Army Ends Deployed Troops Benefit
U.S. Army Ends Free Storage of Vehicles, Belongings for Deployed Soldiers
OLIVIA RONDEAU
Deployed U.S. Army soldiers will no longer be able to store their belongings free of charge while they are away from home, the Army Sustainment Command announced Wednesday.
A spokesman for the command, which is the primary provider of logistics support to Army units, told Military.com that it was discontinuing the use of funds to store soldiers’ vehicles and other goods while they are away for prolonged periods of time.
It was not specified whether the announcement applies to all deployment types or just to soldiers on temporary duty.
The storage policy ended in October, but the order was not “widely distributed” to soldiers or the press, the outlet reported.
“We understand the burden this could potentially place on soldiers, and HQDA G-1 [The Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel, Department of the Army] is drafting policy that would enable such storage,” service spokesman Sgt. Pablo Saez said.
That new “policy” was only mentioned after Military.com first reached out to the Army about the issue in early December, the outlet noted.
An internal memo from Col. Heather Carlisle, director for support operations at the Army Sustainment Command, said that the Army is not required to provide storage for its soldiers:
HQDA G1, the proponent for [storage] entitlements, recently determined that the Army would no longer support [storage] entitlements because there is no Army policy explicitly authorizing storage in support of soldiers deployed for contingency operations.
Following the discontinuation of the storage program, members of the Army have been authorized to store their vehicles in motor pools, which are typically used to house tactical vehicles and “frequently are uncovered or not climate controlled,” according to the outlet.
The Army had a voucher system for deployed soldiers to store their belongings in a commercial locker after cancelling housing rentals. As we reported earlier Army G-1 decided current travel policies state that a soldier’s belongings “may” be stored and ended the practice. This retention-enhancing decision received some sunlight and now Big Army is scrambling to save face. Right, SGT Saez?
Category: Big Army, Blue Falcons, The Stupid is Strong
Excuse me, I need to go give my DD-214 a good morning kiss.
I’m ’bout to buy mine dinner and rub its feet.
Maybe throw on some Barry White and take it to poundtown.
I tongue mine every day.
Does being a commenter here mean I get a standard issue of mental bleach? Anyone?
BYOB, sorry.
😆
Nope. You gotta suck it up and suffer like the rest of us poor bastards.
Um, no you don’t, fuckface.
Knowing my stuff was secure eased getting shot at parity with Doc promising me to delete my hard drive.
The Army will buy HMMWV front tie-down rubber bumpers in bulk but HHG/POV storage is a ‘screw you, let the free market handle that, even if there is short supply (coughcoughHawaiicough)’?
If I was still in and got orders, just for tees&hees, I’d send all my possessions to the Pentagone C.O.D. and let G-1 figure it the fuck out.
Dicks.
But they wouldn’t.
Never do.
I think most installations still have designated POV storage lots, but those are hit or miss. When my unit got back from Afghanistan in ’02, I remember a few Soldiers had their vehicles broken into in the gated lot. I was a PV2 who’d been on Rear-D, and outside of new guys like me, a lot of the Rear-D were disciplinary cases waiting for separation. Nothing quite like having criminals with ready access to your stuff in a “secure” but unmonitored location while you’re off fighting the Taliban. Back then Soldiers in the barracks had to place their high-value belongings in cages located in the basement. Rooms were then sealed with security tape.
I’m curious as to how The Old Guard did things when they made their contributions to deploying worldwide. Bravo Company deployed in late ’03 and Delta in ’06, each to Djibouti, while Charlie deployed in ’09. Anyone who’s been on Fort Myer knows that parking sucks. It sucked in 2004, and it sucks even worse now, with the Sumerall Field parking lot closed at least one day a week for various ceremonies. Meanwhile, even the Tri-Services lot next to Arlington Cemetery has portions closed throughout the week. So, I have no idea where the deployed Soldiers were permitted to store vehicles.
So, given this change, Soldiers can use on-post facilities that offer little to no protection against exposure to the elements and theft. Unless they are on an installation where there is simply no space, and they are forced to pay out-of-pocket for local storage in a high-cost area.
Got my own storage going to Asscrackistan, didnt want dumb sh*t happening to my stuff.
