About 374,000 single, active-duty enlisted servicemembers are housed in the United States. Of this number, about 212,000 are permanently assigned to installations and live in barracks, about 96,000 receive a housing allowance and live off base in civilian communities near military installations, about 36,000 live on Navy ships, and about 30,000 live in barracks while in recruit or other short-term training. Most permanently assigned junior members living in barracks share a sleeping room and bath with one or two others. In many older barracks, everyone living on a hall or floor shares a communal bathroom, or central latrine. The Secretary of Defense is required to establish uniform barracks construction standards that define size limitations for newly constructed permanent barracks. Over the years, barracks construction standards have changed to provide for increased space and privacy. Prior to the 1970s, most permanent party barracks consisted of large, open-bay rooms with central latrines shared by many members. To meet the needs of the all-volunteer force, DOD adopted a new barracks standard in 1972. This standard provided a 270-square-foot room for three junior members that also shared a bath. Citing the need to provide more space for all pay grades, DOD adopted a new construction standard in 1983. This standard, known as the 2+2 design, consisted of a module with two, 180-net-square-foot sleeping rooms and a shared bath. With this design, two junior enlisted members normally would occupy each sleeping room, and four members would share a bath. The current 1+1 design standard provides a barracks module consisting of two private sleeping rooms, each with 118 net square feet, a bath, and a kitchenette. Two junior enlisted members in pay grades E-1 through E-4 are assigned to each module with each member having a private sleeping room. Normally, enlisted members in pay grades E-5 and above are assigned the entire module, using one sleeping room as a living room.Citing concerns over unit cohesion and team building, the Marine Corps obtained a permanent waiver from the Secretary of the Navy from using the 1+1 design standard in its new barracks construction. The Marine Corps prefers to use a barracks standard known as the 2+0 design, which provides a 180-net-square-foot room with a bath. Normally, either two junior Marines in pay grades E-1 through E-3 or one Marine in pay grade E-4 or E-5 are assigned to each room. Because the design standards apply to the construction of new barracks, adequacy of the existing barracks for housing members may not necessarily change. DOD separately establishes minimum standards of acceptable space and privacy for members assigned to existing barracks. For example, the current minimum assignment standard for permanent party personnel in pay grades E-1 through E-4 is 90 square feet of net living area per person, not more than four persons to a room, and a central latrine. When this assignment standard cannot be met or when space is not available, installation commanders can authorize single members to live off base and receive a housing allowance. Regardless of the availability of adequate barracks space, senior personnel in pay grades E-7 through E-9 may elect to live off base and receive a housing allowance. With the exception of the Marine Corps, the services have embraced the 1+1 design standard and began building new and renovating older barracks in accordance with the standard in fiscal year 1996. As shown in table 1, through fiscal year 1999, about $1.5 billion in funding was approved for 124 barracks projects designed to provide over 29,000 barracks spaces meeting the 1+1 design standard. Except for the Marine Corps, each service has adopted a plan for improving its barracks and implementing the 1+1 standard. According to service officials, the plans generally call for (1) eliminating barracks with central latrines primarily through construction of new 1+1 barracks, (2) providing members with increased privacy and approximating the 1+1 standard in existing barracks by assigning one member to rooms originally designed for two members or two persons to rooms originally designed for three persons, (3) constructing new 1+1 barracks to meet existing barracks shortages and to regain capacity lost when fewer members are assigned to existing rooms, and (4) replacing existing barracks at the end of their economic life with new 1+1 barracks. The services, as discussed below, estimated that an additional $7.4 billion would be required to implement their plans and approximate the 1+1 standard. The Marine Corps’ plan is similar to the other services’ plans except that it calls for implementation of the 2+0 barracks design standard in lieu of the 1+1 design. In its plan, the Army estimated that about $3 billion would be required through fiscal year 2008 to approximate the 1+1 standard for about 84,000 servicemembers in the United States in pay grades E-1 through E-6. When the Army meets this goal, about 38 percent of the Army’s barracks spaces will meet all requirements of the 1+1 standard. The balance of the spaces will consist of existing (1) private sleeping rooms that do not meet all requirements of the 1+1 standard and (2) multiperson rooms that have been downloaded. The Army’s barracks strategy also provides for improving the entire barracks community. As such, many Army barracks construction projects include construction of new company operations buildings, battalion and brigade headquarters buildings, soldier community buildings, and dining facilities. The Army is also developing a barracks master plan that will include an installation-by-installation assessment of barracks conditions and detailed plans for replacement or renovation to meet requirements of the 1+1 design standard. The master plan is to be completed by September 1999. The Army has approved no waivers to the 1+1 standard for barracks projects in the United States. In 1997, the Air Force completed a comprehensive barracks master plan that defines the Air Force’s long-range barracks investment strategy and lays out a road map for implementing the 1+1 standard. The Air Force’s strategy calls for providing private sleeping rooms for permanent party servicemembers in pay grades E-1 through E-4 by downloading existing 2+2 rooms and constructing new 1+1 rooms to regain the lost capacity. The strategy also calls for paying housing allowances for single members in pay grades E-5 and above to live off base. The Air Force estimated that about $750 million would be required through fiscal year 2009 to approximate the 1+1 standard for about 48,000 members in the United States in pay grades E-1 through E-4. The Air Force has approved no waivers to the 1+1 standard for barracks projects in the United States. The Navy estimated that about $2.9 billion would be required through fiscal year 2013 to approximate the 1+1 design standard worldwide. The Navy’s strategy calls for (1) providing barracks space for about 36,000 permanent party, shore-based single servicemembers in pay grades E-1 through E-4 in the United States; (2) paying housing allowances to most members in pay grades E-5 and above to live off base; and (3) continuing to house about 36,000 single members in pay grades E-1 through E-4 assigned to large ships, on the ships, rather than in barracks, even when the ships are in their homeports. The Navy is developing a barracks master plan that will include an installation-by-installation assessment of barracks conditions and detailed plans for barracks replacement or renovation to meet requirements of the 1+1 design standard. The master plan is scheduled to be completed by April 1999. The Navy has approved waivers from using the 1+1 design standard for four projects in the United States, and one additional waiver request was pending. The waivers were granted because these installations could improve barracks conditions more quickly and for more members by building the projects using a lower and less costly standard. In addition, two of the projects were for barracks designed for Navy personnel assigned to Marine Corps installations. In these cases, the waiver justifications also stated that the barracks should use the Marine Corps 2+0 design standard to be compatible with other barracks at the installations. In July 1998, the Secretary of the Navy approved the Marine Corps’ request for a permanent waiver to allow the use of the 2+0 barracks design standard in lieu of the 1+1 design standard. The waiver request stated that Marine Corps junior members in pay grades E-1 through E-3 would live in two-person rooms and that private rooms would be provided for members in pay grades E-4 and above. Through fiscal year 1999, about $205 million was approved for 16 Marine Corps 2+0 barracks projects that will provide about 5,900 barracks spaces. The Marine Corps’ strategy calls for providing barracks space for permanent party single servicemembers in pay grades E-1 through E-5 and paying housing allowances for most members in pay grades E-6 and above to live off base. The Marine Corps estimated that about $725 million would be required through fiscal year 2022 to approximate the 2+0 standard worldwide. A Marine Corps official stated that a barracks master plan similar to the other services plans is under development. DOD primarily justified the adoption of the 1+1 barracks design standard in 1995 as an investment in quality of life aimed at improving readiness, retention, and motivation of a professional, all-volunteer armed force. In a December 1995 report to the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations, DOD stated that “savings in recruiting, training, and productivity will offset the quality-of-life investment.