Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senators Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), and Tim Kaine (D-Va.) wrote to U.S. Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM) General Randall Reed urging him to address ongoing household move challenges affecting military families ahead of peak transfer season as USTRANSCOM implements the Global Household Goods Contract (GHC) to streamline its relocation process.
The new GHC program was implemented starting in April 2024 to address long-standing issues such as missed pickup and delivery dates, broken belongings, and claims issues affecting military families during relocation. GHC consolidates management under the contractor HomeSafe Alliance, which is responsible for overseeing the relocation process.
Earlier this year, more than 1,000 military families – including Colorado families – reported household move failures in dealing with HomeSafe Alliance, including missed household goods pickups and delivery issues. Since then, USTRANSCOM released plans to resolve these issues and ensure that HomeSafe Alliance fulfills its obligations in a timely and efficient manner.
“We appreciate actions taken so far that are aimed at blunting the impacts of the GHC transition to our servicemembers and their families, which have included holding some household goods shipments in the legacy system, as well as increasing USTRANSCOM’s oversight of the HomeSafe Alliance contract performance,” wrote Bennet, Warner, and Kaine. “We are concerned, however, that the ongoing challenges with the contract transition and the large anticipated volume of moves in the coming months will continue to result in servicemember move disruptions and delays in their moves.”
In their letter, the senators urged General Reed to increase communication with servicemembers about their rights during the relocation process to prevent confusion and misinformation.
“You are also likely aware that the challenges with the implementation of GHC has generated a significant amount of online discussion surrounding military moves. To help prevent confusion or misinformation regarding moves, USTRANSCOM and service Transportation Offices must increase their communication with transferring servicemembers and their families, as the Army did in January to explain changes in personally procured moves. I encourage you to take additional steps to ensure servicemember understanding of their options, rights, and remedies during this transfer season,” continued the senators.
The senators also noted that President Donald Trump’s staffing cuts and hiring freezes at the Department of Defense may negatively affect servicemember moves as the military enters peak transfer season. Additionally, the Senators requested a detailed assessment of how these moves are affecting USTRANSCOM’s operations.
“To better assess the impacts of these haphazard cuts, please provide me a report detailing the staffing structure at USTRANSCOM that supports servicemember household good moves, including the number of billets for civilian and military personnel who support the GHC transition and manage the HomeSafe Alliance contract, the number of vacancies in those billets in AY23, AY24, AY25 to date, specifically identifying any new vacancies since January 20, 2025. We are requesting the same data from each of the military branches to better assess the impacts of Secretary Hegseth and Secretary Noem’s personnel management choices on servicemembers and their families to ensure that they are managing this important issue with the urgency it demands,” concluded the senators.
The text of the letter is available HERE and below.
Dear General Reed:
We write in appreciation of our servicemembers and their families, and in continuation of my effort to support them and work with U.S. Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM) on the implementation of the Global Household Goods Contract (GHC) with HomeSafe Alliance. We appreciate the continued focus from your team on remedying GHC implementation challenges, in keeping with USTRANSCOM’s commitments to our military community as they enter the permanent change of station (PCS) peak season. We will continue to monitor this PCS season and your efforts to ensure our military, and you, have what you need to undergo this transformation with minimal impact to those we serve.
We appreciate actions taken so far that are aimed at blunting the impacts of the GHC transition to our servicemembers and their families, which have included holding some household goods shipments in the legacy system, as well as increasing USTRANSCOM’s oversight of the HomeSafe Alliance contract performance. We are concerned, however, that the ongoing challenges with the contract transition and the large anticipated volume of moves in the coming months will continue to result in servicemember move disruptions and delays in their moves. We understand that HomeSafe Alliance is required to compensate servicemembers for some of the costs they incur because of these delays.
You are also likely aware that the challenges with the implementation of GHC has generated a significant amount of online discussion surrounding military moves. To help prevent confusion or misinformation regarding moves, USTRANSCOM and service Transportation Offices must increase their communication with transferring servicemembers and their families, as the Army did in January to explain changes in personally procured moves. We encourage you to take additional steps to ensure servicemember understanding of their options, rights, and remedies during this transfer season.
Finally, we are concerned that recent reports of staffing cuts and hiring freezes at the Department of Defense and military services may negatively impact servicemember moves as the military heads into peak transfer season. The firings of probationary employees and other federal employees, many of whom are military spouses or veterans, have exacerbated the disruptions caused by preexisting vacancies and create new disruptions across the federal government. This heedless hobbling of complex government functions house outsized negative impacts on customer service and customer experience. To better assess the impacts of these haphazard cuts, please provide me a report detailing the staffing structure at USTRANSCOM that supports servicemember household good moves, including the number of billets for civilian and military personnel who support the GHC transition and manage the HomeSafe Alliance contract, the number of vacancies in those billets in AY23, AY24, AY25 to date, specifically identifying any new vacancies since January 20, 2025. We are requesting the same data from each of the military branches to better assess the impacts of Secretary Hegseth and Secretary Noem’s personnel management choices on servicemembers and their families to ensure that they are managing this important issue with the urgency it demands.
We request this response by May 16, 2025. We appreciate your attention and look forward to continuing to work closely with you on this matter. Thank you for your time and consideration. should be placed.