# Understanding the Strengthening Relations in Military Communities Act

This bill requires the Department of Defense to regularly survey military members and their families about how well they're being treated and accepted in the communities where they live near military bases. Essentially, it's a way to measure whether soldiers, sailors, airmen, and their loved ones feel welcomed and supported by the towns and cities surrounding military installations.

Every two years, the Defense Department will ask military personnel and their families about their experiences in these communities. The survey covers practical concerns like whether they can find affordable housing, whether military spouses can get jobs, whether they have access to good healthcare and schools, and importantly, whether they feel physically safe when they're off the base. The survey also asks about how local governments and community organizations are doing on diversity and inclusion efforts. This means the military will be collecting data on whether certain groups of service members—based on race, ethnicity, gender, or other factors—are experiencing different levels of acceptance or discrimination in their local communities.

Beyond just surveying people, the bill also encourages the Defense Department to hold listening sessions with military communities, run educational campaigns to improve relationships, and share best practices about what works well. The department can partner with local governments and nonprofit organizations to make these improvements happen. Every other year, the Defense Department must report its findings to Congress and post the results on a public website so anyone can see how military communities are doing across the country. By focusing on ten geographically diverse military installations at a time, this bill aims to identify problems and solutions that can help military families feel more at home in their local communities.

Strengthening Relations in Military Communities Act of 2021

Brown, Anthony G.

Strengthening Relations in Military Communities Act of 2021 This bill requires the Office of Diversity Management and Equal Opportunity within the Department of Defense (DOD) to survey members of the Armed Forces and their family members who live in covered communities regarding relations between such individuals and their communities. Under the bill, covered community means a military installation and the area within 10 miles of the installation. DOD must report on the survey results every other year. The bill requires DOD to designate 10 geographically diverse military installations for review in each survey and make the results of the survey reports publicly available on a DOD website.