Posted on Oct 16, 2023
Army general says moldy barracks are a 'discipline problem'
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"Mold in Army barracks has become an increasingly common problem at bases around the country. But the issue isn’t the mold, according to the commander of the 1st Armored Division, but rather discipline within the Army. Soldiers, Maj. Gen. James P. Isenhower III said, simply needed to be better about “adulting.”
And the general wants to be clear, he meant that negatively. Isenhower made the remarks on Wednesday, Oct. 11 at a panel at the Association of the United States Army conference. He and Lt. Gen. Omar J. Jones IV took questions from the crowd, including from one soldier who asked about military housing. “There are some areas that are still dilapidated,” the soldier asked. “How do we avoid being on the Army Times — mold, asbestos, and so forth.” Isenhower said the biggest way was addressing a “discipline problem” among soldiers."
"“I do use this in a pejorative term, and it’s adulting,” he told the crowd at AUSA. “But a lot of times we just need to teach young soldiers and young family members what is appropriate and what is part of their obligation and basic responsibility as an adult.”
Mold has been an increasing and major issue with enlisted soldiers, with serious cases of mold reported at multiple bases, including Fort Stewart, Fort Liberty, and others. Isenhower pointed to contributing factors such as climate and humidity at certain bases but continued with his comments on discipline."
"“I’ve got it good at Fort Hood compared to Fort Stewart or Fort Liberty where mold isn’t really a problem for us. I will tell senior leaders ‘I don’t have a mold problem, I have a discipline problem,’” Isenhower said. “Because just the lack of humidity we’re not under the same conditions. We have had some mold problems, but that’s from some leaky pipes we didn’t discover until it was too late, and there’s a quick way to fix it. It’s acute. But at the end of the day, we still had young men and women who called the hotline and say ‘I’ve got black mold in my shower and it’s on the grout,’ because they haven’t cleaned it.”"
And the general wants to be clear, he meant that negatively. Isenhower made the remarks on Wednesday, Oct. 11 at a panel at the Association of the United States Army conference. He and Lt. Gen. Omar J. Jones IV took questions from the crowd, including from one soldier who asked about military housing. “There are some areas that are still dilapidated,” the soldier asked. “How do we avoid being on the Army Times — mold, asbestos, and so forth.” Isenhower said the biggest way was addressing a “discipline problem” among soldiers."
"“I do use this in a pejorative term, and it’s adulting,” he told the crowd at AUSA. “But a lot of times we just need to teach young soldiers and young family members what is appropriate and what is part of their obligation and basic responsibility as an adult.”
Mold has been an increasing and major issue with enlisted soldiers, with serious cases of mold reported at multiple bases, including Fort Stewart, Fort Liberty, and others. Isenhower pointed to contributing factors such as climate and humidity at certain bases but continued with his comments on discipline."
"“I’ve got it good at Fort Hood compared to Fort Stewart or Fort Liberty where mold isn’t really a problem for us. I will tell senior leaders ‘I don’t have a mold problem, I have a discipline problem,’” Isenhower said. “Because just the lack of humidity we’re not under the same conditions. We have had some mold problems, but that’s from some leaky pipes we didn’t discover until it was too late, and there’s a quick way to fix it. It’s acute. But at the end of the day, we still had young men and women who called the hotline and say ‘I’ve got black mold in my shower and it’s on the grout,’ because they haven’t cleaned it.”"
Army general says moldy barracks are a 'discipline problem'
Posted from taskandpurpose.comPosted in these groups: 
Barracks
Leadership
Barracks Leadership
Posted 1 y ago
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Really? Mold in barracks and housing is a "discipline" problem? That soldiers and their families aren't "adulting?" This general really puts the blame of mold on the soldiers and their families?
And yet the Army keeps wondering why they can't recruit or retain people..."leaders" go off like this and blame issues on the soldiers and their families.
And yet the Army keeps wondering why they can't recruit or retain people..."leaders" go off like this and blame issues on the soldiers and their families.
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SGT Aaron Atwood
Not just "leaders," but the private landlords in charge of post housing as well. Heck, off base landlords too.
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Either he was told to say that, or he really doesn't give a flying F for those who live in such intolerable conditions. Either way he's part of the problem; not the solution!
