美国国家公共电台 NPR As Military Moving Costs Rise, It's Difficult For Officials To Keep Track

As Military Moving Costs Rise, It's Difficult For Officials To Keep Track

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Every year, the U.S. military moves hundreds of thousands of service members and their families across the globe. It is not cheap. In 2014, the Department of Defense² spent more than $4 billion on moving costs. As Alaska Public Media's Zachariah Hughes reports, officials don't know where all that money's going.

ZACHARIAH HUGHES, BYLINE³: Standing⁴ on his back porch in Birkenstocks earlier this summer, Lieutenant⁵ Colonel Alan Brown points to the edge of a river winding⁶ through this subdivision in Anchorage.

ALAN BROWN: We've had moose come right up along the back end of the fence multiple times.

HUGHES: The deck is a sliver⁷ of calm amid a frenzy⁸ of packing inside. The family's lived in this house for three years. And Brown's wife, Kristy, tells me that is a streak⁹ of stability compared to that seven moves they've made with the Army since getting married. Just in the last few years, they've lived in Texas, Kansas, Colorado and New York.

KRISTY BROWN: We came up here for the stability because, before this, we had moved annually¹⁰. And that got quite challenging.

HUGHES: Postings in Alaska are a year longer than in the lower 48 because the state technically¹¹ counts as an overseas rotation¹², sort of like Korea or Germany. But his three-year rotation is up, and Brown is set to teach English at West Point. The family is making a vacation out of their drive to New York while ships, trucks and movers transport almost all their worldly possessions more than 4,400 miles. In military jargon¹³, each move, roughly 650,000 of them each year, is called a permanent change of station, or PCS. It adds up to just under 4 percent of the military's personnel budget. And this is what it looks like - boxes, furniture, piles of stuff, everything from the essentials to random¹⁴ clutter¹⁵. There is just no incentive¹⁶ to shed.

A BROWN: Yeah, that's my scuba¹⁷ stuff. I haven't used those in a long time. When was the last time we went scuba diving?

K BROWN: On our honeymoon¹⁸.

A BROWN: Yeah.

HUGHES: Because the government covers moving costs, there's not really a need to make a choice about what stays or goes. And even though the number of moves a year is declining as the military shrinks, the cost of a move is going up. A move like Alan Brown's, an officer with a family in a remote posting, would've cost around $11,000 in 2001 and would cost just under $16,000 today. That's according to a report last year by the Government Accountability Office. It looked at more than 10 years of data and found that, basically, the military doesn't keep great records on moving costs.

BRENDA FARRELL: Some of the services report it. Some don't. Some of the service report it but they don't report it for all years.

HUGHES: Brenda Farrell wrote the GAO report. She says the spotty data keeps Pentagon officials from seeing what factors are driving moving costs, and that's a violation¹⁹ of DOD's own requirement that it assess how it spends taxpayer²⁰ dollars.

FARRELL: When we asked the DOD officials during our review - when was the last time an evaluation²¹ was made of the PCS program? - none of them could recall such an evaluation being done.

HUGHES: Farrell says defense officials have acted on basically none of the policy recommendations that she's made. Now, criticism and anecdotes²² about excess in the program are common. But there are very legitimate²³ reasons why the military moves people so often.

A BROWN: The Army could save a bunch of money if we all just were stationed here for four or five years. It would cut down on the rotation, but it doesn't work that way.

HUGHES: That's Brown again as the movers deconstruct his guest room.

A BROWN: You get folks that really need to go to a new location to expand their skill set and gain new experiences. And so the Army really needs them to move somewhere else and try something new.

HUGHES: The Army hasn't told Brown the full price tag for how much moving his family across the continent costs. But as an officer with three family members living essentially²⁴ overseas, he hits the most expensive categories for pricey moves. And the costs include more than freight. The military doesn't let service members ship certain things, so they reimburse²⁵ on the other end.

A BROWN: You got to go buy mops. You got to go buy cleaning supplies. You got to go buy ketchup²⁶ and mustard and everything, all the stuff that we have to leave behind.

HUGHES: Meaning a chunk²⁷ of this $4 billion program is just paying for mops and mustard in New York that had to be left in Alaska.

(SOUNDBITE OF PHONE DIALING THEN RINGING)

HUGHES: I check back with Brown at the end of summer to see how the move went.

A BROWN: Hello?

A BROWN: Hey, Colonel Brown. This is Zach. How are you?

A BROWN: I'm good, man.

HUGHES: He said everything went smoothly²⁸. It took more crates²⁹ than he'd expected, but the family was still under its freight limit.

A BROWN: Everything arrived intact.

HUGHES: Well, almost everything. The one thing damaged traveling all the way from Alaska was his snowblower.

For NPR News, I'm Zachariah Hughes in Anchorage.

