Army Plans Boost in Barracks Spending as Military Grapples with Squalid Living Conditions

I may be old …. No scratch that … I am old but not to old to have experienced barracks life as a buck ass private. And when I did there was a Company 1stSgt who inspected those barracks every day. There was no opportunity for these types of conditions to exist.

Soldiers have been living in barracks for thousands of years … my soldiers lived in pre-WWII barracks built for Hitlers SS. If you served in Germany during the Cold War era you know exactly what I’m talking about. It was VOLAR time and bays became rooms but that did not relieve the Chain of Command of their duty to keep the troops safe in their living situation. Believe me they came up with enough sh#t of their own. They did not need mold they had beer and hash!

So now I ask what’s different? Has the Chain of Command given up? Do 1stSgt’s still care for how their soldiers are living … or has going to the Drag Queen show replaced the Sat. morning barracks inspection ? Has my gray beard become so gray that none of this matters anymore?

Please note-I’m not addressing the family housing - just the troop barracks. The housing problem requires a different solution.

Over the years I have seen some shoddy Base Housing in the Air Force, I can't imagine its much better than Army Base housing, at least compared to last time I saw it at Ft Bragg compared to Pope AFB.

Lt Col Charlie Brown I only lived in open squad bay housing and even when I was at Camp Lejeune, we never had a mold issue because Thursday night was field day and we cleaned from floor to ceiling. Come Friday morning the company Gunnery Sergeant did a thorough inspection. If we failed (which we did a couple times) we had to stay Friday night to redo the entire barracks. And yes, if you skipped out you were hit with an article 86 and the company commander was not lenient on those charged. They were zapped with the maximum penalty.