Much to the relief of airmen and dependents living on bases, the Air Force said yesterday it would pay an allowance to be used once per mold-to-mold housing move, or from one base to another base as during a PCS. Though the mold-to-mold allowance (MTMA) comes with stipulations, a single instance of denial has yet to be logged, officials said.
Scott Air Force Base has served as the test location for mold-to-mold move allowances for the past nine years, or about three PCS cycles. Built originally in 1917, the base has Colonial and Georgian-style homes, ranch duplexes built in the 1960s, apartments built in the 1990s, and two geographically separated neighborhoods of post-millennial homes.
“Probably the neatest thing for our kids was getting to experience mold from both the early 1920s in the Georgian homes at Scott, then Japanese mold when we PCS’d to Kadena, then modern mold when we came back to Scott and had a chance to live in the newer homes,” said Col. Ben Kensington, who is now stationed at Scott for a staff tour. “The allowance has helped us replace non-washable items like fabric couches and clothes, and the kids have such a unique and nuanced expanse of respiratory issues, we feel so lucky to be in the Air Force where housing is really varied.”
He added: “Military kids are fortunate to be exposed to things other kids don’t.”
Even younger airmen have seen the benefits of the new program. While most airmen are required to live on base during their first operational assignment, after reaching senior airman, they can graduate to the mid-90s duplexes given they have dependents, so their kids have a chance to mature incrementally or perhaps not at all.
“We used our MTMA to help us move moldy items, like books and adult magazines that we felt attached to,” said Staff Sgt. Jason Michaels. “I met my wife in the dorms, which are brand new and just starting to show signs of water damage, so we opted to stay on base together and move into the older apartments."
“The smell is interesting and the commute is short, plus the daycare is nearby which definitely has its own funk,” Michaels said with a sharp cough into a white handkerchief, trying to hide the blood spots.
There are still a few locations that have remained mold-free on base, according to Col. John Poole, the base commander at Scott.
“The golf course and base theater are sterile, but the hospital, gym, and chapel proudly sustain water leaks that were personally inspected by General Curtis Lemay and other famous leaders, so they’re historic and we’ve kept them intact,” Poole said. “Also, every plastic coffee maker on base — they’re also moldy — and so is the commissary, unit offices, staff headquarters, and auto hobby shop. Oh, and the gas station, and the fire department, and the cop shop.”
The Air Force plans to expand the mold-to-mold allowance to apply not just for moves, but for use during operational missions as well. This would mean benefits for missileers, who live in underground launch facilities built in the 1960s, radar operators working in dilapidated bunkers, and pilots flying any of the 430+ aircraft built before 1965.
The VA initially voiced concerns that disability claims would be delayed if the volume of applicants increased too quickly after the MTMA program was implemented. But the DoD assuaged these concerns by registering all future service members with the Mold Housing Registry upon graduation from basic training and any commissioning source.
R.J. Williams writes military history with noted expertise in Ancient texts, especially Thucydides and his History of the Polynesian War. R.J.’s wartime biographies have been praised as a nexus of Dr. Suess, Louis L'amour, and Danielle Steele.
