The construction area for a new $28.08 million barracks building, is shown Sept. 4, 2025, at Fort McCoy, Wis. The Pentagon has launched a new barracks task force that within 30 days must develop a strategy to improve base housing throughout the military, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday. (Scott Sturkol/U.S. Army)
A new Pentagon barracks task force unveiled this week is charged with tackling the military’s persistent base housing woes, with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth demanding a strategy within 30 days.
Speaking to an audience of new recruits Tuesday at Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia, Hegseth said the task force also will ensure that unit commanders are empowered to act on quality-of-life issues facing troops.
“It is simply unacceptable that in some cases, our warriors continue to live in substandard housing,” Hegseth said, adding that every service member “deserves housing that is clean, comfortable and safe.”
Hegseth cited a 2023 Government Accountability Office report that detailed the squalid living conditions of some troops as one of the factors behind the formation of the task force.
The GAO investigation detailed an array of problems — such as raw sewage overflows, mold and rodent infestations — that undermine quality of life and overall troop combat readiness.
A barracks building at Clay Kaserne in Wiesbaden, Germany, Aug. 21, 2025. Wiesbaden’s barracks had the lowest satisfaction rating in Europe in a recent army housing survey. The Pentagon has launched a new barracks task force that within 30 days must develop a strategy to improve base housing throughout the military, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday. (Bradley Latham/Stars and Stripes)
Barracks problems vary from base to base. In some cases, the issues go back years and stem from underinvestment spanning decades.
In Europe, many U.S. soldiers have long been dissatisfied with living conditions on garrison installations. A 2025 Army tenant satisfaction survey found that soldiers and their families in Europe were the least satisfied when it comes to government housing.
Some top concerns included overcrowding and outdated facilities that resulted in “depressing” living conditions.
In some cases, garrison housing areas in Europe date back roughly 70 years and lack modern amenities, Army officials have said.
More money has flowed into Europe in recent years to address such problems, and major projects are now underway.
In the Italian city of Vicenza, home to the 173rd Airborne Brigade, an ongoing $500 million housing project is slated to create more than 470 homes by 2028. The first 111 of the units at Caserma Ederle and Villaggio were scheduled to be completed later this year.
And in Baumholder, Germany, there are numerous plans for upgraded family housing and new soldier barracks.
But it can take years for new barracks and family housing to go from planning to completion.
A sprawling spending bill passed this summer by Congress will deliver an initial jolt to improving barracks, with more than $1 billion being directed toward troop housing, Hegseth said.
His office also will review and approve the forthcoming task force’s plan “in crucial ways, big and small.”
“Barracks are where warriors go to rest and recover, the place they go to mentally and physically prepare for winning the next fight,” Hegseth said.
