While Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel plans to cut "20%" of the top officers and senior Defense Department personnel, he doesn't seem too concerned about ditching mansions that house the likes of Marine General John Kelly.
David S. Cloud of the L.A. Times describes Casa Sur— the Miami mansion's name— as "an elegant home with a pool and gardens on one of the area's swankiest streets."
Kelly isn't the only general who's got stupendous digs, From the L.A. Times:
The commander of Submarine Group 8, occupies Villa de Lorio, a 6,600-square-foot villa in Naples leased for $172,000 a year. But a Navy policy adopted last year says only officers in "high-risk billets" can have high-cost leases — and a submarine group commander on the Mediterranean doesn't qualify.
A recent Pentagon study surveyed 32 of these properties, Cloud reports, many of which cost upward of several hundreds of thousands per year to lease and maintain (also for security purposes).
Alaska News details a few more of these properties:
Gen. Philip M. Breedlove, the Air Force four-star who commands NATO, gets a 15,000-square-foot 19th century chateau in Belgium. Lt. Gen. Steven A. Hummer, head of Marine Forces Reserve, enjoys a 19th century plantation house in New Orleans listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Joint Chiefs of Staff and their deputies inhabit historic quarters in and around Washington — all staffed with chefs, drivers, gardeners and security teams.
As if to characterize the type of lavishness afforded for general's quarters, the Marine Corps commandant's home recently finished $5 million in renovation.
While the Defense Department is furloughing (laying off) 800,000 private defense employees, many might assume it will also take a look at some of the fiscally exorbitant living situations.