thedrifter
05-24-08, 08:20 AM
MILITARY: New Camp Pendleton barracks make Marines at home
By SARAH GORDON - Staff Writer
CAMP PENDLETON ---- After four years in the Marine Corps, Cpl. Greg Bushart knew barrack life. It was a berth in a plain room with nothing but bunk beds or, best-case scenario, a small space with two other guys in a bare dormitory.
Barracks were a place to sleep, not to live.
On Tuesday, the 27-year-old Bushart moved into a different kind of barrack. So different, he calls it "comfy."
"These are 100 times better," Bushart said Thursday, sitting at a bar-table in the recreation center of the four-story, 170-room barracks that opened last week in Camp Pendleton's south-central Horno area.
The building is the first of 24 such barracks for single Marines slated for construction over the next two years.
Construction on the base has, over the past several years, emphasized updated housing for married Marines, said Col. James Seaton, Camp Pendleton's commanding officer. Meanwhile, the base's single Marines were living in old barracks, some dating from the 1950s. On average, Camp Pendleton barracks are 32 years old, Seaton said.
"We traditionally haven't viewed the barracks as a home, but for these new ones, we brought in some of the softer, homey touches," Seaton said. "We want (Marines) to feel like it's somewhere to come home to, like they would if they were living with a spouse, or their parents."
Seaton said the commander of Marine Corps Installations West, Maj. Gen. Mike Lehnert, had championed the need for new bachelor housing at Camp Pendleton ---- and a new view of that housing. His efforts ultimately paid off with Congress approving a $1.1 billion facilities renovation package for fiscal years 2008 and 2009, an "unprecedented" influx of construction money for the base, Seaton said.
About $790 million will pay for the new barracks, with the balance going to maintenance, new training facilities, an operations center, utilities and new community facilities like gyms and a child development center.
The barracks are unique among Marine installations and were designed partly based on suggestions from enlisted Marines, Seaton said. Numerous touches ---- outside faucets, a sluice for rinsing equipment and multiple outlets in each room ---- are based on their input.
Marines live two to a room in the new building, sleeping in twin beds that open up to reveal extra storage space. Each person has a walk-in closet and a desk. The rooms have a bathroom and shower, microwave and refrigerator.
Bushart, who returned from Iraq in January and just moved into the new barracks, and his friend, Cpl. Jose Barron, 21, also a four-year veteran, pointed out some of the features that set the barracks apart.
Both praised the large laundry room. In other barracks, a handful of washers and dryers were always in use, they said. Here, the room off the lounge has about 40 washers and 80 dryers.
And there's plenty to do while they wait for their clothes. A basketball court, sand volleyball pit and grills are right outside. In the rec room next door, there's a theater with a large flat panel TV, another TV for video games, two pool tables and plenty of hang out-space. Walls of muted eggplant and beige, and other contemporary furnishings, suggest a Starbucks rather than a Marine base.
"It's got a feeling of a USO," Barron said, referring the the United Service Organization's wordwide recreation centers for members of the military
He said he appreciated the full-size kitchen off the lounge and planned to cook there some nights.
"I think living here is going to save a lot of Marines money," Baron said. "Before, as soon as you got off work, you wanted to get out of here. Now it's somewhere you don't mind staying."
Seaton said he hopes the set-up will give troops home from combat a place where they can continue friendships and enjoy some unaccustomed privacy.
Contact staff writer Sarah Gordon at (760) 740-3517 or sgordon@nctimes.com
Ellie
By SARAH GORDON - Staff Writer
CAMP PENDLETON ---- After four years in the Marine Corps, Cpl. Greg Bushart knew barrack life. It was a berth in a plain room with nothing but bunk beds or, best-case scenario, a small space with two other guys in a bare dormitory.
Barracks were a place to sleep, not to live.
On Tuesday, the 27-year-old Bushart moved into a different kind of barrack. So different, he calls it "comfy."
"These are 100 times better," Bushart said Thursday, sitting at a bar-table in the recreation center of the four-story, 170-room barracks that opened last week in Camp Pendleton's south-central Horno area.
The building is the first of 24 such barracks for single Marines slated for construction over the next two years.
Construction on the base has, over the past several years, emphasized updated housing for married Marines, said Col. James Seaton, Camp Pendleton's commanding officer. Meanwhile, the base's single Marines were living in old barracks, some dating from the 1950s. On average, Camp Pendleton barracks are 32 years old, Seaton said.
"We traditionally haven't viewed the barracks as a home, but for these new ones, we brought in some of the softer, homey touches," Seaton said. "We want (Marines) to feel like it's somewhere to come home to, like they would if they were living with a spouse, or their parents."
Seaton said the commander of Marine Corps Installations West, Maj. Gen. Mike Lehnert, had championed the need for new bachelor housing at Camp Pendleton ---- and a new view of that housing. His efforts ultimately paid off with Congress approving a $1.1 billion facilities renovation package for fiscal years 2008 and 2009, an "unprecedented" influx of construction money for the base, Seaton said.
About $790 million will pay for the new barracks, with the balance going to maintenance, new training facilities, an operations center, utilities and new community facilities like gyms and a child development center.
The barracks are unique among Marine installations and were designed partly based on suggestions from enlisted Marines, Seaton said. Numerous touches ---- outside faucets, a sluice for rinsing equipment and multiple outlets in each room ---- are based on their input.
Marines live two to a room in the new building, sleeping in twin beds that open up to reveal extra storage space. Each person has a walk-in closet and a desk. The rooms have a bathroom and shower, microwave and refrigerator.
Bushart, who returned from Iraq in January and just moved into the new barracks, and his friend, Cpl. Jose Barron, 21, also a four-year veteran, pointed out some of the features that set the barracks apart.
Both praised the large laundry room. In other barracks, a handful of washers and dryers were always in use, they said. Here, the room off the lounge has about 40 washers and 80 dryers.
And there's plenty to do while they wait for their clothes. A basketball court, sand volleyball pit and grills are right outside. In the rec room next door, there's a theater with a large flat panel TV, another TV for video games, two pool tables and plenty of hang out-space. Walls of muted eggplant and beige, and other contemporary furnishings, suggest a Starbucks rather than a Marine base.
"It's got a feeling of a USO," Barron said, referring the the United Service Organization's wordwide recreation centers for members of the military
He said he appreciated the full-size kitchen off the lounge and planned to cook there some nights.
"I think living here is going to save a lot of Marines money," Baron said. "Before, as soon as you got off work, you wanted to get out of here. Now it's somewhere you don't mind staying."
Seaton said he hopes the set-up will give troops home from combat a place where they can continue friendships and enjoy some unaccustomed privacy.
Contact staff writer Sarah Gordon at (760) 740-3517 or sgordon@nctimes.com
Ellie