A mover loads a service member’s household goods into a truck in Pacific Grove, Calif., May 11, 2022. (Winifred Brown/U.S. Army)
U.S. Sen. Mark Warner is urging U.S. Transportation Command to take immediate action over “failures” in pickup and delivery of household goods for hundreds of relocating military families under a sweeping overhaul of how items are shipped and stored.
“As the military community enters the permanent change of station (PCS) peak season, it is essential that our servicemembers and their families have the logistical support they need to meet the mission,” the Virginia Democrat said in the letter Wednesday to Gen. Randall Reed, who heads the command.
The Defense Department is transferring oversight of the roughly 300,000 annual moves for the military and Coast Guard to HomeSafe Alliance, a joint venture between Tier One Relocation and KBR, formerly Kellogg Brown & Root.
The Transportation Command awarded HomeSafe a $20 billion contract in late 2021 to implement the Global Household Goods Contract, or GHC.
Under GHC, HomeSafe is replacing about 900 companies that until now managed military moves by contracting with movers and trucking, shipping and warehousing companies.
During a media roundtable in late January, Transportation Command officials said that roughly 1,000 service members had faced late pickups or deliveries of household goods under the ramp-up phase of GHC.
Warner compared the current spate of failures to problems a decade ago when he intervened on behalf of service members experiencing issues with shipping of personally owned vehicles.
“This delay cost military members hundreds of dollars in vehicle rental fees and untold aggravation with an unresponsive contractor, and I was pleased that USTRANSCOM implemented a plan to address contract performance,” Warner wrote.
“I am disappointed to once again find that intervention is necessary to ensure the military community has what they need to focus on their jobs and families.”
The Transportation Command is aware of the letter and “greatly appreciates the Senator’s concerns regarding the implementation of the Global Household Goods Contract,” Scott Ross, a spokesman for the command, said in an email Wednesday.
“General Reed and U.S. TRANSCOM remain committed to delivering an improved moving experience to our service members and their families and will respond to the questions posed in the letter,” Ross said.
In an emailed statement Wednesday, HomeSafe said that logistical challenges have caused delays for some moves in the “early and developmental stages” of GHC.
“We apologize to every affected family,” the email states. “HomeSafe is taking all the lessons learned and continually improving our systems and processes, including enhancing our customer care operations, updating our technology platform, reshaping our training program for service providers, and hiring additional employees.
“Over the last few weeks, we have made significant progress in working through challenges and strengthening our network of service providers.”
Warner requested that command officials brief the senator’s staffers about the percentage of missed drop off and pick-ups due to capacity issues; options available to service members experiencing delays; assurances made by HomeSafe to build moving-contractor capacity; performance metrics being used to evaluate HomeSafe; and impacts to the command’s staffing or budget due to intervention by the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.
Warner singled out a statement in January by Andy Dawson, director of the command’s Defense Personal Property Management Office, that in the transformation to GHC failures “are to be expected.”
“I can assure you that the military families missing their beds, kitchen appliances, and comforts of home expect far more in terms of support,” Warner wrote.
“We cannot be complacent in the performance of this contract or in the treatment the military families moving this [permanent change of station] season, particularly as your implementation schedule calls for domestic PCS moves to transition to this new contract this spring.”
