thedrifter
05-01-08, 07:43 AM
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Video of Fort Bragg barracks draws attention to troops’ living conditions
By Estes Thompson, The Associated Press
Stars and Stripes Mideast edition, Wednesday, April 30, 2008
RALEIGH, N.C. — A video shot by the father of an 82nd Airborne Division soldier that shows poor conditions such as mold in a barracks at Fort Bragg caught the attention Friday of a U.S. senator and high-ranking Army officials.
Ed Frawley, a dog breeder from Menomonie, Wis., posted the narrated video on YouTube.com on Tuesday after traveling to North Carolina to welcome his son, Sgt. Jeff Frawley, home from a 15-month tour in Afghanistan.
The video shows peeling paint, mold, a bathroom drain plugged with what appears to be sewage and a broken room door lock, conditions that Frawley described as disgusting and embarrassing. “The instant you walk through the front door, you know you are in a building that should be condemned,” he said.
In a Stars and Stripes interview on Tuesday, Frawley said he hoped he wouldn’t be perceived as anti-military; just that he saw a situation that needed to be fixed.
“I had a CNN truck in my driveway this morning. I talked with my son later, and he said all the soldiers were watching it and were thanking him. … Gen Dick Cody called me and talked to me for 30 minutes. He’s a good guy. I’m a business man, and I know when someone’s trying to get one over on me. He said there’s going to be changes.
“I wasn’t looking to get anyone fired. I just want it fixed.”
The Army held a media roundtable Tuesday to discuss the matter.
Brig. Gen. Dennis Rogers, Deputy Director of Operations and Facilities Headquarters, Installation Management Command, said that as the Army’s facilities manager, “I’m the guy responsible … for the shortfalls in the Fort Bragg barracks.
“Folks, we let our soldiers down, and that’s not like us,” he said. “That’s not how we want America’s sons and daughters to live.”
Rogers said that many of the conditions in the video have been fixed, but that Army leadership has directed all garrison commanders to walk through all Army barracks facilities, worldwide, starting this weekend, “and make an assessment that soldiers are housed to Army standards.”
Sen. Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C., said she contacted the Army secretary after learning of the barracks’ condition. “Our servicemembers deserve safe, clean housing,” she said. “If this video posting accurately portrays living conditions for our soldiers, this is wholly unacceptable and it must be immediately corrected.”
Rep. Bob Etheridge, D-N.C., whose district includes Fort Bragg, agreed. “Although the military continues to be stretched thin during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, there is no excuse for substandard housing for our soldiers,” Etheridge said.
Maj. Tom Earnhardt, spokesman for the 82nd Airborne, said the conditions are “appalling and unacceptable,” but said the post must use the buildings that the Army provides.
One problem was that maintenance and repairs weren’t complete because the soldiers in C Company, 2nd Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, came home three weeks ahead of schedule, he said. The barracks had been empty, except for brief periods, since the company left Fort Bragg.
Stars and Stripes’ Pat Dickson and Lisa Burgess contributed to this story.
Ellie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46vYZFU1Dew
Video of Fort Bragg barracks draws attention to troops’ living conditions
By Estes Thompson, The Associated Press
Stars and Stripes Mideast edition, Wednesday, April 30, 2008
RALEIGH, N.C. — A video shot by the father of an 82nd Airborne Division soldier that shows poor conditions such as mold in a barracks at Fort Bragg caught the attention Friday of a U.S. senator and high-ranking Army officials.
Ed Frawley, a dog breeder from Menomonie, Wis., posted the narrated video on YouTube.com on Tuesday after traveling to North Carolina to welcome his son, Sgt. Jeff Frawley, home from a 15-month tour in Afghanistan.
The video shows peeling paint, mold, a bathroom drain plugged with what appears to be sewage and a broken room door lock, conditions that Frawley described as disgusting and embarrassing. “The instant you walk through the front door, you know you are in a building that should be condemned,” he said.
In a Stars and Stripes interview on Tuesday, Frawley said he hoped he wouldn’t be perceived as anti-military; just that he saw a situation that needed to be fixed.
“I had a CNN truck in my driveway this morning. I talked with my son later, and he said all the soldiers were watching it and were thanking him. … Gen Dick Cody called me and talked to me for 30 minutes. He’s a good guy. I’m a business man, and I know when someone’s trying to get one over on me. He said there’s going to be changes.
“I wasn’t looking to get anyone fired. I just want it fixed.”
The Army held a media roundtable Tuesday to discuss the matter.
Brig. Gen. Dennis Rogers, Deputy Director of Operations and Facilities Headquarters, Installation Management Command, said that as the Army’s facilities manager, “I’m the guy responsible … for the shortfalls in the Fort Bragg barracks.
“Folks, we let our soldiers down, and that’s not like us,” he said. “That’s not how we want America’s sons and daughters to live.”
Rogers said that many of the conditions in the video have been fixed, but that Army leadership has directed all garrison commanders to walk through all Army barracks facilities, worldwide, starting this weekend, “and make an assessment that soldiers are housed to Army standards.”
Sen. Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C., said she contacted the Army secretary after learning of the barracks’ condition. “Our servicemembers deserve safe, clean housing,” she said. “If this video posting accurately portrays living conditions for our soldiers, this is wholly unacceptable and it must be immediately corrected.”
Rep. Bob Etheridge, D-N.C., whose district includes Fort Bragg, agreed. “Although the military continues to be stretched thin during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, there is no excuse for substandard housing for our soldiers,” Etheridge said.
Maj. Tom Earnhardt, spokesman for the 82nd Airborne, said the conditions are “appalling and unacceptable,” but said the post must use the buildings that the Army provides.
One problem was that maintenance and repairs weren’t complete because the soldiers in C Company, 2nd Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, came home three weeks ahead of schedule, he said. The barracks had been empty, except for brief periods, since the company left Fort Bragg.
Stars and Stripes’ Pat Dickson and Lisa Burgess contributed to this story.
Ellie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46vYZFU1Dew