I think you must be tone deaf or else you missed my point. I am not interested in taking “risks” or in staying safe or in scoring debate points here. I have nothing to lose, to be brutal, if the barracks suck or PSTD doesn’t get adequate treatment. I care about vet’s bennys because I know a very little about them, thanks to NPR and, upon occasion, a nursing journal highlighting a VA hospital.
We need more press coverage, and if what you say is true, the military needs a complete overhaul in how it treats its members.
Even today, first tour single Sailors still live on ships, with no quarters allowance. Don’t know how me keep Sailors with policies like these. But like everything else, it comes down to $$$.
Maybe things are different at LeJeune, but when my son came back from Iraq in January, there was no room for him in the barracks. The single men were placed in the barracks, but marrieds weren’t. I suppose they expect the wife to already have an apt. or something in Jacksonville. Well, his wife was still back here expecting another man’s child so my son had nowhere to sleep. He manages by sleeping in his vehicle, scrounging the odd bunk slot in barracks, or couch-surfing with married friends. This is how we treat Marines with active-duty service ??? :mad:
That is terrible. Why isn’t there more about this? (I am sad for your son–the domestic front doesn’t look all that appealing–some welcome home, that is.)
That’s what your congressional delegation is for. Start emailing. No, I’m not joking.
Wrong. Email is routinely ignored by most Congressional offices, because any asshole can bat off an email, and most do. If you want a response, write a letter and follow it up with a phone call or three. Be dogged but polite. Think “Genteel Bulldog.”
Eh. I’ve had good luck, then, with both Klobuchar and Coleman. I get responses AND got put on their mailing lists. Yay.
There is a general attitude that a Marine getting a housing allowance has somewhere to live. If that Marine is in a situation where that isn’t the case - like a separation or divorce situation - that Marine really has an obligation to let his chain of command know so that the situation can be resolved.
The first step should not be calling a congressman - helpful as they can be. Congressmen have staff that handle situations like this, and the first question they will ask will be what the chain of command did to resolve the situation.
If the chain of command falls on their face, then call Congress. But give the chain of command a chance to help first. That’s what they’re there for. A conversation with the CSM might be a good first step.
He’s getting things worked out, and I’m not really angry with the MC per se; it’s that a lot of things military seem to be running on shoestring budgets and I don’t know why it’s like that. He will survive sleeping on the ground - he’s a Marine after all.
For example, the recruits had to pay for their own hair cuts at Parris Island. I was astounded at that. As someone mentioned above, the funding problem was like this before the current unpleasantness overseas.
Family housing has been largely (if not completely) privatized, while barracks have not been (nor should be, imho). During the privatization process, a whole shitload of money was thrown at family housing.
I also suspect that the old barrack in the video at Ft Bragg is slated for demolition and as such has not been maintained, but was pressed into service as the new barracks fell behind in the construction schedule. Doesn’t make it any better for the soldiers, but it’s at least understandable how it happened.
I had to pay for my own haircuts at Great Lakes Recruit Training Center. And why not? If sailors have to pay for haircuts all through their Navy years, why not have them get into that habit right off the bat?
It isn’t as if they have much else to spend money on there.
Money management is a hard lesson for a lot of junior personnel to learn - and knowing right off the bat that nothing is free is a pretty good lesson.
Sorry - that particular example doesn’t move my outrage needle at all.
I think I just heard on the American radio that the Secretary is at Bragg promising repairs and reform. It says something about the internet age (and the post Walter Reed-era) that things move so fast.
Oh, no, I didn’t mean that I was outraged. Just very surprised.
Perhaps because my prior experience with military family members is dated - my Dad was Navy in the 50’s. 
“A bipartisan group of Congress members blasted the Pentagon over “reprehensible” conditions in military barracks, citing troops living amid mold and contaminated water and, in some instances, forced to clean up “biological waste” left behind by the suicides of fellow servicemembers.”