OT - Dad's Video Shames Army (Ft. Bragg Conditions)

[don Tomás]

Not quite sure how to feel about this, but as my youngest is in the military, I think I'm on the dad's side. Watching the video (and the Army's embarrassed response) convinced me. If you have the bandwidth, check out the dad's video (link) below.
Tom

(Update RE: Army widens probe after finding bad conditions at Fort Bragg about 5 posts down...)
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Dad's Video Shames Army Into Responding

VIDEO LINK

(CNN) -- The U.S. military is promising action to address conditions in a barracks at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, after a soldier's father posted images on YouTube showing a building that he said "should be condemned."

"This is embarrassing. It's disgusting. It makes me mad as hell," Ed Frawley said of the building where his son, Sgt. Jeff Frawley, had to live upon his return this month from a 15-month deployment to Afghanistan.

Frawley said Monday that Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Dick Cody called him to say he shares Frawley's anger and that "there's no excuse." Cody said he would not want his own sons or any troops to return to such conditions, Frawley said.

Frawley's 10-minute video shows still photos from throughout the building, which appears to be falling apart and filled with mold and rust.

Paint -- which Frawley said is lead-based -- is chipping. Ceiling tiles are missing. A broken drain pipe allows sewer gas into the building, while another one has tissues stuffed into it in an apparent effort to stop the gas from coming in.

Photos from the communal bathroom show some of the most disgusting images. In one, a soldier stands in a sink to avoid what Frawley describes as 3 inches of sewage water that filled the floor when toilets overflowed. Video Watch the run-down conditions that soldiers have been living in »

At times, "sewage water backs up into the sinks in the lower floors of these barracks," Frawley said in his narration. "The soldiers have to tell one another who's taking a shower when they turn the sinks on, or the person taking the shower gets scalded with hot water."

Frawley said the Army promised to have new barracks ready when his son's unit, part of the 82nd Airborne Division, returned.

"The conditions depicted in Mr. Frawley's video are appalling and unacceptable, and we are addressing the concerns he expressed," said Maj. Tom Earnhardt, spokesman for the 82nd Airborne, in a written statement.

"Our paratroopers are our most valuable resource, and our commitment is to their well-being. Our actions now must represent the best we can do for our soldiers."

"Fundamentally, we acknowledge these conditions are not adequate by today's standards," he added. "The images in Mr. Frawley's video are alarming, and our soldiers deserve the best conditions we can provide as an institution." Video Watch an interview with Frawley »

Officials at the base invited the media into the barracks and acknowledged that there are serious problems.

Earnhardt said the building had been mostly unused during the 15 months Frawley and his unit were away. Fort Bragg has a massive construction project under way to create housing, but it is behind schedule, Earnhardt said.

The buildings used by the 82nd Airborne are about 50 years old, he said.

Earnhardt said the incident with the overflowing toilet took place the first day after the unit's return and has been addressed.

Sen. Elizabeth Dole is among government officials who have responded to the video. In a written statement, she called living conditions in the barracks "unacceptable" and said the situation "must be immediately corrected."

Ed Frawley said he is "hoping no one gets fired. I just want to see it get fixed."

"They have the slowest contractors in the world," he said, adding that people in jail live "in better conditions."

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Dad: 'Good things are happening' after Fort Bragg video

(The link above takes you to what action has since come about. Sen. Elisabeth Dole has visited and things are happening...)

[piller]

That looks like the toilet/shower room of the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment's barracks. Apparently there have been no repairs or maintenance since 1987 when I was last there. Those Devils in Baggy Pants (reference to WWII) deserve better than that.

[handirifle]

Good for the dad! When I was in basic, Ft. Knox, 1972, our barraks were wooden buildings that had plaques on them that stated they were "temporary buildings, to be used no more than 10 years" The plaques were dated in 1942.

The wood was so dry we had to stand fire guard every night, to make sure if a fire started, at least some would make it out.

We DEMAND a lot from our troops and give very little in return. Those barraks are deplorable and heads should rollk from the top down on this one.

[Marc]

I woulda swore that was in the 505th barracks, but he said it was the 2/508. Probably no maintenance since I left in '71!

[Jason_W]

If they're going to volunteer to put their lives on the line, at the very least they deserve living quarters not overflowing with sewage.

[Cliff]

Sounds like the same old WWII barracks we had in 1960 in Ga. Of knowing how they will handle this problem now is probably have the troops moved into tents in some swampy ground or similar things. It was great back then you could look outside never look through the window, wake up in the morning during cold weather with a layer of black soot on your gear. The Army would buy the dirtest cheapest coal they could get, everyone had a cough after the first week or so of standing formations while the coal smoke rolled over you. It wouldn't have been to bad but the buildings were still cold as all get out Our classrooms were heated with potbellied stoves, never warm. Great life. ATB

[don Tomás]

Looks like heads are beginning to roll. Day late and a dollar short for some of us, but maybe in time for our heroes coming home...
Tom

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Army widens probe after finding bad conditions at Fort Bragg

WASHINGTON - Army officials said Tuesday they are inspecting every barracks building worldwide to see whether plumbing and other problems revealed at Fort Bragg, N.C., last week are widespread.

Brig. Gen. Dennis Rogers, who is responsible for maintaining barracks throughout the Army, told reporters at the Pentagon that most inspections were done last weekend but he had not seen final results.

While not providing specifics about problems discovered during the weekend inspections, Rogers indicated some deficiencies were corrected. In cases where extensive repairs are deemed necessary, the soldiers in that housing would be moved elsewhere until the fixes are completed, he added.

