Privatization of military housing: the impact on recreation at Fort Hood, Texas

Parks & Recreation, August, 2003 by Kindal Shores Hunt, David Scott

Finding a way at Fort Hdood meant negotiating staffing and maintenance responsibilities. Staffing, programming and maintaining these new facilities puts an extra load on MWR's already over-stretched budgets. At Fort Hood, a unique solution has been engineered to deal with these problems.

In some instances, Actus completes renovations to existing buildings, and returns management and programming duties to MWR. However, Fort Hood Family Housing maintains all new facilities it builds through a leasing provision.

More for Their Money

Despite the challenges associated with privatization, the concomitant benefits are immense. At Fort Hood, the Partnership is already working on providing new classrooms for Heat Start programs, providing access to an existing Killeen Independent School District park and improving pedestrian access to the existing Bronco Youth Center. Residents benefit from new first-class facilities built with the speed and expertise that a private contractor provides. Once the facilities are built, residents continue to benefit from having familiar MWR programs and personnel who call understand the challenges associated with military living. Finally, when MWR goes home at the end of the day, Fort Hood Family Housing can maintain the facility with longer operating hours without adhering to clientele quotas.

By coordinating master planning and budgets, MWR and Fort Hood Family Housing are on their way to providing top-notch parks and recreation to the community of residents living on post at Ft. Hood. A strong relationship has developed during the privatization. For example, MWR and Actus recently reviewed the 20-year budget and recreation projections for MWR. The organizations were able to pool resources and make some of these tentative plans a reality. Soccer fields are being laid out at Venable Village on post, which is something MWR had on its wish list tbr the next decade.

While residents benefit from improved leisure facilities and services, privatization can serve the greater goal of the U.S. military recruitment, readiness and retention of soldiers. Quality-of-life concerns such as housing, youth centers and recreation programs have demonstrated effects on morale and have been shown to impact soldier retention. Ensuring high-quality home life can aid readiness as deployed soldiers have peace of mind to concentrate on their duties. Actus also benefits from the new partnership with the military because besides expanding the scope of their projects, those involved at the grassroots gain a sense of satisfaction. As project manager Woodcock says, "When you specifically start to see the fruits of your labor benefiting families, you that you are really doing something good and worthwhile for others."

Kindal Shores Hunt is a graduate student in recreation and park administration at Texas A&M University. David Scott, Ph.D., is an associate professor in the Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Sciences at Texas A&M. For more information about privatization and recreation at Fort Hood, contact Hunt at khunt@ rpts.tamu.edu.