Pentagon to alleviate financial hardships caused by COVID-19 to US military families

The Pentagon is planning to strengthen the economic security for the United States military personnel and their families in order to alleviate the hardships caused to them during the COVID-19 pandemic. At a Pentagon news conference held on Wednesday, Nov. 17, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin outlined the hardships faced by the US military forces and the immediate steps that will be taken by the US Department of Defence to alleviate its worst effects on their families. Some of the challenges that the Pentagon will address include food insecurity, extended wait times for housing, drastically reduced housing inventories, and sudden, sharp increases in rental or purchase costs for housing witnessed by the US military service members. 

"The pandemic and tight housing markets across the country have made financial struggles (for service members and their families) even tougher,” Austin said. "With the holidays approaching, I know that this is on the minds of our military communities. And it's certainly top of mind for me,” he added. 

US Def Sec orders an 'implementation roadmap' to be released within 90 days

US DoD will take urgent steps to reduce the ravaging impact of the pandemic on military personnel, and to accomplish the same, ordered the Undersecretary of Defence for Personnel and Readiness "to develop a strategy and implementation roadmap within 90 days to strengthen food security across the force.” A memo released by Austin outlined some urgent measures such as the Department of Defence will temporarily raise the basic allowance for housing in areas that have had a 10% increase in rental costs this year. Further, the memo elaborated that in places with housing shortages, the US DoD will extend feasible options of temporary lodging expense reimbursements so that the military families “have more time to find a home that fits their needs.” 

"And when it comes to making sure our people have enough to eat, we've created a new toolkit that will help leaders identify service members who are struggling and connect service members and their families to resources and support programs and more," the US Defence Secretary continued.

US DoD will take urgent steps to reduce the ravaging impact of the pandemic on military personnel, and to accomplish the same, ordered the Undersecretary of Defence for Personnel and Readiness "to develop a strategy and implementation roadmap within 90 days to strengthen food security across the force.” A memo released by Austin outlined some urgent measures such as the Department of Defense will temporarily raise the basic allowance for housing in areas that have had a 10% increase in rental costs this year. Further, the memo elaborated that in places with housing shortages, the US DoD will extend feasible options of temporary lodging expense reimbursements so that the military families “have more time to find a home that fits their needs.” 

“Men and women in uniform and their families have enough to worry about — basic necessities like food and housing shouldn't be among them. This is a readiness issue. And that's why I'm focused on making sure that our service members and their families have what they need to thrive so that they can focus on the hard work of defending our nation,” said Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin.