U.S. Office of Personnel Management - Ensuring the Federal Government has an effective civilian workforce

2008 Presidential Award for Management Excellence

Department of Defense

Competitive Sourcing Innovative and Exemplary Practices

The U.S. Department of Defense is the United States' principal agency for providing the military forces needed to deter war and to protect the security of the Nation. The Department of the Army carries out this mission by protecting the Nation from enemies, defending vital national interests, and providing support to civil authorities in response to domestic emergencies.

Recognizing that the Army's strength is its soldiers -- and the families and Army civilians who support them -- the Department of the Army developed the Military Housing Privatization Initiative to provide quality housing for soldiers and their families. The Army has faced a long-standing housing deficit that traditional funding methods have been slow to eliminate. During the 20 years prior to the Privatization of Military Housing Initiative, only 800 homes were built on Army installations in the United States.

The Initiative created a public-private partnership to achieve real results and significant cost savings. Through this initiative, a team of Federal Government and contract employees

• provided housing at $7 billion less expense than projected under previous funding models;
• increased the customer base by over 20,000 accommodations by expanding the model public-private partnership into the Unaccompanied Personnel Housing and Transient Lodging programs;
• closed projects at 36 of the 45 Army installations in the US - an increase from 10 closed projects prior to the Initiative;
• added 15,000 new homes and 12,000 renovations beyond the plan's original projects; and
• leveraged funds by 11 to 1, investing $955 million and receiving $10.5 billion in initial development.

In addition, the Initiative provided 62% ($2.53 billion) of its subcontract work ($4.07 billion) to small, disadvantaged businesses. The Initiative is on track to eliminate the Army's housing deficit by the 2016.