Privatized Housing at Scott Is Latest in No-Cost-to-Government Plan: Scott AFB, Ill., will have 1,593 homes within the first four years of a 50-year deal, with no Air Force money involved, say USAF officials. The Air Force estimates that 45 percent of its family housing needs major improvements or renovations to meet standards set by DOD. The total bill for such an effort would have been close to $6 billion—way beyond the construction budget. The Scott deal brings the total number of homes under privatization plans to more than 16,000—about one-third of the homes needed. At this rate, officials expect to have another 13 projects closed at 19 bases by December 2006.
Matthew Lohmeier, who was fired from a Space Force squadron command just two years ago, took another step in his unlikely journey to the Department of the Air Force's No. 2 job May 1, testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee that his background as an Air Force F-15C pilot…