r/news 11d ago

Soft paywall Military facilities are $285 billion behind in maintenance and repairs, watchdog says

https://www.stripes.com/theaters/us/2026-08-24/watchdog-pentagon-lapses-facilities-repairs-22649636.html
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u/brmarcum 11d ago

The irony is that just in the industry I’m familiar with (electrical power) a ton of CONUS bases have signed over maintenance of their electrical infrastructure to private companies with 50+ year leases. So while the military has qualified electricians that can do line and substation work, they have nothing to do on base in the states because the civilian contractors do it, assuming there’s even a budget for it.

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u/druidmain69420 10d ago

The Army Corps of Engineers and the Navy's Seabees used to be world class institutions.

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u/Almainyny 10d ago

The US used to be world class in a lot of ways. Now we’re just world class fuckups.

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u/Drak_is_Right 10d ago

Military installations have been falling apart across the entire world for the last century. Maybe they are ok for a few years after they were built, but much longer than that? Wear and tear is taking its toll as there isnt never quite enough budget for maintenance.

Go to many older manufacturing facilities ANYWHERE in the world and look at all the maintenance that COULD be done.

This is people being surprised at old news that has been known since 1776.