Watchdog Presses DOD to Fix Poor Infrastructure at Pacific Bases
The plan would add $600 billion, while researchers say Hawaiʻi faces $133.7 billion in unpaid rent and cleanup costs.
- President Donald Trump and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth are pushing for a record $1.6 trillion Pentagon budget for next year, even as a new Defense Department Inspector General report reveals widespread infrastructure decay across U.S. Pacific bases.
- Inspectors found severe facility degradation, including visible mold, asbestos, and crumbling concrete, at 11 key installations across Japan and Okinawa; the Pentagon attributes these issues to aging buildings, environmental factors like typhoons, and personnel shortages.
- Nearly 1,000 housing units at Kadena Air Base and Yokota Air Base were affected by concrete spalling alone, with hundreds more facing mold issues. A 2022 Government Accountability Office report estimated a $137 million infrastructure maintenance backlog as of 2020.
- While the Pentagon seeks a $600 billion budget increase, the Institute for Policy Studies reports the military owes Hawaii up to $133.7 billion in back rent. The Pentagon overstated Hawaii's annual economic benefits by nearly 30 percent.
- Critics argue the administration's aggressive Indo-Pacific military strategy deepens environmental and economic hardships for Hawaii. Some suggest a less aggressive foreign policy could require demilitarizing Hawaii and curbing the costly Pacific buildup.
12 Articles
12 Articles
Watchdog Presses DOD to Fix Poor Infrastructure at Pacific Bases
The Pentagon’s watchdog has identified serious concerns over corrosion, mold, and the structural decline of “critical infrastructure” at Air Force bases and other military installations in the Pacific, according to a recent report. The Department of Defense Inspector General was working on a project evaluating bases under U.S. Pacific Command for how shielding against electromagnetic pulses when it came across deeper infrastructure concerns, ac…
Pentagon Watchdog Finds Asbestos, Mold and Crumbling Walls at Pacific Bases
Mold, asbestos and crumbling walls are among the problems documented at U.S. military bases in the Pacific, according to a report released Tuesday, Aug. 11, by the Department of War‘s Office of the Inspector General (OIG). The War Department OIG published the report after investigators visited 11 bases under U.S. Pacific Command in May 2025. […]
Coverage Details
Bias Distribution
- 73% of the sources are Center
Factuality
To view factuality data please Upgrade to Premium
