Military housing survey gives area Navy sailors chance to voice opinions anonymously

Photos: USS Sioux City comes home to Mayport

The United States’ newest Naval ship, the USS Sioux City, brought 75 sailors home to Jacksonville Wednesday morning. 

The historic ship will now be the 19th vessel at Naval Station Mayport. Families were reunited in port on Wednesday. 

“We had a great sail down and it was a good experience but it’s great to be home,” Sailor Cole Peyton said. “It’s great to be back with my wife, it’s great to be here with my daughter.”

Sailors were deployed for about five months on the new 387 foot vessel. 

The ship is designed to detect mines, antisubmarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, and more. 

It is the newest ship in the littoral combat ship squadron -- and families will now call Mayport home.

USS Sioux City is the first naval ship to be named after Sioux City, Iowa. 

It is also the first ship of the line to be commissioned byt eh Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.

By Joe Daraskevich

Now is the time for area Navy sailors living in privatized military housing to voice their opinions by filling out a survey.

The Navy says the survey is intended to determine the overall satisfaction with privatized housing in regards to health and safety concerns, among other things. The survey is being conducted by an independent third party and runs from April 2 to April 30.

"We have lots of avenues for residents of housing to vocalize any problems or concerns they may have," says Bill Austin, spokesman for Naval Station Mayport.

If you live in privatized housing, the Navy says you'll receive a letter with information on how to access the survey. Austin says if you don't receive the letter, you can send an email to navyppvhousingsurvey@celassociates.com to find out how you can get involved.

The Navy says the survey should take about 10 minutes to complete, and anyone who participates will remain anonymous unless they choose to identify themselves.

"The purpose of the survey is to give those residents an opportunity to let Navy leadership and Navy housing know their overall satisfaction with PPV housing," Austin says.

The new survey comes after recent criticism of military family housing. Top leaders apologized to Congress last month, acknowledging they failed to fully understand there was a problem sooner. They went on to say they would fix the issues.

Pest infestations, mold and other health hazards were among the problems that were identified.

The private housing survey isn't the only one going on for sailors dealing with inadequate living conditions.

The Navy is also starting a survey tomorrow for anyone living in unaccompanied housing, or barracks. That survey runs through June 20.

A third survey is already going on for anyone living in government-owned or government-leased housing. It was launched March 19 and runs through June 6.