Mice, roaches, mold, and brown water in military living and dining areas
Hots & Cots said that they have collected photos from anonymous service members. These photos detail conditions in military housing and dining facilities. Hot & Cots is just one of the advocacy groups operating in the interest of military personnel and their families. These groups complained about unsanitary and dangerous conditions at US military bases around the world.
From NBC news:
In September 2023, the Government Accountability Office released a report highlighting poor living conditions in government-owned barracks and in military housing owned and operated by private companies. It included examples of housing with mold and mildew, broken windows and overflowing sewage, and recommended that the Department of Defense provide more oversight of housing. Among the problems the report identified were that DOD did not set clear inspection standards or provide guidance on how to address issues.Evans created Hots&Cots, an app where service members can upload photos and reviews of housing and dining facilities anonymously, after reading the GAO report. Since starting the app, users have uploaded almost 8,000 photos and about 400 reviews, both positive and negative.
Evans, who served in the Army Reserve and Army National Guard for 12 years, said he wanted to give men and women a way around the bottlenecks to getting help when faced with poor living conditions. While he told NBC News he did not face dangerous living conditions himself while in uniform, he did have deployments where the barracks were “not ideal.”
“This stuff matters,” he said. “If we are asking someone to enlist and serve their country, this matters.”He said it was “very disappointing” that the military had not yet addressed some known issues, but said there are leaders in the military who genuinely want to help and make changes.
Evans said he allows people to report anonymously because it removes a barrier or fear of speaking the truth, especially for enlisted troops. Hots&Cots does not collect personal or demographic information about users, he said.
Additional Reading:
Kube, C. (2024, August 27). Photos from U.S. military bases show mold, mice, roaches and brown water in living quarters and dining areas. NBC News. Link.
Category: Military issues
Fort Hoodlum, yo!
No kidding. I know how to fix it. Give them weed and they won’t care
https://www.military.com/daily-news/opinions/2024/08/28/dont-ask-dont-test-military-needs-new-policy-marijuana-use.html
Not for ‘legalizing’ weed in the army, but somehow they survived the hazy 1970’s pre-drug test era. I remember some of the NCO’s in the late 80’s-early 90’s recalling smoking joints in the far-off regions of the motor pool.
Pot and other drugs were everywhere as I ETS’d out of the US Army in 1977.
I used to get it from my Squad Leader and a ton of other NCO’s.
I pee’d hot as an M-80 on 7 July and that was 5 days prior to the ETS date.
Sure has changed since then…
And an estimated $150 billion spent on illegals in 2024.
Plus the billions spent on defending other countries… *cough* ‘kraine *cough*
No excuse for this.
That’s a nice haircut. Doesn’t the Navy enforce grooming standards?
Oops. Never mind. That was an AI picture.
And I was already talking shit about the Navy…
Have you noticed the latest Army grooming standards?
Beards, ponytails, male earrings… people look scrubby and sloppy.
There are guidelines to be followed for fixing broken windows and sewer backups? Who knew there were rules.
Perhaps the DoD and the “contractors” in charge of rule writing and maintenance should be made to live in the same housing until all is brought up to their standard of living.
Add Senior Officers and Congress Critters to that list.
Whatever and whomever just so somebody’s eyes get opened. I’m sure the base commanders are just as culpable in all this as well. But you know their house is spot on perfect.
My adopted nephew, son of my brother and sister from another mother, is AD Army and was at Ft Drum on special assignment. The kid, one of those wiry but strong string beans who had to bulk up to join, lost weight. Because he couldn’t afford to buy 3 meals a day. Why not eat in the mess hall? On day 2 there were maggots and roaches in the food. It was reported. Supposedly cleaned. A couple days later, he went back. Yep, maggots and roaches.
He didn’t tell mom or dad because mom would have called command. So, kinda understandable.
He got a talking to for not speaking up to Auntie. She would have called her troops and made sure he and his had all the food they could consume. And I wouldn’t call command. At least not directly, and not that could come back on him. <grin>
I must have been a poor dumb kid to volunteer. I remember at one of my bases. I use to walk around in the rain in really muddy conditions. My hooch had a metal roof and no AC. The bathroom was located down the road. Rats, mice, bugs, leaches and mosquitoes was normal. Box lunches or rations for meals. Water came around twice a day. But it was all sanitary and clean. Nothing to complain about here.
Hell, back in the Old Corps that’s what we had for our daily meals!
Balfour Beatty paid a huge fine the the govt. Should have gone to the troops that suffered. Base housing is horrific and why we bought a house. Also bought a house because was paying more for the same shit as the A1C living adjacent to me.