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The Government Accounting Ofice (GAO) went to 12 military posts to look at base housing.<\/p>\n
Pests such as bedbugs and roaches were a common issue at six of the bases that the GAO visited. Several bases had severe issues with security in the buildings, to the point that service members said that they were unable to lock their doors at night and squatters had moved in.<\/p>\n
The GAO concluded that leaders at the Pentagon are not only failing to provide oversight — instead choosing to largely punt the issue to the branches — but they also don’t consider it a priority. The result has been bureaucratic finger-pointing, with no one office or leader willing to own the issue.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Excuse me, but WTF, over?<\/p>\n
While it is unclear exactly how many troops now live in substandard barracks, the report says that “at least thousands of service members are affected.” The Navy and Marine Corps reported to the GAO that about 5,000 sailors and 17,000 Marines lived in substandard barracks as of March.<\/p>\n
At five different bases, service members told investigators that they had problems with water quality in the barracks, with one group reporting that their water “is often brown and does not appear safe for drinking.”<\/p>\n
One base had to shutter a barracks building because its plumbing had become a breeding ground for Legionella — the bacteria that can cause Legionnaires’ disease, a condition that kills one in 10 people affected, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.<\/p>\n
When investigators asked about other barracks on the base, officials said that they didn’t run water tests on them because they were not required to do so.<\/p>\n
One base had to shutter a barracks building because its plumbing had become a breeding ground for Legionella — the bacteria that can cause Legionnaires’ disease, a condition that kills one in 10 people affected, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.<\/p>\n
When investigators asked about other barracks on the base, officials said that they didn’t run water tests on them because they were not required to do so. <\/em>(emphasis added – ed.)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Again… WHERE ARE THE NCOS?<\/p>\n
At three installations, officials told the GAO that “service members are generally responsible for pest control, or for removing hazardous material from barracks, such as mold and sewage.”<\/p>\n
Barracks managers at multiple bases said that they had to organize “working days for service members to repaint external or internal walls, replace ceiling tiles, or clean up significant sewage overflow.”<\/p>\n
In one of the most extreme examples, one installation told officials that “service members are responsible for cleaning biological waste that may remain in a barracks room after a suicide.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
But of course the services claim the bases’ housing is just fine.<\/p>\n
How conditions in the barracks were allowed to deteriorate is partially the result of the military’s hodgepodge of evaluation systems, metrics and standards, which has made it difficult for leaders to know how bad conditions truly are in some locations, according to the GAO.<\/p>\n
As an example, investigators toured one barracks that was deemed uninhabitable yet at the time of its shuttering, “its condition score was above 90, according to service documentation.”\u00a0\u00a0 Military.com<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I’d continue to beat on the chain of command – ‘cuz the NCOs involved are obviously not doing their jobs, nor is their entire<\/strong> officer chain of command – and I know that much of the “leaner, meaner military” we have now is because many of the duties formerly carried out by military housing offices and such has been farmed out to civilian contractors who staff chow halls, maintain the buildings, etc.\u00a0 But where is the accountability? This should be grounds for massive non-performance penalties at minimum. Not to mention relief for “lack of confidence”.<\/p>\n
Wonder how far the $80 million per for the F-35s would go to handling this – especially if you get some grizzled\u00a0 REAL NCO ramrodding the civilian workforce.<\/p>\n
For that matter – wouldn’t it be nice if a few pointed question on THIS showed up in Chuckie Schumer’s confirmation hearings?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"