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

[LiberalNation]

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/04/28/bar...agg/index.html

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."

1 of 2 "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. 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.

[LiberalNation]

<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/46vYZFU1Dew&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/46vYZFU1Dew&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>

[LiberalNation]

That barracks looks like our school. Yeah those roof tiles mold when the rain leaks thru.

[Pale Rider]

Army widens probe after finding bad conditions at Fort Bragg


By ROBERT BURNS, AP Military Writer
1 hour, 3 minutes ago

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."

More here...

[LiberalNation]

This suprising people, suprises me, anything public like schools and such you see these type conditions. Some dorms in colleges are pretty bad and we are talking the military where most enlisted soldiers don't make much money themselves in an enviroment where going public and making a news storm is frowned upon.

[Pale Rider]

This suprising people, suprises me, anything public like schools and such you see these type conditions. Some dorms in colleges are pretty bad and we are talking the military where most enlisted soldiers don't make much money themselves in an enviroment where going public and making a news storm is frowned upon.

I just think our military budget should be doubled. Our military should get an overhaul from top to bottom. Then double the budget for the Veterans Administration as well. If we're going to keep asking what we're asking of our military, we need to step it up for them. This letting everything get run down and not fix or replace it is bull shit.

[glockmail]

I just think our military budget should be doubled. Our military should get an overhaul from top to bottom. Then double the budget for the Veterans Administration as well. If we're going to keep asking what we're asking of our military, we need to step it up for them. This letting everything get run down and not fix or replace it is bull shit.

I agree with part one. For the VA, eliminate it. Instead give all military personnel the same health insurance plan as Congress. That way they can go to their own private doctor when they have a problem.