ARNOLD AIR FORCE BASE, Tenn. -- Residents of the Arnold Village family housing community at Arnold Air Force Base can now make their voices heard on matters related to base housing.
The Department of Defense announced on Aug. 12 the launch of the DOD Housing Feedback System, or DHFS. The new system allows active-duty service members and their authorized dependents to submit feedback on their current leased unit, helping ensure their concerns are addressed in a timely manner.
This initiative is designed to enhance transparency and accountability in DOD privatized military housing.
DHFS is now live and can be accessed at https://www.dhfs.mil.
“The system opens an additional, high-visibility communication channel for active-duty service members living in privatized military housing and their authorized dependents to submit public feedback related to the condition of their current housing unit and receive a response from their privatized landlord,” a DOD release announcing the launch of DHFS reads.
Arnold Village residents should continue to submit work order requests through their community property manager or other regular channels to receive corrective action for maintenance issues.
“The Department of Defense has recently established the Department of Defense Housing Feedback System website, which allows active-duty residents and their families to submit any concern, complaint or compliments about the privatized housing unit they are residing to a website that is publicly viewable,” said Arnold AFB Housing Manager Debra Westervelt. “This system is independent of the Interactive Customer Evaluation program that the military uses and the SatisFact system that residents already use to respond to work order surveys. The Military Housing Office should still be your first stop for any concerns in privatized housing.”
The launch of the DHFS is part of the department’s ongoing commitment to improving the quality of life for service members and their families.
“The Department of Defense has a moral obligation to ensure that the spaces where our service members and their families live are healthy, functional and resilient,” Deborah G. Rosenblum, acting Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, stated in the release announcing the launch. “This new feedback system is a critical step to ensuring transparent and timely responses to occupants’ concerns and aligns with [U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s] priority to ‘Take Care of Our People.’ We are focused on putting our people’s experiences at the very center of all the work we do.”
The DFHS website home screen includes options to access official Office of the Secretary of Defense and Military Department housing webpages that include weblinks where they can:
- Find a copy of the privatized housing Tenant Bill of Rights.
- Locate contact information for the Military Housing Office and privatized landlord or their property manager.
- Access the DOD Hotline website if there are concerns about retaliation for submitting feedback.
“We encourage all eligible tenants to use this system to provide their valuable feedback and help us continue to enhance the quality of military housing,” the DHFS launch release states.
Directly supporting the Secretary of Defense’s priority to take care of service members, the DOD provides approximately 250,000 homes for service members and their families.
Earlier this year, the DOD released its Resilient and Health Defense Communities Strategy, which will guide the Department’s actions in the coming years to improve the built and natural environment on defense installations. The strategy focuses on improving the quality of life for service members, their families and the DOD civilian workforce.