DOD lacks the data to make links between conditions in privatized military housing and the health of service members and military families, according to a DOD inspector general’s report completed in April and recently released after a freedom of information request, according to Military.com.

The IG concluded that the Army and Air Force have not fully populated DOD’s housing information database, making it difficult to track housing conditions and health issues that have been reported in the media for several years.

But the report said that less than .03% of all military privatized homes – fewer than 6,354 of 211,826 units – were unsafe or unhealthy.

“Housing units were generally safe and healthy,” the IG report said, adding that “because DOD officials did not have readily available access to sufficient information to connect health and safety to privatized military housing, they were unable to effectively monitor and ensure the health and safety of its service members and their families.”

The IG recommended that the Army and Air Force add their data and create an environmental and health and safety module in the system. Patricia Coury, deputy assistant secretary of defense for housing, agreed that the services must complete their input and said the module would be installed by the end of fiscal 2023, Military.com reported.

Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Alexandria Crawford