The Defense Department terminated the contract with HomeSafe Alliance, the company hired to manage military moves, citing its inability to perform the work, officials announced Wednesday.
HomeSafe had been awarded the Global Household Goods Contract, worth potentially up to $17.9 billion over nine years, to implement a new process for moving service members’ and their families household goods.
The contract was terminated due to HomeSafe’s “demonstrated inability to fulfill their obligations and deliver high quality moves to service members,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in an announcement Wednesday.
Although HomeSafe will be ceasing operations, company officials said they will complete all moves currently in progress for service members and their families. Meanwhile, industry representatives said moving companies are “working feverishly” to cover as many military household goods shipments as possible under the legacy system.
The contract, awarded in 2021, was aimed at fixing long-standing problems with missed pickup and delivery dates, broken and lost items and claims. However, amid the contract’s rocky rollout this year, families reported delays in getting their household goods picked up and delivered.
In a statement to Military Times, HomeSafe said it disagrees with U.S. Transportation Command’s decision to terminate the contract.
“HomeSafe is confident it performed to the fullest extent possible considering the limitations placed on it,” company officials said in a release. Officials said they were disappointed they didn’t have the opportunity to engage with the task force “prior to the contract being terminated without warning.”
In May, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered several changes to the system, including creating a PCS task force and increasing the reimbursement rate for troops and families who decide to move all or part of their household goods themselves to 130% of what the government would have paid under the GHC contract.
“We know it’s not working and it’s only getting worse. We’ve heard your concerns about contractor performance quality and accountability. We hear you loud and clear. That’s why we’re taking decisive action immediately,” Hegseth said in a video posted on X in May.
In a memo released Wednesday, Hegseth appointed Army Maj. Gen. Lance G. Curtis to lead the PCS task force. The task force “is currently reviewing the entire PCS process to rapidly identify additional actions to better the moving experience now,” according to the announcement. The group is tasked with submitting recommendations for longer-term solutions no later than Sept. 5.
As the peak military moving season is now in full swing, defense officials have also implemented changes to address the issue of finding enough movers to handle the volume of moves. That includes reverting all moves to be handled under the legacy system.
Service members moving themselves may also be reimbursed 100% of the government rate under the legacy system.
TRANSCOM, which had been gradually ramping up the volume of moves with HomeSafe since April 2024, had expected to move all domestic shipments under the new contract by this year’s peak moving season, but it scrapped that plan earlier this year as problems began to mount with HomeSafe’s ability to provide enough capacity to pack, load, truck and unload service members’ belongings.
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Movers for America, an organization of large and small independent contractors and businesses that move military families, said it “[commends] the Defense Department for its decisive leadership to address the failed Global Household Goods Contract.”
The GHC’s attempt to reform the moving process “resulted in the worsening of Permanent Change of Station moves, with a rigid structure that ignored the economic and logistical realities of military moves,” stated the organization, which has opposed the GHC.
The International Association of Movers also supports DOD’s decision to act quickly on the GHC, “in an attempt to stabilize peak season moves for our service members,” said Dan Bradley, vice president of government and military relations for the organization. Movers are facing an uphill battle this late into peak season to recover from the instability and unknowns of this year, Bradley said, “but our members are working feverishly to cover as many shipments as they can under the current constraints.”
A number of moving companies have declined to participate in the new GHC system, citing lower rates than they’ve been traditionally paid.
“From the program’s start, HomeSafe has also faced staunch opposition from certain legacy movers,” company officials stated.
Karen has covered military families, quality of life and consumer issues for Military Times for more than 30 years, and is co-author of a chapter on media coverage of military families in the book “A Battle Plan for Supporting Military Families.” She previously worked for newspapers in Guam, Norfolk, Jacksonville, Fla., and Athens, Ga.
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