You can properly "adult" all you want. That won't make mold go away. Once it's there that's it. Short of completely demolishing the structure and starting over from complete scratch there is almost nothing you can do to effectively get rid of mold without bringing in professional help.
You can properly "adult" all you want. That won't make mold go away. Once it's there that's it. Short of completely demolishing the structure and starting over from complete scratch there is almost nothing you can do to effectively get rid of mold without bringing in professional help.
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Somewhat accurate, but very misleading.
First, it is clear from his comments that he was referring to Fort Cavazos (You know he's going to take some grief for referring to it as Fort Hood publically during AUSA...) specifically and not the Army overall. Second, the article completely recharacterizes the theme of his response from being "responsible and engaged leadership" to "Soldiers need to solve the problem themselves".
You can see the entire AUSA panel discussion for "Taking Care of People" at https://www.dvidshub.net/webcast/32827. The question is asked at the 1:19:35 mark and MG Isenhower's response starts at 1:24:48 following LTG Jones' comments.
His comment was that there are two phrases that best answer the question that was asked -
1) "Taking care of Soldier problems" - Leadership's job is to solve those problems and you need to hold lower-level leaders accountable to engage and do everything within their power to get the issue solved.
2) "Adulting" - The comments above are accurate, but completely mischaracterize his comments as "Soldiers need to solve this themselves" and stopped short of his comments about leaders being responsible for solving problems
The article glosses over his first key point by saying, "Isenhower went afterward, agreeing in part with Jones" and focuses on the content without the context of his second point including his finishing remarks.
He didn't "finish his remarks by again saying soldiers can solve the matter themselves". He finished his remarks by again going back to it being a leadership responsibility - It's a 'full stop' when it comes to issues of quality of life, safety and health, and finance. Leaders use those opportunities to coach Soldiers to be responsible adults because in many cases they (the Soldier) have misdiagnosed the problem or can solve the problem themselves.
The entire theme of his four minute response was leader engagement and those leaders assuming responsibility when Soldiers have persistent issues that can't be resolved. In situations where it should be handled by the Soldier, then leaders need to educate and coach soldiers on taking responsibility.
Why the author* wrote it up the way he did I have no idea, but it is very much the opposite of the theme of what MG Isenhower gave as a response.
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* Nicholas Slayton - https://taskandpurpose.com/author/nicholas-slayton/
LTC Eugene Chu PV2 Larry Sellnow SGT Aaron Atwood
First, it is clear from his comments that he was referring to Fort Cavazos (You know he's going to take some grief for referring to it as Fort Hood publically during AUSA...) specifically and not the Army overall. Second, the article completely recharacterizes the theme of his response from being "responsible and engaged leadership" to "Soldiers need to solve the problem themselves".
You can see the entire AUSA panel discussion for "Taking Care of People" at https://www.dvidshub.net/webcast/32827. The question is asked at the 1:19:35 mark and MG Isenhower's response starts at 1:24:48 following LTG Jones' comments.
His comment was that there are two phrases that best answer the question that was asked -
1) "Taking care of Soldier problems" - Leadership's job is to solve those problems and you need to hold lower-level leaders accountable to engage and do everything within their power to get the issue solved.
2) "Adulting" - The comments above are accurate, but completely mischaracterize his comments as "Soldiers need to solve this themselves" and stopped short of his comments about leaders being responsible for solving problems
The article glosses over his first key point by saying, "Isenhower went afterward, agreeing in part with Jones" and focuses on the content without the context of his second point including his finishing remarks.
He didn't "finish his remarks by again saying soldiers can solve the matter themselves". He finished his remarks by again going back to it being a leadership responsibility - It's a 'full stop' when it comes to issues of quality of life, safety and health, and finance. Leaders use those opportunities to coach Soldiers to be responsible adults because in many cases they (the Soldier) have misdiagnosed the problem or can solve the problem themselves.
The entire theme of his four minute response was leader engagement and those leaders assuming responsibility when Soldiers have persistent issues that can't be resolved. In situations where it should be handled by the Soldier, then leaders need to educate and coach soldiers on taking responsibility.
Why the author* wrote it up the way he did I have no idea, but it is very much the opposite of the theme of what MG Isenhower gave as a response.
-----------------------------
* Nicholas Slayton - https://taskandpurpose.com/author/nicholas-slayton/
LTC Eugene Chu PV2 Larry Sellnow SGT Aaron Atwood
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