The Army Wants Congress to Supercharge its Barracks Budget to Fix Soldiers' Poor Living Conditions

The Army is eyeing a massive increase in its funding to maintain aging barracks and build new base housing for junior troops in one of its most dramatic single budget requests to Congress in recent years.

In its proposed budget, the Army is seeking a total of $2.35 billion for barracks in 2025, a major boost from this fiscal year's $1.5 billion budget request. The Army’s proposed boost, which includes tripling its budget to construct new barracks, signals the service has taken enormous steps in elevating living conditions as a priority, siphoning funds from other parts of the service.

The service’s overall budget request is $185.9 billion -- a 0.2% increase from this year -- that when adjusted for inflation, has the Army potentially operating in 2025 with effectively the same budget. However, the final figures could change as Congress takes the request and starts working out its own version of the Army budget.