The U.S. Army has stopped one of the benefits its members enjoy when they are deployed. They cut off free storage for soldier’s personal belongings while they are away on duty. This policy is several years old, and many soldiers have benefited significantly.
Army personnel officials made this decision several months ago but waited till the first day of January 2024 to implement it. This was to give the soldiers time to move their properties away from the government-owned space. The Army Sustainment Command also released a memo informing their members and the public about this change.
It said, “Activities are therefore no longer authorized to fund [household goods] or [privately owned vehicles] storage requests for deploying soldiers. There is no authority to grant an exception to this policy. However, unit commanders may use their designated motor pool or a designated fenced area to store [vehicles] for soldiers on [temporary deployments] at no additional cost.”
It continued, “Although [regulations] establish that a service member … may store special storage of [household goods] and [private vehicles] if authorized/approved, the Army has no written policy authorizing or approving these entitlements.”
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Without a doubt, this is a significant change that will negatively affect several members of the Army. Once they broke the news, several people had a lot to say on social media platforms. One critic wrote, “Once again, our soldiers are being asked to pay the burden of being deployed.”
Another wrote, “I can’t imagine why recruiting and retention are hurting.” This statement comes as a result of the failure of the Army to reach its recruitment goal for 2023. In fact, neither the Army, Air Force, nor Navy met their targets for the year.
People have highlighted several reasons why, and some unfavorable conditions like this show why people don’t want to join the military. The number of interested younger Americans is low, leading to a smaller pool of qualified candidates to choose from.
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According to recent data, only 23% of Americans between 17 and 24 qualify physically and academically for military service. Therefore, it was no surprise when all the military bodies did not meet their targets.
However, the Army authorities have explained why the safe storage benefit was removed. They said they had no choice but to remove it because they faced budget constraints.
Furthermore, they understand the importance of storage benefits and are working on a new policy. “Army Sustainment Command discontinued the use of operational funds to store vehicles privately owned by soldiers deploying on non-contingency operations due to policy and funding constraints [or issues],” an army spokesman, Sgt Pablo Saez, explained.
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“We understand the burden this could potentially place on soldiers, and [the Army] is drafting a policy that would enable such storage,” he continued. Until it announces the new policy, its members have no choice but to adjust accordingly.
According to reports, the Army is also facing equipment storage issues. Therefore, the officials are trying to find a balance that also helps the Army and its members.
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