Few problems found at housing in South Korea

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Few problems found at housing in South Korea

Stars and Stripes - Washington,DC*

By Seth Robson, and Slavin Stars and Stripes

Pacific edition, Monday, May 2, 2008

http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104 & article=54468

Seth Robson / S & S

Many of the barracks occupied by the U.S. Army are very old,

including this barracks, occupied by 172nd Infantry Brigade soldiers

at Grafenwohr, Germany.

Seth Robson / S & S

Barracks at Vilseck, Germany, are being renovated while soldiers

from the 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment are deployed to Iraq.

Army officials throughout Europe and the Pacific have spent the last

few days inspecting soldiers' barracks in response to a YouTube

video showing dilapidated and unsanitary conditions at barracks in

Fort Bragg, N.C.

The order for the inspections came from the Army's Installation

Management Command. While officials in South Korea were completing

their inspections of living quarters Wednesday, Army leaders in

Europe completed the task by inspecting 21,000 barracks rooms over

the weekend.

As a result of the walkthrough in South Korea, one soldier was moved

into a different barracks. Europe's inspections found no systemic

problems.

Fallout from the media investigation in February 2007 of substandard

conditions at Walter Army Medical Center quarters already had

affected building inspections in South Korea, said public works

chief Cramer.

" We started to go away from just having soldiers call in a service

order to more of a pro-active approach, where the unit leadership at

the [noncommissioned officer] level walked through the barracks to

find deficiencies, " Cramer said.

Many of the deficiencies found in both theaters were a product of

buildings simply being old, officials said. Many of those older

buildings are receiving face-lifts.

Some of the military's housing in South Korea dates from just after

the Korean War. Some at Yongsan Garrison were built by the Japanese

during their colonial period, which lasted from 1910 until 1945.

They include some of the barracks within the transportation complex

across the street from Yongsan's commissary gate; however, those

barracks and others are receiving substantial renovation funds, said

Yongsan spokesman Dave McNally.

The military spends $12 million to $15 million on renovations yearly

to existing buildings in South Korea, Cramer said.

In Europe, many of the barracks date from the 1930s to 1950s, said

public works division housing chief Jost, adding that the Army

spent $25 million last year renovating barracks in Europe while

soldiers were deployed.

At Grafenwöhr, Germany, officials toured barracks rooms on

Wednesday, including a " 1+1 " apartment shared by Spc. Daemont

, 29, of Cairo, Ill., and Pvt. Lund, 19, of New

Jersey. In the 1+1 apartment, each soldier had his own bedroom, but

they shared a kitchenette and bathroom.

's room was full of soft toys that his girlfriend gave him

and boxing awards (he just won the U.S. Army Europe welterweight

title) while Lund, who is married and waiting for his wife to join

him in Germany, had the bare essentials in his room — a big screen

television. Both soldiers rated their barracks as better than they

expected.

At Vilseck, Germany, many barracks blocks are covered with

scaffolding. They are being renovated while the 2nd Stryker Cavalry

Regiment soldiers who live there are deployed to Iraq.

When officials visited Sgt. Statkowski, 34, in his newly

renovated Vilseck NCO barracks room he showed off his collection

Japanese antiques including a 350-year old suit of armor and a World

War II rising sun flag. The Indiana, Pa., native said the security

that his room provides for the antiques is reassuring.

But down the road, in a barracks built in 1945 and last renovated in

1991, Pfc. Sydney , 20, of Miami, was less impressed with

his room. The Vilseck Health Clinic pharmacy technician said

soldiers in the barracks try to keep them up to standard but there

are still problems.

" When the washing machine goes into spin cycle it backs up into the

kitchen so there is water all over the floor half the time. Some

faucets and showers don't work and there's mold. It can be fixed but

the barracks are old, " he said.

Berkner, IMCOM-Europe public works division business practices

chief, said common problems identified by the survey included

peeling paint, mold and mildew and outdated fixtures.

Mold was also a problem in South Korea, officials said.

At a public meeting Tuesday, Yongsan Garrison commander Col. Dave

Hall cited mold problems in barracks but said the problem was being

addressed.

Some living quarters at Camp Carroll and within U.S. Army Garrison

Red Cloud have been condemned in recent years because of mold and

other damage, Cramer said. Despite problems in some barracks.

Mc, IMCOM-E public works division construction program chief,

said the inspection showed there are no systemic problems with

barracks in Europe.

" It is better to nip a problem in the bud than to wait for a [Fort

Bragg] situation here we have to fix the problem and rebuild the

trust of the occupants. We hoped we wouldn't have the same problems

as [Fort Bragg] ... and we didn't identify major problems, " he said.

IMCOM-E works hard to meet Army standards for the quality of its

barracks and the number of soldiers living in them, he said. " We

want to create a living space that parents and loved ones would want

soldiers to live in, " he said.