Yes, there are new rules

[thedrifter]

Yes, there are new rules
By Trista Talton - ttalton@militarytimes.com
Posted : September 03, 2007

JACKSONVILLE, N.C. — Remove pizza from box before cooking.

Don’t use a hair dryer while bathing.

Do not park your motorized vehicle in your barracks room.

The Corps’ latest Bachelor Enlisted Quarters Campaign Plan, released last November, has its share of rules that are — hopefully — obvious to the average leatherneck.

Thinking about tucking a few explosives in your locker for safe keeping?

Think again.

Firearms, explosives, ammunition, pyrotechnics, archery equipment and martial arts weapons are on the do-not-enter list.

You’ll also have to part with hazardous materials before returning to your room. And power tools — specifically table saws, reciprocating saws, arc welders and lathes — are not permitted. But you can have small power tools, including electric screwdrivers, in your room.

And don’t toss your combat boots into the barracks washers and dryers for a quick cleaning. Boots, shoes and 782 gear are prohibited.

There are reasons behind the rules.

Somewhere, there’s a dryer dented inside by combat boots.

Maj. John Harman, bachelor housing officer for Marine Corps headquarters, gave a morsel of a story about one leatherneck caught working on a motor engine in his room. Harman said he’s yet to hear a complaint about animals, furry or scaled, which are off limits.

Many of the rules in the 2006 plan are not new. Single, enlisted Marines living in barracks still can’t smoke in their rooms or within common areas. They can’t light an open flame in their room — no candles, incense, oil lamps, lanterns or grills.

You still can’t have a waterbed in your barracks room. And gambling’s a no-no.

But don’t get too bogged down in what is forbidden. There are rules that allow Marines to add a few personal touches to their rooms.

You might just be able to plop your favorite rocking lounger into your barracks room so long as it gets the green light from your unit commander.

Pictures and posters, as long as they’re framed, may be hung in “a non-destructive, orderly, neat manner on the room’s walls.” This excludes offensive material, such as paraphernalia pertaining to extremist groups, drug use and porn.

Making the barracks homey has been a major concern for junior Marines in the barracks, said Karen Ayers, head of housing and management with installations and logistics at Marine Corps headquarters.

“Even though the 1999 plan permitted personalizing rooms, I think some of the commands became rigid about what they would permit,” Ayers said. “They absolutely have the ability to personalize rooms.”

Harman said he’s visited several bases in recent months where Marines have added personal touches to their rooms.

“They don’t look so stale with government furniture,” he said. “I saw one where there was a very nice six-foot couch in the middle of the room and it didn’t impede traffic.”

Want to put in a sizable television to go with that couch? Now you can.

The 2006 rules allow for larger televisions than the 1999 plan, which prohibited anything over a 35-inch screen. Televisions with larger screens may be permitted as long as they don’t hinder the traffic flow in the room.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Home, sweet home
New barracks policy focused on privacy, comfort
By Trista Talton - ttalton@militarytimes.com
Posted : September 03, 2007

JACKSONVILLE, N.C. — Four off-white cinder block walls with matching tile floors and one window — welcome to your standard Marine Corps barracks room.

But look closer. Open bay barracks and bland, green wool blankets on cold, black steel racks are out. Patterned comforters and matching curtains, walk-in closets and private rooms for corporals are in.

The evolution of bachelor enlisted quarters has gone from all-in-one to single rooms and bathrooms where leathernecks enjoy more privacy than some dorm-living college students.

The Corps’ latest overarching barracks policy — released last November — aims to give single enlisted Marines more privacy, starting with relaxing field days. The 1999 BEQ campaign plan’s policy was that field days “WILL be conducted on a weekly basis.” The 2006 plan tells unit commanders to conduct field days “on an as needed basis.”

Frequent visits to barracks rooms have been omitted from the rules. Instead, the guidance to unit commanders is periodic visits, and they are encouraged to visit or inspect “squared away” Marines less often than those with problem behavior.

“The only real change from the policy in the ’99 plan was the elimination of the mandatory weekly field day,” said Karen Ayers, head of housing and management with installations and logistics at Marine Corps headquarters. “I think we just changed the tone to reinforce that these are supposed to be homes. People weren’t taking advantage of it.”

