A new joint task force will help active-duty troops and their families with problems they experience while moving from base to base, the Pentagon announced Wednesday, after a multibillion-dollar contract aimed at streamlining and centralizing the military relocation process was terminated in June amid an avalanche of complaints.
“It became very evident to me that they were either unwilling or incapable” of properly executing the contract, a defense official said Wednesday.
The Pentagon awarded the Global Household Goods Contract, or GHC, in April 2020, to serve as a single hub managing all subcontracted military moves across the department. The goal was to replace the legacy system, under which U.S. Transportation Command contracted moves through a sprawling network of approved vendors.
Following initial bid protests, the GHC contract was restructured and eventually awarded to HomeSafe Alliance—a joint venture of Kellogg Brown & Root and Tier One Relocation. The contract had a potential value of more than $17 billion over 10 years. But after starting operations in 2024, HomeSafe quickly fell behind. By November of that year, it was managing only a fraction of the expected number of household moves. Performance worsened through 2025.
“We have things called key performance indicators. And if a contract that is with the government cannot meet those indicators, we have codified processes on how we put them on notice to let them formally know that they have to get better in these areas. We followed all those processes,” a defense official said Wednesday.
Customer complaints focused largely on poor communication from the company, a defense official said. A likely root cause, according to local reporting, was HomeSafe’s unwillingness to pay market rates to moving subcontractors. As reported by Raleigh, North Carolina, TV station WRAL in February, “What this middleman is offering is 20% less than we’re making now,” said Steve Marshburn of Piedmont Van and Storage.
“The biggest [issue] was missed pickups—service members reporting that they were told one thing and something else occurred,” the defense official added.
HomeSafe Alliance did not respond to requests for comment.
To address the fallout, the Pentagon’s permanent change of station joint task force has surged personnel to coordinate remaining moves and assist families during the transition. A call center number is expected to be announced later this month.
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