by Dave Williams | Apr 3, 2023 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – The U.S. Army will begin unit-by-unit inspections of on-post privatized housing at Fort Gordon near Augusta next week.
U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., has called attention to the poor condition of privatized housing at both Fort Gordon and Sheppard Air Force Base in Texas, launching an investigation last year.
“After the eight-month investigation … I demanded that the Army conduct unit-by-unit inspections of every single privatized housing unit across the country,” Ossoff, chairman of the Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, said late last week. “To see real action happening is a message to military families that their health and safety remains our top priority.”
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Last April, Ossoff revealed the results of the investigation at a hearing held by his subcommittee, which heard testimony about the failure of one of the nation’s leading providers of privatized military housing -Balfour Beatty – to make needed repairs and respond to environmental hazards including mold infestations inside the homes.
The Army announced last May that it would conduct its own investigation into the conditions of housing units at Fort Gordon. Ossoff introduced legislation last fall calling for greater transparency and improved oversight of privatized military housing across the nation.
More recently, Ossoff announced he is launching a bipartisan inquiry working with Florida’s two Republican senators – Marco Rubio and Rick Scott – aimed at improving data collection about conditions at privatized housing that pose a threat to military families’ health and safety.
