thedrifter
08-30-05, 01:38 PM
September 05, 2005
Single troops need more support, IG says
Housing, help for families remain concerns
By Gidget Fuentes
Times staff writer
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. — The Corps’ inspector general urged units at this California training base to remember their single Marines and said he is focused on improving their quality of life.
With deployment tempo still running high, more programs are needed to reach out to singles and their families, said Maj. Gen. David F. Bice, in an Aug. 23 meeting with a small group of Marines and spouses here.
Bice endorsed programs similar to those in place for families, such as unit Key Volunteer networks.
“We often overlook the families of single Marines,” he said. Single Marines have worried parents, siblings and relatives, too, who want information about their deployment and safety.
“Their families watch CNN and Fox News like we all do,” Bice told the crowd of about two dozen at the San Onofre Community Center. When something happens that might involve their Marine, “they want to pick up the phone and talk with someone.”
E-mail access and Internet cafes overseas help troops stay in touch, but an organized program could ensure that Marines always have steady communication with their families, especially when they transfer to a new unit or move to another base.
Bice said he is asking officials at Manpower and Reserve Affairs to develop programs that would help units and bases foster communication and share information with families of single Marines.
“We’ve got some resistance to overcome ... and take care of these folks,” he added.
Bice, a former Camp Pendleton commander who came out of retirement last year to take the IG post, said he hopes to see other quality-of-life improvements for single Marines, which he noted will help retention.
“We still have serious, serious problems for single Marines,” he said. Housing, for example, remains a major concern.
During his visit, the two-star toured aging open squad-bay barracks at Camp Horno, home to 1st Marines.
“I know that at Camps Horno and Mateo, we are way lacking in terms of adequate and up-to-standard” barracks, he said.
The Corps won’t meet the Defense Department’s 1995 standards for two-person bachelor enlisted quarters until 2024.
“That’s way off,” he said. “We have got to do better.”
The Horno barracks were scheduled to be visited by a group of Senate staff members Aug. 24, said the base commander, Brig. Gen. Michael R. Lehnert.
More money is needed to bring the barracks up to DoD standards before 2024. Congress has provided more funding toward the war on terrorism, Bice said, “but it’s not coming into infrastructure. We’ve got to get the infrastructure up to speed. If we don’t have the infrastructure, these guys are going to walk. We have to do a better job.”
Ellie
Single troops need more support, IG says
Housing, help for families remain concerns
By Gidget Fuentes
Times staff writer
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. — The Corps’ inspector general urged units at this California training base to remember their single Marines and said he is focused on improving their quality of life.
With deployment tempo still running high, more programs are needed to reach out to singles and their families, said Maj. Gen. David F. Bice, in an Aug. 23 meeting with a small group of Marines and spouses here.
Bice endorsed programs similar to those in place for families, such as unit Key Volunteer networks.
“We often overlook the families of single Marines,” he said. Single Marines have worried parents, siblings and relatives, too, who want information about their deployment and safety.
“Their families watch CNN and Fox News like we all do,” Bice told the crowd of about two dozen at the San Onofre Community Center. When something happens that might involve their Marine, “they want to pick up the phone and talk with someone.”
E-mail access and Internet cafes overseas help troops stay in touch, but an organized program could ensure that Marines always have steady communication with their families, especially when they transfer to a new unit or move to another base.
Bice said he is asking officials at Manpower and Reserve Affairs to develop programs that would help units and bases foster communication and share information with families of single Marines.
“We’ve got some resistance to overcome ... and take care of these folks,” he added.
Bice, a former Camp Pendleton commander who came out of retirement last year to take the IG post, said he hopes to see other quality-of-life improvements for single Marines, which he noted will help retention.
“We still have serious, serious problems for single Marines,” he said. Housing, for example, remains a major concern.
During his visit, the two-star toured aging open squad-bay barracks at Camp Horno, home to 1st Marines.
“I know that at Camps Horno and Mateo, we are way lacking in terms of adequate and up-to-standard” barracks, he said.
The Corps won’t meet the Defense Department’s 1995 standards for two-person bachelor enlisted quarters until 2024.
“That’s way off,” he said. “We have got to do better.”
The Horno barracks were scheduled to be visited by a group of Senate staff members Aug. 24, said the base commander, Brig. Gen. Michael R. Lehnert.
More money is needed to bring the barracks up to DoD standards before 2024. Congress has provided more funding toward the war on terrorism, Bice said, “but it’s not coming into infrastructure. We’ve got to get the infrastructure up to speed. If we don’t have the infrastructure, these guys are going to walk. We have to do a better job.”
Ellie