Pentagon Scrambling to clean house
expatbrian
Just a quick note about this deteriorating barracks story out of Ft. Bragg. The post brass in particular and the pentagon in general are now in panic mode trying to inspect every barracks on every post in the country. This leaves me just a little confused.
When I was in the army there was barracks inspection every single morning. The entire building had to be swept, mopped, dusted with everything put in its place and tidy. Personal rooms for permanent staff were not inspected often but all common areas were. If that's changed, why has it? I'm thinking its because it is soldiers who did the cleaning and even soldiers who did the inspecting and there just aren't enough soldiers to get everything done.
The fact is, the brass at Bragg and the pentagon know exactly what those conditions are and always have. Its no different from the situation at Walter Reed. It is not a revelation. The only revelation is that the public just found out about it and is outraged. So the military has to cover their ass, lie and say "OMG we didn't know but we will fix it now that we do!" Give me a f**king break.
In comments to The Associated Press, General Rogers made clear that the complaints about the Fort Bragg barracks are hardly news to him. “Are soldiers happy with living in the Korean War-era barracks? No,” he said. “No matter how hard we try, we can’t put enough lipstick on this pig.”
That sums it up nicely. These barracks, and barracks all over the country, are WWII vintage or even older. And each has had literally tens of thousands of residents. There comes a time when just another coat of OD paint isn't enough. Barracks will never be the Ritz, but maybe its time to spend a few bucks and give our soldiers a decent place to sleep.
Just a quick note about this deteriorating barracks story out of Ft. Bragg. The post brass in particular and the pentagon in general are now in panic mode trying to inspect every barracks on every post in the country. This leaves me just a little confused.
When I was in the army there was barracks inspection every single morning. The entire building had to be swept, mopped, dusted with everything put in its place and tidy. Personal rooms for permanent staff were not inspected often but all common areas were. If that's changed, why has it? I'm thinking its because it is soldiers who did the cleaning and even soldiers who did the inspecting and there just aren't enough soldiers to get everything done.
The fact is, the brass at Bragg and the pentagon know exactly what those conditions are and always have. Its no different from the situation at Walter Reed. It is not a revelation. The only revelation is that the public just found out about it and is outraged. So the military has to cover their ass, lie and say "OMG we didn't know but we will fix it now that we do!" Give me a f**king break.
In comments to The Associated Press, General Rogers made clear that the complaints about the Fort Bragg barracks are hardly news to him. “Are soldiers happy with living in the Korean War-era barracks? No,” he said. “No matter how hard we try, we can’t put enough lipstick on this pig.”
That sums it up nicely. These barracks, and barracks all over the country, are WWII vintage or even older. And each has had literally tens of thousands of residents. There comes a time when just another coat of OD paint isn't enough. Barracks will never be the Ritz, but maybe its time to spend a few bucks and give our soldiers a decent place to sleep.
posted by Libby Spencer at 8:31 PM
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