your homes,” Bayer said. “We’re responsible, and we’re going to fix it.”
