The Army is launching two surveys to hear directly from families about how privatized and Army-owned housing is holding up, and what you think about the changes that have been made over the last several months.
The two surveys will allow soldiers and their families to rate Army-owned and -leased housing — being distributed on Nov. 7 — and privatized housing — going out on Nov. 12. They’ll both be open until December 13, the Army’s announcement says. It’s being administered by a third party, and is looking to “receive firsthand accounts of what soldiers and their families find important in Army housing and to gauge satisfaction with property-management services.”
In October at a quality of life forum at the Association for the U.S. Army’s annual conference, Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville stressed the important of people actually taking the surveys that are sent out.
“We’ve got to have feedback loops,” he said. “Right now we have commanders doing these town halls quarterly so if people are having problems at least they can come and get it to the right level of leadership. But there are surveys that people actually read, and so we have to…make sure that we have feedback loops in place so when things go wrong, we’re checking it.”
The surveys are a chance for you to air your grievances, and put on paper the problems that you wish were fixed or taken more seriously in housing. Surveys in the past have proven that claims of climbing satisfaction rates for military housing residents were wrong; that a “culture of resilience” has led to military families putting up with dismal conditions for years; and that this year alone, satisfaction has decreased across the Army by almost 6%.
“The Army will improve homes, communities, and customer service – from Army housing staff and the private housing management companies – through the candid feedback we receive from our soldiers and their families,” Lt. Gen. Jason Evans, the Army Deputy Chief of Staff for Installations said in the Army’s release.
In other words: Take the survey!
If you haven’t received it by Nov. 18, the Army release says, reach out to your local housing office.