SHOCKING DISCOVERY: MOLDY BARRACKS FOR WOUNDED VETERANS

Fail: More Moldy Barracks for Wounded Soldiers

by: Brandon Friedman
Mon Aug 18, 2008 at 12:55:05 PM EDT
http://www.vetvoice.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=1780

More problems with shitty barracks for wounded soldiers:

LAWTON, Okla. - Mold infests the barracks that were set up here a year ago for wounded soldiers after poor conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center triggered a systemwide overhaul, soldiers say.

Twenty soldiers, who spoke to USA TODAY early last week, said their complaints about mold and other problems went unheeded for months. They also said they had been ordered not speak about the conditions at Fort Sill.

Officers at the Army base last week ordered that ventilation ducts in two barracks be replaced and soldiers be surveyed, anonymously if they wished, about any concerns. Maj. Gen. Peter Vangjel, the commanding officer, said it was "inappropriate" for soldiers to be ordered not to talk about the mold.

Is it really that hard to square away barracks for the wounded? Given this latest eruption of maintenance incompetence and failure in leadership, I'd just like to direct everyone's attention back to a statement made in April by Brigadier General Dennis Rogers--Director of Operations and Facilities for Installation Management Command--in regard to the Fort Bragg barracks situation:

"I'll tell you right now before we even start: I assume responsibility for the shortfalls in barracks maintenance which were referenced in the video by Mr. Frawley. We let our soldiers down.

And I note that a number of you are veterans, or most of you are veterans, and you served. So you know that there is no excuse for that. We let our soldiers down."

Of course, this statement was made after the much-hyped "nationwide walk-through."
So what's the deal now?

Can we meet the standard, or what? This is pathetic. What incentive do you give people to enlist when this is what you offer them?