The US Navy needs to find thousands of temporary beds. Houseboats are on the table.

The US Navy is looking for impermanent lodging options for sailors that could put thousands of them successful hotels, RVs, prefabricated units, impermanent "man-camps" aliases moreover houseboats arsenic it searches for places to location troops during a yearslong effort to overhaul aging barracks.

The work announced its hunt for "practical and flexible" lodging options "that tin beryllium deployed quickly" connected Monday.

The standard of the hunt reflects the daunting situation of repairing and renovating work personnel housing. Entire barracks must first beryllium emptied retired earlier renovations tin begin.

Across the locations identified by the Navy, which see bases crossed the country, astatine slightest 8,600 beds are needed, though the work is seeking astir 12,000 to relationship for imaginable unit surges, betwixt now and 2030. While the attraction is connected barracks upgrades, portion of the service's shortfall comes from accrued recruiting, according to the petition for information.

Prefabricated modular homes, "containerized housing," commercialized flat leases, extended-stay hotels, and repurposed existing buildings are each imaginable options, according to a request for information posted online by the service. Even houseboats are connected the table.

"The extremity is to find innovative solutions that meet strict value and information standards without disrupting captious training and naval operations," the work said successful the announcement.

The subject has struggled pinch dilapidated facilities for years, including the spaces troops unrecorded and activity in. Complicating efforts to repair them is the military's regular believe of redirecting accommodation money to different projects, specified arsenic deploying troops to the confederate border.

A caller authorities watchdog report examining the US information ngo on the confederate separator recovered that the Pentagon had redirected $1.264 cardinal successful backing for subject "facilities sustainment, restoration, and modernization" successful fiscal twelvemonth 2025 to support confederate separator operations, which person costs the authorities $2.64 cardinal successful full truthful far.

The study did not place the accommodation aliases projects affected by the realignment aliases find whether peculiar barracks repairs could beryllium delayed.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth established a department-wide Barracks Task Force past fall, funded pinch $1.2 cardinal for subject repairs and renovations, drafting from backing provided by President Donald Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill. The Navy received $375 cardinal of that funding.

The Pentagon did not respond to questions from Business Insider astir the task force's caller accomplishments beyond backing allocations.

"Improving surviving conditions is simply a apical privilege for the Navy, but broad upgrades require important structural work," the work said successful its Monday announcement. "To safely behaviour the heavy renovations needed to modernize aging facilities, full barracks must beryllium vacated."

The impermanent lodging will make measurement for "massive building projects" to upgrade facilities, the Navy said.

"Our sailors are our astir captious asset, and providing them pinch safe, clean, and comfortable surviving quarters is simply a basal responsibility," said Vice Adm. Scott Gray, Commander, Navy Installations Command.