Ayers said that based on feedback she’s received there was “very quick relaxation on the schedule” once the changes were released.

But that doesn’t mean all Marines are familiar with the plan. In an interview with Marine Corps Times in April, retired Sgt. Maj. John Estrada, then the sergeant major of the Marine Corps, said only about 40 percent of the Marines he talked to about the campaign plan had actually read it. Estrada took on a comprehensive effort during his tenure to enhance single Marines’ quality of life by easing restrictions placed on leathernecks living in the barracks.

The Corps’ current top enlisted man, Sgt. Maj. Carlton Kent, recently said he thinks many units are following the plan.

“It’s the units that are not aware of the plan that are not following it,” he said in an e-mail response. “We need to educate Marines — even those in leadership positions — of the [BEQ] plan.”

He said Marines living in the barracks should be able to live like adults.

“[The barracks] are Marines’ homes and, as long as they’re maintaining the standards, they should be able to personalize them,” he said. “We take a lot of these Marines to combat and expect them to fill leadership roles; and I think we should feel just as confident to leave the barracks in their hands.”
What’s ahead?

Cpl. Nathaniel Kidd, 19, doesn’t have an issue with storage space in his barracks room at Camp Lejeune, N.C.

“So far, I’ve got almost too much space,” said Kidd, with 8th Communications Battalion.

He shares a room with Cpl. Jamie Dubke in one of the newest barracks on base. A ceiling fan whirls above the room. There are walk-in closets for each Marine and a small kitchen area with a microwave, refrigerator and storage area for food by a sink that’s next to a private bathroom.

Under each wooden bunk, which comes with a lockable storage compartment below the mattress, there are desks and chests of drawers. New gray carpet pads the floor. Each room comes with a recliner.

Kidd said his room was a “marked improvement” over other barracks rooms he’s visited. As for his brother, a former Marine, “He got really jealous” when he heard about Kidd’s new digs.

Each floor has a spacious laundry room with seven washing machines and 14 dryers. The older barracks have three washers and four dryers per floor.

There’s a courtyard with grills off a brick patio and a common area with game tables, two large televisions and bookshelves wisely filled with picks from the commandant’s reading list. Construction continues on two more barracks buildings here that will have similar features.

“Change is coming and will be coming quickly for our single Marines,” Ayers said.

By 2012, the Corps wants to fully institute what’s called the 2+0 standard, in which no more than two Marines will share a room and those two Marines will share one bathroom. Corporals and sergeants will have private rooms, 180 square feet per person, and share the bathroom with no more than one person.

More than 60 percent of barracks housing is already at that standard. Nearly 30 percent is at the 2+2 standard — two rooms of four Marines total who share one bathroom. Just over 5 percent of barracks rooms consist of the 3-2-1 configuration, which is a one-man room, two-man room or three-man room sharing one bathroom. A little more than 4 percent have the 1+1 module — two private bedrooms with a shared bathroom and common area.

Meeting the 2+0 initiative means that the Corps has a roughly 16,000 barracks-space deficiency, Ayers said. The lacking space is predominantly at Camp Lejeune; Camp Pendleton, Calif.; and Marine Corps Air Station New River, N.C.

That doesn’t include space that will be needed for the Corps’ end-strength increase of an additional 22,000 Marines through 2011. Ayers said another 12,000 spaces — a rough estimate — will be needed.

“We’ve got the funding in the plan,” Ayers said. “It’s subject to congressional approval.”

The close-to-$2 billion price tag would be funded from 2008 through 2011 and includes military construction, planning and design, furniture and equipment, upgrades to older barracks and demolition costs.

“You also have money in the program to address the additional barracks requirement that will be needed to support the end-strength increase,” Ayers said. “That money is in the program as well, but we’re not going to provide all the new barracks for that end state until 2014.”

Ayers said there had been talk about changing Corps policy to offer single corporals and sergeants the option of living off base. Sergeants are at times permitted to live in town on housing allowances now because the Corps doesn’t have enough adequate facilities.

“We did spend a significant amount of time looking at the pros and cons of changing that policy,” Ayers said. “The Marine Corps’ position is that single Marines should live on base.”

Ellie