Robert Neuman

Date of Award

Summer 6-29-2021

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Public Administration (MPA)

Abstract

The Military Housing Privatization Initiative was signed into law in 1996 as a way for the military to improve the quality of its military family housing. The military considers of family housing a Quality of Life issue that affects military members' operational readiness (CRS, 2001). However, little information concerning service members' experiences living in privatized family housing was published before 2018. The Department of Defense relied on satisfaction rates supplied to them from the privatized housing companies. How this information was collected and what it meant to the service members residing in privatized housing remained unclear. This paper researched what procedures the U.S. Navy could implement to improve the quality of military housing. The areas studied were increased oversight of maintenance issues by Base Commanders, base housing officials advocating on behalf of the service members, withholding rental payments, and tracking maintenance issues by the base housing office. Secondary data was used to research service members' experiences with privatized housing from 1996 to the present. This study collected primary data through a survey of residents living in privatized housing at NAS Lemoore. Analyzing the data showed whether new procedures need to be implemented to increase service members' satisfaction with privatized housing. The quantitative and qualitative data showed that increased engagement and oversight by military officials are required to improve the quality of military housing, validating the assumptions of this study. The impact of this study could inform military and government officials at Naval Installations of practical procedures that they could implement to improve the quality of privatized housing.

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