Imagine signing up to serve your country only to find yourself living in conditions that threaten your health and safety. This is the reality for thousands of junior servicemembers forced to endure substandard unaccompanied housing (UH) across U.S. military installations. Reports of mold infestations, inoperable fire alarms, sewage overflows, and rodent infestations have raised serious concerns about how we care for those who volunteer to defend our nation.

MOAA is working to fix this crisis, making this issue one of our key priorities for our annual spring Advocacy in Action campaign — but we need your help to keep the pressure on lawmakers to ensure our servicemembers have safe, quality housing.

[TAKE ACTION: Ask Your Lawmakers to Address Unaccompanied Housing Conditions]

What’s the Problem?

A 2023 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report exposed how bad things have become in some UH facilities:

• Widespread health and safety issues: Mold, sewage overflows, broken heating and air conditioning systems, and pest infestations are common complaints.
• Lack of accountability: DoD does not consistently track or publicly report the condition of UH facilities, making it difficult to push for change.
• Massive maintenance backlog: Years of underfunding have created a $137 billion backlog in needed repairs, leaving many facilities in unacceptable condition.
• Funding transparency issues: Even when Congress allocates money for military infrastructure, DoD has failed to provide clear details on how much is being spent on UH.

[ISSUE PAPER: Unaccompanied Housing Improvements] 

What Is Being Done?

Congress has responded to the crisis by including key provisions in the FY 2024 and FY 2025 National Defense Authorization Acts (NDAAs) to improve oversight and transparency. Among the requirements:

• Establish privacy, space, and quality standards for UH.
• Publish annual reports on UH conditions.
• Expand complaint databases to include UH issues.
• Implement a digital tracking system for DoD to monitor housing conditions.

[RELATED: Bipartisan Bill Would Restore Basic Housing Allowance to 100%]

While the services are actively working to care for our nation’s servicemembers — investing significant effort into repairing, building, and maintaining quality housing — they cannot tackle these challenges alone. Lasting improvements require strong backing from Congress, including expanded authority and enhanced oversight, to ensure the services have the necessary resources to provide safe, high-quality housing, particularly for junior servicemembers.

MOAA’s Call to Action

MOAA is urging Congress to require DoD make UH condition reports publicly available and to expand housing complaint databases to accept photos and videos as evidence. Transparency is key to keeping lawmakers engaged and ensuring funding goes where it is needed most.

What Can You Do?

You can help by raising awareness and urging Congress to take action:

1. Contact Your Lawmakers. Ask them to support full transparency on UH conditions and require DoD to publicly report housing status and complaints.
2. Share the Issue. Talk to fellow veterans, servicemembers, and community leaders about the need for better military housing.
3. Stay Engaged. Follow MOAA’s advocacy efforts and be ready to take action when legislative opportunities arise.

Ensuring safe, high-quality military housing isn’t just about fixing buildings — it’s about taking care of the people who protect our country. Join MOAA in making sure our nation’s servicemembers get the housing they need and deserve.