EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif -- The Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Installations, Jennifer Miller, directed actions related to the upcoming Continental Group Housing Privatization project be put on hold. This housing privatization project included Edwards Air Force Base (AFB), Calif., Eglin AFB, Florida (Fla)., Eielson AFB, Alaska, McConnell AFB, Kansas, Seymour Johnson AFB, North Carolina, and Hurlburt Field, Fla. According to Housing Privatization Program Management officials, the project was placed on hold due to Air Force issues unrelated to housing privatization, the Continental Group Housing Privatization project or Picerne Military Housing. As a consequence, the 95th Air Base Wing took no further action towards privatization. Issues dealing with signing leases, starting allotments for rent, or transferring yard care responsibilities to Picerne Military Housing.
The goal of the Military Housing Privatization Initiative is to provide military families access to safe, quality, affordable, well-maintained housing in a community where they will choose to live. The MHPI projects involve the Air Force leasing land and conveying housing and associated improvements to a private developer for the purpose of revitalizing, maintaining, and managing Air Force family housing communities for a period of 50 years. When Congress authorized housing privatization as part of the 1996 National Defense Authorization Act, the vast majority of the Air Force housing inventory was antiquated or in dire need of repair or replacement. The time required to program, fund, design, and execute projects needed to create modern, revitalized housing communities for our Airmen through traditional processes was infeasible. Housing privatization provided a win-win mechanism that leveraged limited federal resources to improve housing at all domestic installations while allowing the private sector to bring its expertise to ensure long-term quality management and sustainment.