Government housing or as some call it, on-base housing, serves as a benefit to our military families. As we think of the men and women in uniform that serve our great nation we portray them as being well-disciplined; unfortunately, not all soldiers are. There are soldiers and family members with criminal records, multiple acts of misconduct, poor living practices, and acts of prejudice that reside and attend schools on base. As difficult as it may seem there are no background checks or past rental history conducted prior to soldiers and family members occupying quarters. Not performing these actions allows soldiers that have family members at their present duty station the opportunity to sign for and occupy government housing. The housing authority needs to implement background and past rental history checks on all soldiers and their families prior to residing in quarters. .
Safety for all residents is the main concern. Domestic violence is a common occurrence in the military. In fact domestic violence within the military is five times greater than the civilian population. It is a growing problem and it affects everyone, it destroys individuals, ruins families and weakens our communities. In fact, it occurs often enough for the Department of Defense [DOD] to make it an issue that a specific task force was formed to evaluate family violence programs and policies. The DOD declares that domestic violence will not be tolerated, yet, there is still an increase and those individuals that conduct such acts are still permitted to reside in government housing ("Violence"1). .
Domestic violence is not the only problem facing our military community today. Gang activities by young teens also have been on the rise over the past several years. Single parents, dual military spouses, and deployments have created a lifestyle where young teenagers find themselves without parent supervision for long periods of time, therefore, giving the children the opportunity to get into mischief.