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UPDATE: MILITARY RESPONDS TO FOUL CONDITIONS AT FORT

BRAGG BARRACKS -- "...We let our soldiers down, and that's not

like us. That's not how we want America's sons and daughters

to live, and there's no good excuse for what happened."

For the original story on this disgusting situation, and the now-famous YouTube video...click here...
http://www.vawatchdog.org/08/nf08/nfAPR08/nf042708-1.htm

Today, we have two stories...the first is the latest info from CNN...second is the military's official response.

First story here... http://www.cnn.c
om/2008/US/04/28/barracks.bragg/index.html

Story below:

-------------------------

Dad's video of run-down barracks sparks military response

(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.

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."

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."

CNN's Mike Phelan, Sarah Carden and Mary Lynn Ryan contributed to this report.

-------------------------

Pentagon news story here...
 http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=49724

Story below:

-------------------------

General Acknowledges Shortfall, Pledges Fixes for Fort Bragg Barracks

By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON  – A senior Army officer responsible for soldiers’ housing pledged remedial action in the wake of news reports citing some soldiers living on Fort Bragg, N.C., were housed in substandard quarters.

“It is my responsibility for maintaining barracks throughout the Army,” Brig. Gen. Dennis E. Rogers, deputy director of operations and facilities for U.S. Army Installation Management Command, in Arlington, Va., said today during a roundtable discussion with Pentagon reporters.

“Folks, we let our soldiers down, and that’s not like us,” Rogers emphasized to reporters. “That’s not how we want America’s sons and daughters to live, and there’s no good excuse for what happened.”

Earlier this month, the father of one of the Fort Bragg-based soldiers uploaded a video onto an Internet Web site that depicted a clogged bathroom drain and profuse peeling paint inside a 1950s-vintage barracks that housed his son and some other 82nd Airborne Division soldiers who recently redeployed to Fort Bragg after a duty tour in Afghanistan.

However, work orders had already been submitted to correct the barrack’s discrepancies that were identified in the video, Rogers said. Most of the shortfalls, he added, had been corrected before the video’s posting.

“The flaking paint condition was, in fact, ugly. … We have scraped that paint off, and the surfaces are being repainted,” Rogers said.

The clogged and flooded drain in the bathroom floor was reported and repaired immediately, he said.

Twenty-three other 1950s-style barracks are in use on Fort Bragg, and all of them are slated for demolition within the next five years as new barracks are constructed, Rogers said. There are no health or safety issues with those older barracks, he added.

There is a process in place at Army posts worldwide in which older barracks in use are maintained until they are torn down, Rogers reported. That process failed at Fort Bragg, he acknowledged.

The older barracks used to house soldiers “are looking worse and worse, so we’re getting the new barracks on line as soon as possible,” Rogers said.

Senior Army leaders directed garrison commanders worldwide to walk through and inspect their barracks April 26-27, Rogers said. The feedback is still being examined, and a report may be ready as early as sometime next week, he said.

“We got most of those barracks looked at,” Rogers said, noting some rooms were unavailable for inspection until residents had returned from four-day passes.

Meanwhile, Army garrison commanders and command sergeants major have made an assessment that soldiers are housed in accordance with Army standards, Rogers said. On-the-spot corrections have been made to bring unsatisfactory barracks living conditions into compliance with Army standards, he noted.

Installation Management Command’s top enlisted person, Command Sgt. Major Debra L. Strickland, accompanied Rogers at the roundtable. Strickland will chair a noncommissioned officer forum that will provide an NCO perspective on Army barracks issues, Rogers said.

Taking care of soldiers, including ensuring their living quarters meet Army standards, is an NCO’s primary task, Strickland told reporters.

“The noncommissioned corps has the basic responsibility for the welfare of our soldiers,” Strickland pointed out.

More than 10,800 of Fort Bragg’s 51,000 soldiers live in barracks or post family housing units, according to installation officials.

-------------------------

posted by Larry Scott
Founder and Editor
VA Watchdog dot Org

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