The region's impending troop buildup will not only be taxing on public housing markets, but will also mean stretching already thin on-base housing.

The Department of Defense is putting together a plan to address old, dilapidated and insufficient on-base housing and has looked outside military ranks for solutions.

Even the most basic of new family housing on military bases rivals that of housing in the public sector.

Kimberly Branch, general manager of Bluff Ridge Apartments in Jacksonville, said the military's change in philosophy about housing troops on base has been significant.

"(Apartment complexes) no longer only compete with each other, but the military, too. On-base housing has gotten so nice that it's now my competion," Branch said.

Base housing is made available at no cost to Marines. Marines who qualify have the option of accepting a monthly basic housing allowance - and in turn securing their own housing in the public sector.

The inception of improved housing on military bases occurred when Congress established the Military Housing Privatization Initiative in 1996.

The MHPI was designed to attract private sector financing, expertise and innovation in providing necessary housing faster and more efficiently than the traditional military construction processes.

Eastern North Carolina's military bases continue to perform a balancing act between the quality and quantity of base housing. At no time has this balancing act ever been more evident than the present, with nearly 10,000 more troops - plus their families - soon calling the region home.

Recent studies by the Department of Defense disclosed that 45 percent of current military housing needed to be renovated or replaced.

Atlantic Marine Corps Communities is the public sector company awarded the contract to develop, build, renovate, finance and manage family housing on Camp Lejeune.

The approach for family housing has been to establish neighborhoods, not just houses.

"We want to include lots of curb appeal in our projects so they look like a grand neighborhood that has been master planned," said Joshua Brown, marketing manager for AMCC.

The new on-base neighborhoods resemble many you would find in the public sector, featuring open spaces, play grounds, winding streets, community centers and, in some cases, swimming pools.

Plans call for 1,743 new homes on Camp Lejeune and another 1,454 homes to be remodeled.

In both cases, these projects will result in larger, more accommodating homes than in the past.

Plans call for the new and renovated homes to be completed by the year 2013. This leaves a two-year gap between the phased-in troop increases and the completion of on-base family housing.

"There has been no word of moving up deadlines on any phases of the project," Brown said.

One of the facts of life for those seeking on-base family housing is that they will need to wait their turn for an opening.

"The wait time varies depending on the rank, the housing area, number of bedrooms required and specific construction requirements," Michael Lane, director of personal support at the Camp Lejeune Housing Office, said.

Single Marines living on base don't have the inconvenience of a long wait for housing like their married counterparts. But they also are limited to living in a barracks.

Modern barracks closely resemble a college dormitory. Gone are the large open barracks with rows of beds closely neighboring one another. Instead, barrack living, while still high density housing, provides a more private and comfortable atmosphere.

Last week, The Daily News reported the wait for homes in the Watkins Village and Tarawa Terrace II neighborhoods had been extended up to six months. Wait lists are maintained by the Camp Lejeune Family Housing Office.

"When AMCC notifies the Housing Office they have a house that will soon become available, our office refers the next person on the waiting list for that specific housing area," Lane said. "The current wait time for all wait lists combined varies from three months to 12 months."



Contact Kevin Forsythe at kforsythe@freedomenc.com or 910-353-1171, ext. 8449. Visit www.jdnews.com to comment on this report.

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