A military spouse has taken her family’s mold-induced health issues to the steps of Washington, imploring the Pentagon and Congress to adopt new legislation.
Erica Thompson, a mother of five from Alabama and military spouse for more than 22 years, has traveled six times to the nation’s capital as part of broader efforts urging both the Pentagon and lawmakers to remedy deficiencies in the military housing world. Efforts made by her and her family, along with a national organization, have proven fruitful so far as new standards have been included and passed through bipartisan national defense-based legislation.
Additional attempts to make military housing safer remain ongoing, however. The current major point of emphasis involves pushing Democrats and Republicans in the House and Senate to take up the Military Occupancy Living Defense Act, also known as the MOLD Act, that Thompson and others say if adopted will further improve environmental health and safety protections for members of the Armed Forces and their families that reside in such housing.
“Maybe ignorance is bliss because I had not been to D.C. to advocate for an issue before,” Thompson told Military.com. “I sort of had this different mentality, and I knew that if I could meet with offices and share what was happening on the ground and let them see the faces of our kids in person…it just became more hopeful and more optimistic that, ‘Hey, I think this is an issue that needs to be tackled’ and we're just going to dig in and keep going. And so that's what we did.”
A Pentagon spokesperson told Military.com that they do not comment on pending legislation.
HVAC Issues Snowball
Thompson, who is originally from Florida, has a spouse in the U.S. Air Force.
This specific issue came on her radar due to her own family’s experiences. In June 2023 they moved onto Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Ala., marking the first time they ever lived on a base.
The results were felt swiftly, such as in the form of HVAC issues due to requiring a new air conditioning unit to combat high levels of humidity. That unit was expensive and led to dehumidifiers being employed, which didn’t solve the problem. Meanwhile, mold buildup occurred in the home’s walls.
Service calls didn’t rectify the situation, leading to the family ultimately moving off-base in June 2024.
Numerous Health Issues, For Kids & Dog
Thompson said the approximate one year of living at Maxwell really opened her eyes to how housing issues can not only derail daily life but also negatively impact health.
“It was really after getting our kids—all five kids are now medically disqualified to serve in the military based off of being sick—from being exposed to things in the home,” she said.
After that point of getting a couple of the diagnoses I thought, ‘OK, I really need to do something to stand up so that this isn't happening to other people.’
She said the family members experienced symptoms including nausea, headaches and rashes. Once the walls of their military housing were opened, it led to more “extreme issues.”
One of her sons began suddenly passing out. Now, he has postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), a condition that according to the Cleveland Clinic causes one’s heart to beat faster than normal when transitioning from sitting or lying down to standing up.
That same son also has bilateral pediatric cataracts, which Thompson said he developed after the home's walls were opened. That condition, which is infrequent, still requires consistent monitoring.
“Three of the kids have asthma,” she said. “Cardiologists and pulmonologists—we're still seeing specialists and still being monitored for some of these issues."
We're not the only ones. Each person was sort of impacted differently and we're seeing that with families around the country as well.
The family dog’s health also suffered. The canine began having seizures and then lost his mobility and vision within about a six-week period, ultimately pushing the family to make the difficult decision to put him down shortly thereafter.
“He was only 4 and we had lab work and everything run for him before we moved on base,” Thompson said. “And he was a great, healthy dog. He was a little overweight, but he was a healthy dog.
“It was about the time we started noticing we were getting headaches in a certain room, and that just happened to be the room they opened up first. That's where he stayed most of the time, unfortunately.”
Partnering For the Cause
The negative health impacts on the family coupled with broader concerns about other military families suffering similar fates made Thompson emboldened to find people and organizations interested in finding a better long-term solution.
A major partnership came in January 2025, when she linked up with the national nonprofit Change the Air Foundation to bring the issue to a wider lens.
The nonpartisan organization has three main objectives it follows to help provide clean indoor air: educating the public, advocating for improved laws and policies, and funding small-scale research.
“Since the privatization of military housing in 1996, systemic gaps in oversight have led to countless families living in conditions that affect their health and their military readiness,” Brandon Chappo, co-founder and director of public policy at Change the Air Foundation, told Military.com. “These failures are in part because of the lack of uniform health and safety standards in the housing, as well as the absence of an effective dispute resolution system.”
Expansive Survey Adds Credence to Concerns
The issue is more common than one may think, according to a survey facilitated by Change the Air called Unsafe and Unheard, which was conducted between Oct. 6–27, 2025. Results were published Nov. 20.
The Safe Military Housing Survey, described as one of the most comprehensive independent assessments of living conditions on U.S. military bases, gathered trusted, unbiased data showing how current military housing conditions affect mission readiness, influence retention, and—most importantly—impact the health and safety of service members and their families.
Approximately 97% of service members reported at least one significant problem in their military-provided home, according to the 23-page report.
These were the most commonly cited issues:
Mold, mildew, or microbial growth were the most commonly cited issues (74%)
Water damage (54%)
Temperature or humidity problems (56%)
Pest infestations (53%)
HVAC failures (51%).
