The Pentagon released a new strategy Thursday to improve quality of life by improving “built and natural spaces” on military installations, including housing. The document, “Resilient and Healthy Defense Communities,” also calls for installations to be “integrated with surrounding communities.”
“It is both a national security imperative and our moral obligation to ensure the spaces where our people live, work and train are healthy, functional and resilient,” Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks said in a press release.
The strategy identifies four goals:
- People living and working on DOD installations thrive as part of happy, productive and resilient communities.
- The built and natural environment around them meets operational needs and improves their quality of life.
- Installation managers and senior DOD leadership have a common operating picture of the quality of infrastructure to guide timely decisions and resource allocations.
- Installations are integrated with surrounding communities, providing public services and lifestyle-oriented features that build the readiness and resiliency of the Total Force.
“We’re going to evolve to the changing preferences of our service members, we’re going to evolve to the changing mission sets, we’re going to evolve to the change in the geopolitics of the world,” Brendan Owens, the Pentagon’s top installation management official, told Military Times.
Join the Discussion
Quality of life improvements on installations and in their neighboring communities will be among the most discussed topics at the upcoming Defense Communities National Summit.
Register now to join community leaders, installation leaders, DOD officials and other decision-makers in the D.C. area April 8-10.
Army photo by Ephraim Rodriguez
