{"id":31796,"date":"2026-01-26T15:28:26","date_gmt":"2026-01-26T15:28:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/uncategorized\/2026\/01\/26\/hegseth-puts-more-muscle-into-fixing-troops-household-goods-moves\/"},"modified":"2026-08-20T14:03:07","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T14:03:07","slug":"hegseth-puts-more-muscle-into-fixing-troops-household-goods-moves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/federal-oversight\/2026\/01\/26\/hegseth-puts-more-muscle-into-fixing-troops-household-goods-moves\/","title":{"rendered":"Hegseth puts more muscle into fixing troops\u2019 household goods moves"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Pentagon has stood up a new operation to focus solely on permanent fixes for the decades-old problems of damaged and lost household goods encountered by service members and families moving to new duty stations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With military moving season just around the corner, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Friday announced the establishment of the Personal Property Activity, elevating the importance of oversight of military household goods moves as a key mission. In a Jan. 21 memorandum, he stated the PPA will report to him through the under secretary for acquisition and sustainment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new group\u2019s mission will be to \u201cguarantee high quality, reliable and efficient household goods and vehicle shipment services for the more-than-300,000 warfighters worldwide who move somewhere every year,\u201d Hegseth said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If there are failures in the process, \u201cour job is to correct it and make it right, not deny that it happened,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For decades, military families have experienced problems<\/a> with missed pickups and deliveries, broken and lost household goods and a cumbersome claims process. In his video, Hegseth described examples of dressers missing a leg, couches looking like they had been dragged down the street and a service member\u2019s family\u2019s belongings that were packed upside down in boxes, spilling out and getting crushed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe listened to the concerns of our warriors,\u201d Hegseth said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hegseth fired the director of the personal property program last summer, and directed the formation of a task force<\/a> to find solutions. That task force is headed by Army Maj. Gen. Lance Curtis. Hegseth also named Curtis as the PPA\u2019s first commander. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen our warfighters are worried about their household goods, they aren\u2019t focused on their mission,\u201d Curtis said in an announcement of the reform. \u201cWe are ending that distraction. Mission readiness is non-negotiable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over more than 30 years, defense officials have made several attempts to reform and improve the government\u2019s handling of the household goods move process. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most recent was a massive effort to privatize the management of the moves under the $6.2 billion Global Household Goods Contract. DOD terminated the contract<\/a> in June, citing inadequacies by the contractor, HomeSafe Alliance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hegseth\u2019s designation of PPA as a special activity removes the responsibility and oversight of the personal property program from the U.S. Transportation Command. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are some of the changes the task force has already implemented, according to PPA spokesman Army Maj. Matthew Visser:<\/p>\n\n\n\n