The survey reported that more than half of all requests to address dangerous conditions (53%) go unresolved, and nearly half (47%) of respondents said housing-related issues have compromised their readiness.
Another two-thirds of those dealing with mold said they feel they have no viable options for relief or dispute resolution.
A total of 3,401 service members and families from 57 military installations across 30 states and the District of Columbia completed the survey, with results later being delivered directly to lawmakers and government officials, according to Chappo.
With tools like our recent national military housing survey, Unsafe and Unheard, our foundation’s goal is to help advance the national conversation, including in Congress, on how to improve the living conditions for service members and their families. They should never be harmed by the housing meant to support their service to our nation.
'This Is Really Happening'
Thompson, Change the Air and others have felt glimmers of hope in the past 12 months and change. But it took plenty of time and effort.
What started with 30 back-to-back meetings in a three-day period has led to useful networking between lawmakers’ staffers up to senior levels of the Pentagon.
“You start to hear offices who are going, ‘Oh, wow, this is really happening,’ and they kind of weren't tracking that it was as severe as it was,” Thompson said.
Asked if there was a moment when she felt her concerns broke through to the Washington brass, Thompson said her being invited back again and again cemented a type of reality where what she and others said piqued their interest—adding that she came not from a place of complaining but of having productive discussions.
Surveys like the one conducted by Change the Air also provided raw numbers that could be taken to Washington and shown, such as how some 3,400 individuals polled live in military housing. Or, how roughly 80% of Air Force recruits are from legacy families.
“I think the survey was one of those where we go, ‘Hey, we've got the data and it's really shocking and it is impacting people at a significant level and readiness and retention and medically, lots of these families are being impacted,’” she said.
“Then, you're continuing to follow up with offices on possible amendments, and you're trying to get co-sponsors or reach out to other offices. I think it's just a snowball effect. I think the more you visit and the more you get engaged, like, ‘This is awesome. This is progress.’”
NDAA and Ongoing Efforts
Those amendments did come, too.
Forging a connection with U.S. Rep. Jack Bergman (R-Mich.) led to mold-related amendments finding their way into the final version of the FY 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), notably establishing mold remediation standards and more efficient methods of removing mold from structures on military bases.
Thompson said having that included in the giant defense spending bill was a special feeling for a couple reasons. One, she showed her children how hard work and persistence can lead to positive results.
The other is that even in a town like Washington, where bipartisanship is more of a rarity than a reality, things can get done when issues strike a chord.
Now, the MOLD Act is getting attention across Capitol Hill. Thompson helped craft the legislation last year and formally introduced it as a press conference earlier this year with U.S. Sens Richard Blumenthal (D-Con..), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) and Mazie Hirano (D-Hawaii). All are members on the Senate Armed Services Committee.
“After volunteering to serve our great nation, America’s military deserves the best—from equipment on the battlefield to housing here at home," Sen. Tim Sheehy (R-MT), a bill co-sponsor, told Military.com. "As a veteran who is married to a veteran, it’s an honor to serve our community each day in the Senate.
"I’m proud to lead this critical piece of legislation to bring accountability to the process of ensuring our men and women in uniform and their families have safe housing conditions so they can focus on securing America’s future.”
The proposal, read by the Senate in mid-January and referred to the Armed Services Committee, is hoped by Thompson and company to be a standalone bill. Even if not, its inclusion in the Fiscal Year 2027 NDAA would be the next objective.
“It's a landmark bill,” Thompson said. “It's really important for military families because it addresses one of the main issues that we're seeing in military housing. I think just having it recognized by partisan and bicameral [lawmakers] is encouraging.”
'Bridging the Gap' With The Pentagon
The legislation calls for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth “establishing and implementing a uniform code of basic housing standards for safety, comfort and habitability for privatized military housing, which meets or exceeds requirements informed by a nationally recognized, consensus-based, model property maintenance code.”
The bill also states that “thousands of military families living in privatized military housing have been exposed to hazardous environmental conditions, including widespread mold contamination, due to negligent maintenance practices and inadequate government oversight.”
If enacted by Congress, Hegseth would have no later than 180 days after the date of passage to issue interim guidance for acceptable levels of relative humidity, ventilation, dampness and water intrusion to be applied at all covered housing.
Thompson, when asked about a possible disconnect between the Pentagon and families living in military housing, said she has felt encouraged by meetings with senior Pentagon officials last year. Discussions included commentary on data gaps based on federal reports, including those from the Government Accountability Office and the DoD Inspector General.
We were excited to be able to sort of bridge that gap. I know spouses have come to the Hill really for three generations, talking about housing issues.
"I think when we brought what was actually happening on the ground to them, they I think were surprised but also ready to dig in and ready to sort of get after some solutions," she added.
However this legislation moves forward, if it all, it will take time and effort across various avenues to get it over the finish line.
“I think [the Pentagon is] seeing there's lots of work to be done,” Thompson added.
This story was updated with remarks from Sen. Tim Sheehy.