I never trusted unit storage after the vehicle was.burgled at Ft. Bragg. Not only that but the commander wouldn’t let you drive out unless you had proof of registration and insurance which of course were expired because you were deployed.
This back in the day before you could do it all on line. So you had to find someone to drive you to the DMV and wait for mail to catch up to you for the insurance.
We had vehicles burgled on Benning during Somalia deployment, made me say “HELL NO!” to trusting any storage offered by the US Government.
Seems to be a recurring thing across the Army. I was at Campbell, so that makes three of the larger Infantry installations that saw vehicle break-ins just based on our combined experiences.
Count Drum in that BS too.
Same. Several folks had their cars broken into at Drum while they were in Somalia. Even when they were stored in the back of a motor pool with triple strand around them.
Back of a Motor Pool with triple strand concertina wire around them? Ditto, and like I said, things got ripped off out of them starting with the stereos, especially since the low level dirtbags were charged with watching over them from time to time so they knew which POV had what.
Pretty much
“unless you had proof of registration and insurance which of course were expired because you were deployed”
You don’t get mail when you are deployed? No internet? We civilians get renewal notices in the mail or online.
Lol. Sometimes…. Sometimes… You should read for comprehension.
My first TDY I stored everything I owned except my car in my wall locker. Those fuckers that didn’t go broke into it and stole my Zippo lighters. And I had to explain why it was broken and almost toted a statement of charges for the damage they caused. Fuckers. They left my car alone in the barracks parking lot. Not many people break into a 1984 Toyota Tercel hatchback with an AM/FM radio.
And, even so, the administration of this at practical level was often “oh, we thought you died and sold off your stuff”.
Then they better create such policy. It appears the Army is trying hard to outdo the Marine Corps on fucking over their troops.
That’s a lofty goal, but Big Army is up for the task.
Does the Space Force provide secure storage for Millennium Falcon’s that trips may have financed at 38.9% APR?
Last storage unit I had was a duffel bag.
Word. Never have more than what can go in a Bug Out Bag and be toted by yourself.
BOHICA!
As long as my wife, whom I met at the local jiggly bar, can still access the base commisary, BX and medical facilities, were all good in the hood. She can keep an eye on my most valued belongings.
I knew a few dudes that came back and their stuff was gone.
Hindsight being 20/20, easier that way, I guess.
Another ’02 redeployment story: one of the SPCs who’d just gotten back asked me for a ride to his girlfriend’s apartment. He’d given her access to his bank account, so while his buddies got back flush with cash, he came back to nothing, as she’d moved on while he was gone. That was interesting; had I known the real reason for him wanting to go there beforehand I’d have avoided driving him. As it stood, he had some choice words for her, but nothing escalated too much.
Around the same time, a new PVT was bragging about meeting a purple-haired girl at the Taco Bell drive-thru and hooking up while the unit was gone. A big Corporal was listening and suddenly shouted, “Dude, that’s my wife!” No idea what happened from there because I knew better than to stick around.
Over-25s w/o any kids by two different baby-daddies are best. (The 20- 25 age group are the biggest dirtbags/idiots of both sexes.)
All of us were that age once. Hopefully we were less dirt bag than the current crop.
Glad I ain’t that age any more. (Involved with a stripper, but didn’t get the Mustang with 36% interest.)
Shit like this and they wonder why retention rates suck, gee whiz, I’m off to give my DD214 a huge hug and a kiss!
Just another reason to give the military the middle finger as you walk out the door.
Of course this is another item in the lefts effort to destroy our armed forces.
I’m surprised they haven’t said … ” if we wanted you to have (fill in item here), we would have issued you one”
What Good Idea Fairy snuggled up and whispered into the G1 OICs ear? Did they think they would get a attaboy and a nice fat bullet comment/award for this move?
Indeed, whoever it was likely thought “What money will this save on paper?” to pay for some politician’s junket or a remodeling of the Officer’s Club.
Good grief, Charlie Brown!
I asked my dad what to do with my car before I went TDY to Dugway. He said I was grown (nice to hear). I said yeah but the last time I didn’t listen to you I wound up in the Army. You should’a’ heard him laugh!
