Today U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) sent a letter to the Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth requesting, for the third time, the Army's plan for replacing the aging homes at Fort Leonard Wood.
"I write again to request the Army’s plan for replacing aging homes at Fort Leonard Wood. You committed to share this information in May 2022 and again in October 2022, but the Army still has not sent it," wrote Senator Hawley. "This lack of responsiveness suggests the Army may not actually have a plan for meeting Fort Leonard Wood’s housing requirements in contradiction of your previous assurances. The Army has made some progress—but only under duress and far more remains to be done."
He continued, "Service members and their families at Fort Leonard Wood deserve better than empty promises. [...] Ensuring quality housing at Fort Leonard Wood is and will remain a top priority for me."
BACKGROUND
- In December 2022, Senator Hawley announced that the Army committed to spending $41.4 million in Fiscal Year 2023 and another $50 million in Fiscal Year 2024 for new housing at Fort Leonard Wood following repeated demands that aging homes at the base be replaced.
- In August 2022, Senator Hawley toured Fort Leonard Wood, delivered remarks about the important work being done there, and visited with residents about base housing in need of replacement.
- A few weeks before his August visit, Senator Hawley sent a letter to Secretary Wormuth requesting an update on the Army’s plans to replace aging homes at Fort Leonard Wood.
- In May 2022, Senator Hawley pressed Secretary Wormuth and Chief of Staff of the Army General James C. McConville for answers about housing at Fort Leonard Wood.
- In June of 2021, Senator Hawley asked Secretary Wormuth and General McConville for information about the Army’s plans to replace housing at the base.
Read the full letter here or below:
Honorable Christine Wormuth
Secretary of the Army
101 Army Pentagon
Washington, D.C. 20310-0101
Dear Secretary Wormuth,
I write again to request the Army’s plan for replacing aging homes at Fort Leonard Wood. You committed to share this information in May 2022 and again in October 2022, but the Army still has not sent it. This lack of responsiveness suggests the Army may not actually have a plan for meeting Fort Leonard Wood’s housing requirements in contradiction of your previous assurances.
The Army has made some progress—but only under duress and far more remains to be done. I acknowledge, for instance, the Army’s commitment last year to invest $41.4 million in Fort Leonard Wood housing. Under Secretary of the Army Gabe Camarillo confirmed these funds will be invested in Fiscal Year (FY) 2023; I intend to see that they are. I also recognize the Army’s request for $50 million for Fort Leonard Wood housing in the FY 2024 budget request. These are steps in the right direction, but they have as often as not come after I have resorted to holding Army nominees. Moreover—and more importantly—while these investments are essential, far more is required to fulfill Fort Leonard Wood’s housing requirements.
None of this is news. You and I first discussed this matter at a Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) hearing on June 15, 2021. Shortly after the hearing, Army Materiel Command (AMC) and Army Installation Management Command (IMCOM) informed my office that “Balfour Beatty Corporation is working a private investment initiative that will make as much as $340M available to improve BBC housing across the Army portfolio beginning later [in 2021].” But that never happened. Instead, on May 3, 2022, the Army notified my office that the funds identified in the AMC/IMCOM letter were no longer available.
I raised this troubling development with you at a SASC hearing on May 5, 2022. During this conversation, you committed to share exactly how and when the Army planned to meet Fort Leonard Wood’s housing requirements. Three months later, your office still had not provided this information, so on August 5, 2022, I sent you a letter requesting it again. It took another three months before I received a reply from Under Secretary Camarillo, but that reply again failed to explain how the Army plans to replace all of the aging homes in question.
You and I spoke further about housing at Fort Leonard Wood on October 12, 2022. During this conversation, you told me the Army had “mapped out in detail” its plan for meeting Fort Leonard Wood’s housing requirements, and you committed once more to share that information. That commitment, too, remains unfulfilled.
Service members and their families at Fort Leonard Wood deserve better than empty promises. This in mind, I request answers to the following no later than April 29, 2023:
- How does the Army plan to fund the replacement of all of the homes at Fort Leonard Wood that need to be replaced?
- What is the Army’s timeline for replacing all of the homes at Fort Leonard Wood that need to be replaced?
As part of your responses to these questions, I ask that you share copies of the plans you referenced in our conversations in May and October 2022.
Ensuring quality housing at Fort Leonard Wood is and will remain a top priority for me. Thank you for your attention to this important matter.
Sincerely,
Josh Hawley
United States Senator