Bush examines repairs to notorious Bragg barracks

Fort Bragg, N.C. — A month after an online video depicted squalid living conditions in barracks on Fort Bragg, President George W. Bush toured the barracks Thursday to look over repairs that have been made.

Ed Frawley of Menomonie, Wis., whose son is an 82nd Airborne Division sergeant, took a 10-minute video of the barracks after his son's unit returned from a 15-month deployment to Afghanistan. The video, which Frawley posted on YouTube.com, showed moldy ceilings and showers, peeling paint, an open sewage pipe, broken toilet seats and a flooded bathroom.

The video prompted an outcry over soldiers' living conditions, and the Army inspected its barracks worldwide to determine if similar problems existed elsewhere. The Army recently appropriated $248 million in emergency funds to improve maintenance at aging barracks, including $2.9 million for repairs at Fort Bragg.

While Bush appeared impressed with the clean, spotless latrine area during his inspection, he said the paratroopers at Fort Bragg would be in for an upgrade of their living quarters.

"These buildings are coming down. I know you appreciate it – the soldiers appreciate it. We're going to replace them," he said.

By 2013, a $300 million renovation project will raze and replace 22 barracks at the base that date to the 1950s.

Two weeks ago, Army Secretary Pete Geren also cut the ribbon on 312 new apartments on the base for unmarried officers and senior non-commissioned officers.

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NEXT STOP, CAMP LEJEUNE!

entryrejected
May 23, 2008 10:23 a.m.

doodad, I agree that Brown didn't help anything any better than 'school bus' did, LOL.

There's some serious negligience going on at Bragg, so hopefully it has their rapt attention now. Soldiers deserve better than what they're getting, and they're caught in the middle as always. I certainly support them, although I never cared for this businessman's war.

davidgnews
May 23, 2008 10:22 a.m.

Yes david, and someone needs to go back to maintinence class. Nothing like passing the buck to the President when some peon failed to do their job. Reminds me of during hurricane Katrina, Brown called the President and asked him to call Mayor Nagin to alert him to the severity of the hurricane and tell him to evacuate New Orleans. Nagin's poor leadership and idiodicy got passed off to Pres. Bush by the media. What happened to following the chain of command? Seems like this issue could have been nipped at a local level, meaning Fort Bragg.

After the Walter Reid episode, Pres. Bush had to make an appearance.

doodad
May 23, 2008 10:04 a.m.

lelrino, I have talked to a few old salts from Fort Bragg and they said the same thing you said. Thanks for confriming it.

Panther
May 23, 2008 9:49 a.m.

doodad - this is a base management problem, nothing more.

Bush has nothing to do with these problems, it was all about his photo op. Nice try at a straw man, though.

davidgnews
May 23, 2008 9:30 a.m.