Privatizing Military Family Housing:
A History of the U.S. Army's Residential Communities Initiative, 1995-2010
PENTAGON -- In the Pentagon Hall of Heroes, the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Installations, Energy, and Environment (ASA IE&E) hosted a reception marking the release of "Privatizing Military Family Housing: A History of the U.S. Army's Residential Communities Initiative, 1995-2010," a text depicting the challenges, successes, and lessons learned in working outside the traditional Army paradigm to partner with industry and improve and sustain quality of life for Service Members and their Families.
The ceremony featured a keynote address by the Hon. Katherine Hammack, as well as the presentation of the Residential Communities Initiative (RCI) History book to the Army's RCI Corporate Partners and individuals essential to the project's initial concept and formulation.
Individuals attending the ceremony included former Assistant Secretaries of the Army for Installations and Environment as well as leaders and staff from the offices of the Army Secretariat, the Assistant Chief of Staff for Installation Management and Installation Management Command.
Also in attendance were executives from the Army's industry partners including Balfour Beatty Communities, Clark Realty Capital, LLC; Equity Residential; Hunt Building Company, Ltd; Lend Lease, Lincoln Military Housing, LLC; Michaels Military Housing, LLC; and Picerne Military Housing.
Before the Army's Residential Communities Initiative (RCI) Program was created in 1999, nearly 70% of Army Family housing was inadequate and there was a deficit of 10,000 homes. To better address the shortcomings of its Family housing, the Army decided that housing management was not a core competency and would be better managed through cooperation with the private sector.
Since undergoing privatization, the Army's RCI program has provided over 27,000 new homes and nearly 23,000 renovated homes across 44 installations. With a projected end-state inventory of over 85,000 homes, it consists of approximately 98 percent of the on-post Family housing in the United States.
The Army's RCI Program contributes to recruitment, readiness, and retention by increasing the on-post quality of life for Service Members and their Families.
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