Navy Continues Effort to Move Sailors Off Ships and Into Shore-based Housing

Naval Installations Command Has Identified "Several Short-term and Long-term Projects Across All Major Homeports" to Expand Unaccompanied Housing.

JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii (Jan 29, 2026) - Virginia-class fast-attack submarine USS Indiana (SSN 789) returns to its homeport at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam following a scheduled underway, Jan. 29, 2026. Indiana is assigned to Submarine Squadron 7 and is capable of supporting various missions, including anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface ship warfare, strike warfare, special operations forces support, and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Nicholas Russell) - The appearance of U.S. Department of Defense (DoW) visual information does not imply or constitute DoW endorsement.

From the article:

The Navy has moved nearly half of its sailors who had been living aboard ships year-round into shore-based housing as part of the service’s broader effort to improve quality of life for junior enlisted service members.

The service’s “No Sailor Lives Afloat” initiative aims to end the long-standing practice of requiring many junior sailors to live aboard ships even when they are back in port. A lack of barracks space — and the law restricting the Navy’s ability to provide basic allowance for housing to junior sailors to live off base — often forces them to continue living on the ship after they come home from extended deployments.

Click here to continue reading the article by Anastasia Obis, writing at Federal News Network, for more information.