Historic army base forced to halt maintenance amid budget, workforce shortages

A historic army base was forced to shut down their maintenance operations teams amid staffing and budget shortfalls, Military.com reported Friday.

Fort Cavazos, formerly Fort Hood, was forced to completely disband their “dedicated barracks sustainment teams,” effectively halting all non-emergency plumbing and electrical work and regular upkeep, a base spokesperson told Military.com. The Army is also reportedly losing maintenance workers across the whole branch as poor barracks conditions persist at multiple military installations, several service officials told the outlet.

“Fort Cavazos Senior Commander directed that the ‘dedicated barracks sustainment team’ be phased out,” an Army spokesperson told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “Maintenance for Soldier barracks remains a top priority and ‘urgent and life, health and safety work orders will continue’ to be addressed by the existing Directorate of Public Works teams.”

Fort Cavazos did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

Moreover, the Pentagon reportedly redirected $1 billion from Army barracks funding to the pay for operations at the U.S.-Mexico, Military.com reported on May 28. The Army told the DCNF that the recent difficulties are unrelated to the reported money transfer.

There are provisions for barracks repair funding in the “One Big, Beautiful Bill” that could make up for the redirected funds, allocating $1 billion for “Army, Navy, Air Force, and Space Force sustainment, restoration, and modernizations of military unaccompanied housing.”

Gen. Randy George, the Army chief of staff, conceded during a June 4 hearing that barracks repairs may take a hit from the diverted money. The Army and Navy have the largest backlogs for repairs to buildings, according to an August 2024 report by the Congressional Budget Office.

The quality of barracks across the armed services has been a persistent issue, with the Government Accountability Office (GAO) finding in 2023 that the Pentagon was woefully unaware of the deterioration of living conditions. Many bases suffer from rampant molding and plumbing issues, as well as frequently broken HVAC systems making living conditions potentially dangerous.

The Pentagon deferred to the Army when reached for comment.

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