AF directs mil housing stand down

ARLINGTON, Va. – Secretary of the Air Force Heather Wilson and Chief of Staff Gen. David L. Goldfein directed commanders at every base worldwide to conduct a “100 percent review” of the condition and safety of all military housing by March 1. The directed review was in response to reports of poorly maintained and unsafe housing across the military services following a Feb. 13 session before the U.S. Senate’s Armed Services Committee, and in media reports. AFSEC said those reports “are not acceptable.” The AF’s two leading officials took steps to ensure that senior military commanders are personally aware of the conditions that exist in military housing at their bases. The effort, which begins immediately, will be the housing equivalent of a safety stand down. The goal, over the next 10 days, is to conduct a 100 percent in-person health and safety check of all 74,500 family housing units in the AF. (Source: Secretary of the Air Force 02/19/19) Gulf Coast Note: Col. Samantha Weeks, 14th Flying Training Wing commander, said a team from Columbus AFB, Miss., "will be reaching out to each on-base resident, via telephone, to ask questions about any health and safety concerns with local military housing. In a memorandum addressed to CAFB family housing residents, Weeks stated she takes the health and safety of families seriously and this is an "immediate priority" for her. Mississippi is home to Keesler AFB and Columbus AFB. Louisiana is home to Barksdale AFB in Bossier City. Alabama is home to Maxwell-Gunter AFB near Montgomery. Florida is home to Eglin and Tyndall AFBs and Hurlburt Field in the Panhandle, and MacDill and Patrick AFBs in the southern part of the state.