Army explores housing solutions to boost readiness, quality of life

ARLINGTON, Va. - To further improve the living standards for Soldiers and their families, Army leaders met with industry housing partners during the 2025 Privatized Housing Council Aug. 12-13 in Pentagon City.

The Army Privatized Housing Council, or APHC, is held annually and brings together senior Army leadership, Office of the Secretary of Defense officials, and privatized housing partners to address challenges and align on the future of Army housing. The forum ensures the Army's housing initiatives remain focused on modernization, innovation, and delivering a high-quality living experience for Soldiers and their families. The APHC, held each year, serves as the Army forum for aligning housing initiatives, advancing modernization priorities, and reinforcing quality-of-life commitments to Soldiers and their families.

"People spend the majority of their time in their homes, so the quality of life for Soldiers is critical," said acting assistant Secretary of the Army for Installations, Energy and Environment, Jeff Waksman. "We are looking to privatize more where possible, and we are certainly looking to grow efforts like privatized housing to improve outcomes for our Soldiers and families."

Waksman announced the service-wide launch of the Resident Energy Conservation Program, or RECP, scheduled to begin in Fiscal Year 2026. The program is designed to incentivize energy conservation, provide residents with transparent billing tools, and reinvest savings into housing improvements and installation resiliency.

This year the council emphasized accelerating modernization across the Army housing portfolio. Leaders addressed long-term strategies for barracks privatization, capital repair and replacement planning, and infrastructure investment. Accountability and transparency across all housing assets were highlighted as essential by Army leaders to maintaining trust with Soldiers and families.

Service leaders, including representatives from Army Installations Management and the Army Corps of Engineers, discussed further barracks privatization, investment in infrastructure and capital repair and replacement planning.

Findings from the Army Centinel Research Project revealed the importance of safe, well-maintained housing for military families' readiness, retention and overall quality of life.

Waksman also addressed reports on below average housing conditions in the barracks for Soldiers stationed in Guam.

"We know that we spend too much money on these barracks for the performance that we're getting," Waksman said. "So, we're looking for anything that we can do to bring that down. We're still in the questions and the gathering information phase, but that is the direction that we would like to go to."

Service leaders have stressed more of a shift towards privatizing more housing across the force. Military housing moved towards more privatization dating back to the Military Housing Privatization Initiative, established by Congress in 1996 to help improve the quality of life. However recent findings in the quality of Army housing spurred a greater privatization effort.

"We know the importance of investing wisely, modernizing rapidly, and holding ourselves accountable to ensure Soldiers and families live in housing that supports readiness and well-being," Waksman said.

An expert panel from RER Solutions presented emerging applications of artificial intelligence in housing operations. AI-driven tools such as predictive maintenance, , data-driven oversight, and streamlined service order tracking. The Army and its partners expressed strong interest in piloting AI tools to improve operational efficiency and resident satisfaction.

-- The Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army (Installations, Housing, and Partnerships) contributed to this report.

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