Rogers said it was too soon to know whether the Fort Bragg problem was an isolated incident. He acknowledged the revelations from a video shot by the father of an 82nd Airborne Division soldier showing poor conditions such as mold inside the barracks, peeling interior paint and a bathroom drain plugged with sewage.

The soldier's father, Ed Frawley, said he was disgusted by the conditions that greeted his son and the rest of his 82nd Airborne unit that returned on April 7-8 after a 15-month tour of duty in Afghanistan.

"We let our soldiers down, and that's not like us," Rogers told reporters. "We let our soldiers down. That's not how we want America's sons and daughters to live. There's no good excuse for what happened."

He said the problems in that building have been fixed and that a final paint job is in the works. It is one of 24 barracks at Fort Bragg that were built in the 1950s and are scheduled for demolition by 2013. The barracks singled out by Frawley had been remodeled in April 2006, Rogers said.

Rogers said the Army's standard procedure is to inspect a barracks building to verify that it meets Army standards before it is occupied by soldiers returning from an overseas deployment. For reasons he was unable to explain, that apparently did not happen in the Fort Bragg incident.

A spokesman for Fort Bragg, Tom McCollum, told the same group of reporters that the post, which is one of the Army's largest with a population of 51,000 soldiers — including nearly 11,000 who live on the post — is saddled with 1950s-vintage housing that is not popular with soldiers.

"Are soldiers happy with living in the Korean War-era barracks? No," McCollum said. They do not meet the expectations of today's troops, although the Army has done what it can to improve living conditions, he said.

"Today, no matter how hard we try, we can't put enough lipstick on this pig to make it more pretty," the spokesman said. "So are there soldiers complaining? Yeah." He said they've been complaining for decades.

[Hobie]

I'm sorry if I don't have much sympathy. FUNDING for maintenance of real property is the big problem. The post DFAS just doesn't get money. It has always been that way in the Army. The Air Force barracks were much better. Even then we had to paint them ourselves although paint was provided. At Benning in 1995, they were funding new/improved PX and Commissary facilities but housing was unfunded at the direction of CONGRESS and the PRESIDENT OF THE US. That budget had been passed in 1994 before the elections of that year. IOW, lipstick for the pig.

[don Tomás]

I'm sorry if I don't have much sympathy...

Hobie,
These are guys that have been in harm's way; some wounded, some decorated surely. We ought to be able to do better than this. Bet the guys that assigned them to this barracks or even the people that staff their mess don't live under conditions like this. You couldn't get away with these conditions in a jail. Just saying...
Tom

[Ysabel Kid]

Nothing is too good for our service men and women - whether they have been in theater or not. I'd have no problems with my taxes being doubled if 100% of it went to pay and benefits for our military!

Tom - thanks for posting!!!

[Blaine]

I'm sorry if I don't have much sympathy...

Hobie,
These are guys that have been in harm's way; some wounded, some decorated surely. We ought to be able to do better than this. Bet the guys that assigned them to this barracks or even the people that staff their mess don't live under conditions like this. You couldn't get away with these conditions in a jail. Just saying...
Tom

I read that as he has no problem with Army heads rolling, not that he doesn't care how the troops live.......... I just pray that the Dad's son, the Sergeant, doesn't have problems with his career due to pay back from Officers that were responsible....That is a very real possibility.

[Hobie]

I'm sorry if I don't have much sympathy...

Hobie,
These are guys that have been in harm's way; some wounded, some decorated surely. We ought to be able to do better than this. Bet the guys that assigned them to this barracks or even the people that staff their mess don't live under conditions like this. You couldn't get away with these conditions in a jail. Just saying...
Tom

Tom,

After 27 years of living in such quarters on and off, I just couldn't even get a little upset. I know what those quarters are like, I know what it takes to get repairs done, and I know why it is like that. While I wish everyone the best, until the CONGRESS and the PRESIDENT provide the money, it ain't gonna get better. This MIGHT break some money loose. The squeaky wheel usually does get greased better.

[sore shoulder]

So they had an inspection over the weekend? What that means is due to the neglect from higher up, every ******* private in the CONUS, and especially those at Bragg, spent long hours having a cleaning party, and getting harrased by NCO's and Drill SGT's. It's bad enough if it's just a brigade commander inspection.

[jbm1968]

Bottom Line Up Front: What is important to Commanders is what happens in the Military. Commanders are responsible for everything that happens or fails to happen in their units. I learned that in basic training over 20 years ago. No excuses.

[spaceman spiff]

I thought that after the Walter Reed mess that the Brass would like as much as possible to avoid any further episodes. I'm a veteran and as sore shoulder said have seen what happens when the higher ups get embarrassed. What a shame.


Regards,


Troy

[Marlin .35]

I can assure you that with Elizabeth Dole investigating, things will get better fast!!! Art

[don Tomás]

... This MIGHT break some money loose. The squeaky wheel usually does get greased better.

From your lips to God's ear, Hobie...
Tom

[oldmax]

Being an Older enlisted , my recollection of Housing was ,
well , we didn't expect much, and that's what we got...

I would have hoped that things would have improved....
The present Military enlisted are the greatest ever, They deserve better.


Interesting: In my day, When ever there was major improvements in a
Military base, You new it was going to be CLOSED!!!!

Let's not forget the Dem's resistence to fund the Military ,
I really feel bad for Americas best if the Dem's get control of everything...
As much as I dislike McCain, I have to put up with him for the Militarys sake..

[runfiverun]

first no money for bullet and now where to house them.
thanks bill.

[Jaguarundi]

first no money for bullet and now where to house them.
thanks bill.

+1 Thanks for posting.