I put the new Mustang in the motorpool and the spare tire in my room (per instructions). I disconnected the battery and left the wrench in the foot. When I got back 45?days or so later, it fired right up.
Angry Cop did a video on this when the Col (idiot blue falcon) sent out the memo canceling the program. Worth watching. WTF Army should also feature it.
In all his bombastic goodness.
Good opportunity for a group of retirees with their own DD214s to pool money, buy land, build small storage lockers and covered parking, with fencing & limited access, and rent out to TDY/deployed GIs on the cheap.
Yeah, the start up will be pricey, but they’ll make their money back boucoup quick.
The Amish around here are scooping up land and building
self storage lots. High quality work from what I’ve seen.
I never had that problem. I was already married when I enlisted, so whenever I TDY’d or deployed, everything stayed with her.
NOW…….that said, SHE would have problems whenever I went TDY. I would no longer be a part of the Home Base Unit, so whenever she had a problem, she would hear nothing but, “You’re not our problem any more. Have you tried xxxx?”
Also, the Army either paid for storage or rent, but not both. You didn’t have to get out of your apartment either (you made your own arrangements and rented it off-post on your own, right?) so you can keep the rent going (leave your stuff where it is) and you’ve have a place to go back to when you’re back.
You can get out of your lease and put your sh*t in storage, but you don’t have-to. (Troops were surprised when I told ’em.) For a TDY or 9-month “rotation,” you’ll want a place to go back-to and not have to f*ck-around finding a new one… with having to pay either way (rent or aggravation from BS happening your sh*t) it’s not bad (you ain’t spending $$$ on deployment with all the HFP/HDP anyway). Army might not pay now either way, but do you want you stuff secure?
I was an ate-up PFC when I deployed, with a $380/month apartment in Hopkinsville I’d fallen behind on rent with and a CPL roommate who agreed to pay half while we were in Iraq. He never held his end of the bargain, and years later he reported to Fort Stewart, where I came across him but never brought up the money he owed me.
I caught up on the back rent while deployed and went home to a perfectly secure and warm apartment, without any roommates. Shortly afterward, a friend bought a house in Cadiz and I moved out there with him.
If you have dependents, the BAH isn’t stopping. When I was erroneously placed on orders to Korea in 2005, despite only having eight months on station in DC, I started doing the math and sold the wife on me carrying through with it. DC BAH, Korea COLA, and the family already living in Richmond made it a no-brainer to just collect money while seeing something different. My CSM found out about the records error, though, and my orders were cancelled, leading to me spending the next three-plus years at McNair. Then recruiting, and finally a second and last deployment. I never got an overseas assignment but would have definitely taken one.
Despite it being a tiny unit, when my husband was deployed, our lawn would be mowed once a week and if I ever needed anything, including a babysitter, it was just a phone call away. Maybe the Air Force was just different, IDK.
“We understand the burden this could potentially place on soldiers…”
Apparently, you don’t.
Potentially?? How about we don’t care. Now, go take a bullet for us.
Maybe they got tired of getting everything organized when one didn’t come home in the same condition they left in.
Nothing new under the sun as Solomon warned us.
In WW II a lot of stuff “stored” waiting for the front line men was stolen by the REMFs for “war trophies” by those who never ran the risk.
Bastards gonna Blue Falcon every time. Public outcry only slows it down a bit.
People suck.
Fort Bliss CRC has a storage facility. Unfortunately, it’s for mobilizing soldiers to store excess gear that they’re not taking down range with them. Not very big storage lockers at all.
For Desert Shield/Storm we were given 2 boxes for all our stuff and it was locked in the Bn supply warehouse. Our POVs were parked in the Bn motor pool. That worked for the barracks rats, but if you lived out in town you were hosed.
I guess the Army needs to save money to pay for all those ‘special’ soldiers to medically transition
And to fly troops around the country for abortions and 60 days recovery time.
Well, this bit of news is sure to have people bearing down the doors to enlist.
Yet another incentive for the younger generations to raise their right hand and swear to support and defend the US Constitution gone. This will not help the military’s recruitment numbers, especially since this should be a basic expectation.
The Army assures the public that no General Officers were inconvenienced by this edict.