12 On Your Side Investigates: Defense chief cracks down amid military moving mess
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - It appears the government is taking even more action to fix a military moving mess.
For months now, a 12 On Your Side investigation has exposed a pattern of problems with a new program to move our service and their families.
On Tuesday, we told you some top brass at the U.S. Transportation Command is out of a job.
But now Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is getting involved.
He’s directing the Transportation Command to make some immediate changes to what he calls “deficiencies.”
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First and foremost, the command to hold HomeSafe Alliance able.
That’s the private company supposed to be in charge of all military moves – but it appears the company is only handling a small fraction of them.
Hegseth’s memo also its – for the first time – what multiple movers have been telling 12 On Your Side Investigates for months – that the rates “fail to reflect market rates.”
Movers – who work as subcontractors for HomeSafe – told us they would actually lose money doing military moves.
As one way to address the gap, Hegseth ordered the Transportation Command to give families more money to move themselves.
Families have said they went into debt because they were reimbursed with the same rates as Homesafe.
Now they will get 130%.
There will also be a task force responsible for reasg moves HomeSafe can’t handle, Those relocations will be moved back into the old program.
READ DEFENSE SECRETARY’S MEMO:
In a statement, a HomeSafe spokesperson told us:
“HomeSafe Alliance is grateful for Defense Secretary Hegseth’s attention to the Global Household Goods Contract and the directives he has issued, which will greatly improve moving experiences for military service and their families. DoD raising our rates to for significant inflation from the last four years would substantially benefit our ability to facilitate world-class moving services for our nation’s heroes. We look forward to working with the PCS Task Force to demonstrate how our program modernizes and digitizes the move process and resolves decades-long issues with military relocations.”
As a follow-up, we asked that spokesperson to confirm HomeSafe set those rates when the company originally won the contract.
We also asked for confirmation HomeSafe already has an economic price adjustment built into that contract – meaning the government already gives HomeSafe more money each year to help offset inflation.
This was the response:
“During the contract bidding process in 2021, HomeSafe Alliance led a bottom-up, market-based process to determine viable rates, but four years later, inflation has significantly changed market economics. To date, the implementation of the contract’s Economic Price Adjustment has not kept pace with market fluctuations - nor has an adjustment been given every year - which is why HomeSafe greatly appreciates Secretary Hegseth’s call for review of this process.”
It’s important to note that Hegseth’s memo comes at a very important time.
We are entering the busiest time of the year for military moves.
As many as 9,000 families can move every week during the summer.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE:
- Missed military moving deadline
- U.S. senators launch inquiry into military moving contract
- Movers say they can’t afford to take part in new program
- Military pulls back on relocation program
- Families hit roadblocks with new military moving contract
Meanwhile, the U.S. Transportation Command has relieved Robert “Andy” Dawson of his duties as the director of the Defense Personal Property Management Office.
It was his job to oversee the hundreds of thousands of military families that move each year.
A spokesperson did not confirm or deny whether Dawson was fired, but said Maj. Gen. Lance Curtis would be taking over for now.
There have been formal warnings and violation notices, but this could be the start of some real ability for all these problems.
In a statement, the Transportation Command said: “Our focus remains locked on providing our service and their families with an improved moving experience.”
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