1 browser   

n.浏览者

参考例句：

• View edits in a web browser.在浏览器中看编辑的效果。
• I think my browser has a list of shareware links.我想在浏览器中会有一系列的共享软件链接。

2 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

5 lieutenant   

n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员

参考例句：

• He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
• He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官，递上了一张简短的便条进去。

6 winding   

n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈

参考例句：

• A winding lane led down towards the river.一条弯弯曲曲的小路通向河边。
• The winding trail caused us to lose our orientation.迂回曲折的小道使我们迷失了方向。

7 sliver   

n.裂片，细片，梳毛；v.纵切，切成长片，剖开

参考例句：

• There was only one sliver of light in the darkness.黑暗中只有一点零星的光亮。
• Then,one night,Monica saw a thin sliver of the moon reappear.之后的一天晚上，莫尼卡看到了一个月牙。

8 frenzy   

n.疯狂，狂热，极度的激动

参考例句：

• He was able to work the young students up into a frenzy.他能激起青年学生的狂热。
• They were singing in a frenzy of joy.他们欣喜若狂地高声歌唱。

9 streak   

n.条理，斑纹，倾向，少许，痕迹；v.加条纹，变成条纹，奔驰，快速移动

参考例句：

• The Indians used to streak their faces with paint.印第安人过去常用颜料在脸上涂条纹。
• Why did you streak the tree?你为什么在树上刻条纹？

10 annually   

adv.一年一次，每年

参考例句：

• Many migratory birds visit this lake annually.许多候鸟每年到这个湖上作短期逗留。
• They celebrate their wedding anniversary annually.他们每年庆祝一番结婚纪念日。

11 technically   

adv.专门地，技术上地

参考例句：

• Technically it is the most advanced equipment ever.从技术上说，这是最先进的设备。
• The tomato is technically a fruit,although it is eaten as a vegetable.严格地说，西红柿是一种水果，尽管它是当作蔬菜吃的。

12 rotation   

n.旋转；循环，轮流

参考例句：

• Crop rotation helps prevent soil erosion.农作物轮作有助于防止水土流失。
• The workers in this workshop do day and night shifts in weekly rotation.这个车间的工人上白班和上夜班每周轮换一次。

13 jargon   

n.术语，行话

参考例句：

• They will not hear critics with their horrible jargon.他们不愿意听到评论家们那些可怕的行话。
• It is important not to be overawed by the mathematical jargon.要紧的是不要被数学的术语所吓倒.

14 random   

adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动

参考例句：

• The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。

15 clutter   

n.零乱，杂乱；vt.弄乱，把…弄得杂乱

参考例句：

• The garage is in such a clutter that we can't find anything.车库如此凌乱，我们什么也找不到。
• We'll have to clear up all this clutter.我们得把这一切凌乱的东西整理清楚。

16 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。

17 scuba   

n.水中呼吸器

参考例句：

• I first got hooked on scuba diving when I was twelve.12岁时我开始迷上了带水中呼吸器潜水。
• While on honeymoon in Bali,she learned to scuba dive.她在巴厘岛度蜜月时学会了带水肺潜水。

18 honeymoon   

n.蜜月（假期）；vi.度蜜月

参考例句：

• While on honeymoon in Bali,she learned to scuba dive.她在巴厘岛度蜜月时学会了带水肺潜水。
• The happy pair are leaving for their honeymoon.这幸福的一对就要去度蜜月了。

19 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。

20 taxpayer   

n.纳税人

参考例句：

• The new scheme will run off with a lot of the taxpayer's money.这项新计划将用去纳税人许多钱。
• The taxpayer are unfavourably disposed towards the recent tax increase.纳税者对最近的增加税收十分反感。

21 evaluation   

n.估价，评价；赋值

参考例句：

• I attempted an honest evaluation of my own life.我试图如实地评价我自己的一生。
• The new scheme is still under evaluation.新方案还在评估阶段。

22 anecdotes   

n.掌故，趣闻，轶事( anecdote的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• amusing anecdotes about his brief career as an actor 关于他短暂演员生涯的趣闻逸事
• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman. 他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

23 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

24 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

25 reimburse   

v.补偿，付还

参考例句：

• We'll reimburse you for your travelling expenses.我们将付还你旅费。
• The funds are supposed to reimburse policyholders in the event of insurer failure.这项基金将在保险公司不能偿付的情况下对投保人进行赔付。

26 ketchup   

n.蕃茄酱，蕃茄沙司

参考例句：

• There's a spot of ketchup on the tablecloth.桌布上有一点番茄酱的渍斑。
• Could I have some ketchup and napkins,please?请给我一些番茄酱和纸手巾？

27 chunk   

n.厚片，大块，相当大的部分（数量）

参考例句：

• They had to be careful of floating chunks of ice.他们必须当心大块浮冰。
• The company owns a chunk of farmland near Gatwick Airport.该公司拥有盖特威克机场周边的大片农田。

28 smoothly   

adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地

参考例句：

• The workmen are very cooperative,so the work goes on smoothly.工人们十分合作，所以工作进展顺利。
• Just change one or two words and the sentence will read smoothly.这句话只要动一两个字就顺了。

29 crates   

n. 板条箱, 篓子, 旧汽车 vt. 装进纸条箱

参考例句：

• We were using crates as seats. 我们用大木箱作为座位。
• Thousands of crates compacted in a warehouse. 数以千计的板条箱堆放在仓库里。