Lawmakers from both parties are demanding answers from senior Army leaders regarding a Pentagon plan to strip $1 billion from funds earmarked for barracks repairs and facility upkeep and redirect that money to support the military’s growing mission at the U.S.-Mexico border.
The decision, reported last week by Military.com, would gut a key portion of the Army’s Facilities Sustainment, Restoration and Modernization budget, a funding line meant to address mold, broken plumbing, and dangerous living conditions that have plagued barracks across the force.
“It’s very troubling; we’re trying to help with the quality of life,” Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., said to Army Secretary Dan Driscoll and Gen. Randy George, the service’s top officer, at a Wednesday House hearing on Capitol Hill. “I feel like a decision was made that undermined this whole effort.”
George conceded the trade-offs. “Obviously, redirecting has an impact — you have to make choices,” he said. “If we took a billion dollars out of barracks, we’d be able to fix less barracks.”
He also noted, “We are probably overpaying for some of our barracks.”
The reallocation comes as the service has largely deprioritized quality-of-life initiatives, which cover everything from housing, health and other issues pertaining to the rank and file.
Meanwhile, Driscoll and George have singularly focused on acquisition reform and integrating new tech into the force, a sharp departure from the previous administration’s stated aim to balance force modernization with improving day-to-day conditions for soldiers, albeit with mixed results.
“There are ongoing programs that are extremely important for the maintenance of the troops’ barracks,” said Rep. John Garamendi, D-Calif.
The Army is grappling with a ballooning backlog of barracks maintenance, with an estimated $20 billion in deferred repairs and renovations — an amount steadily rising as inflation drives up construction costs. The average barracks facility is nearly five decades old, reflecting years of underinvestment across the service’s vast infrastructure footprint.
“It seems to me there is no way we should be allowed to move a billion dollars from the barracks we worked so hard to give you into something like the border,” said Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa.
The maintenance issue hit a crescendo in 2022 when Military.com reported on a cluster of barracks with squalid living conditions at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and the dismay of senior Army officials at the time over how local leadership tolerated rapidly deteriorating conditions for soldiers stationed there.
The service demolished 12 barracks at Bragg and renovated three by early 2024 in a fast-tracked $82 million project.
The challenge also extends beyond the Army.
Last month, Navy Secretary John Phelan ordered a force-wide inspection of more than 100,000 barracks units after a trip to Guam, where he encountered living quarters plagued by mold — some of it concealed beneath paint — rusted plumbing and exposed electrical wiring.
Related: These Soldiers Say Mold in Barracks Isn’t Just Disgusting, It’s Making Them Sick