Some heartburn noted this week in some quarters about the Washington Post story about the treatment and the living conditions of outpatients at Walter Reed Army Hospital, and why the milblogosphere is not having a conniption-fit over that, with many dark hints about how we would be screeching like a cage of howler-monkeys if it had happened under another administration.
Not having a background in medical administration, or any particular knowledge of the set-up at Walter Reed, or even personal knowledge of anyone undergoing treatment there, I’d have to defer involvement in this fracas… except for a comment on the reported decrepitude of the building where many of the out-patients were living. From the description it sounds like, and most probably is, a dump.
All of these might come as a surprise to the dear little civilian writers of the WaPo and it’s ilk, who see the nice, shiny public side of the gold-plated bases, and assume that the rest of the base, post or fort is similarly bright and shiny and new. Au contraire, as they say in France, and ‘twas ever thus: George Washington lived in a house at Valley Forge, but everyone else lived in something considerably less commodious.
The reason that no one in the mil-blogosphere is hyperventilating over that aspect of the story is that most of us have lived in, or did business in worse, during our time in service. Peeling paint, leaking plumbing, sagging floors, corroding pipes, herds of rampant vermin wandering untrammeled in cheap and badly-maintained structures that are two or three decades (or more) past their best-if-used-by date? Been there, done that, got a raft of horror stories of my own.
Let’s see, there was the old high school on Misawa AB, back in the days when it was a sleepy little Security Service base; it was housed in three long sheds which had been stables when Misawa AB was a Japanese Army cavalry post in the late 1930ies. On a hot summer day the place still smelled distinctly of horses. It was slated to be replaced during the Carter Administration, except that Jimmeh passed on the defense spending bill which would have paid for it; another good reason to despise him even before bungling the Iran Embassy hostage crisis. Even the relatively newer facilities on MAB then were no prize: famously the hospital barracks was in such bad shape that a guy once walked into the upstairs shower room and crashed straight through the floor into the downstairs shower room. This was the place where I developed my life-to-date habit of storing all non-refrigerated foodstuffs in sealed jars, since the barracks I lived in then had roaches. Lots and lots of roaches.
The infrastructure on Zaragoza AB wasn’t too awful— this was an Air Force Base, where we do cling to some standards— but the water pipes were so corroded that tap-water on base came out colored orange, about the color and consistency of Tang. People living in base housing spent a lot of money on bottled water.
The infrastructure at the Yongsan Garrison, ROK was not that much better. A couple of decades of living with the expectation of relocating the mission elsewere had left the electrical grid in such shakey condition as to make power-outages a part of the expected routine. The water pipes were so corroded that I earned fame everlasting on the day I walked into the Air Force female dorm bathroom and noticed that the shower-heads emitted a bare trickle. I took out my trusty Swiss-Army knife, unscrewed the shower-head-plate and emptied about a quarter of a cup of crud out of each. This was also the place where some of the Army troops were domiciled in Korean War-era Quonset huts. In the fall, CE had to hold training classes for the dorm managers to teach them how to run the antique kerosene heaters that warmed them… the heaters were so old that the average soldier would never in his or her life laid eyes on artifacts of such antiquity.
The AFRTS station building in Greenland had mice so tame that one of the board operaters tried to train them to sit up and beg for food. A broadcaster friend of mine who was stationed at a Pacific Island Navy base was warming a pan of canned chili in a saucepan, when a huge rat jumped into the hot chili… and jumped out again, and skittered down the hallway of the dorm, leaving little rat-footprints of chili con carne.
Maintenance of facilities; it’s one of those dull, dull issues that hardly anyone ever pays attention to except those who have to deal directly with it on a daily basis. It’s not one of those sexy military spending issues; it is more of enduring headache, for there is never quite enough money approved for a tenth of local needs. What there is, winds up being spread as thin as a pat of butter on an acre of toast.
Overseas bases, and facilities that are on the verge of being closed generally get last call; and I’d note that politicians and investagative reporters are usually among the first to make a lot of hay when there is money spent on an aging military facility about to be closed.
So call me grimly amused, when they are making hay about money not being spent on an aging military facility.
Just for the heck of it though, the next time I have an appointment at BAMC, here in San Antonio, I’ll snoop around and take a look at what the outpatient troop quarters look like… but the last time I looked, six months ago, they all looked pretty good.
Any recollections of infamously awful troop billets are invited, of course. Misery loves company.
Absolutely on the mark! I did not know about the fall through the shower at Misawa, must have been after I left. I do know how old it all was though. The hospital was an old ramp style. My office was in the former dishwashing room of the former mess hall right down to the slope to the drain in the middle of the room. I notice from satellite photos now that the old facility is gone and a new one is in its place.
My barracks at Norton AFB were open bay, converted to two man rooms, but only slightly. They no longer exist.
Housing at Sheppard was good off the main base, but enlisted housing would never have passed any real inspection. They wait for tornadoes to do their urban improvement.
Military housing is thought of as either WWII barracks or modern, tents or dorms, not a whole lot in between.
If the general who is a physician, not an MSC administrator, could not get funding to improve housing in the WHOLE 6 months he had the job, that would be pretty much par for the course.
How will this story pan out? Wait for further developments. They WILL come.
Comment by Sam Parkins — 20070302 @ 1053
Let’s see there were the quality SEA Huts at Muchuk Korea outside of Pohang Korea. Plywood buildings with diesel dripstoves for heat. And the morning trip to the “facilities” which were a plywood outhouse with cut down 55 gallon barrels. The shower facilities were the NBC decon station. Two temperatures: 5 degrees above freezing and lobster boil. Open squadbays on Okinawa weren’t that bad. Typhoon partie were a blast!!!
And of course the Quonset huts at Camp Talega on Pendleton were I resided for a few months after Desert Storm. You might have recognized them from the movie Heart Break Ridge. An yes the heads were in a seperate building. Sunny California ain’t so sunny or even very warm at 0500!
ahhhhhhhh memories
Comment by Stacy — 20070302 @ 1402
The hospitol in 1990 in Misawa built in 1940s I remember hitting my head on the fire sprinkler heads in the long hall between the front and the wards. My office there was the Japanese imperial calvary commanders house before and surring the war a dump but my dump….
in Korea in 76 tje shop had tent heaters still there in 1988
Memories…
Comment by Richard — 20070302 @ 1550
Yep, I remember living in various WWII era dumps 30-40 years after they should have been condemmed. On Guam, at Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek, VA, at Naval Station Treasure Island, CA, at Naval Station San Diego, CA….the list could go on. The fact that places like this exist in our military infrastructure is a shock to no one except apparantly Congress Critters and journalists — which says a lot about them. From what I’ve been hearing, the major complaint was not so much where those outpatient folks were stashed, as how long they were stuck there due to the Catch-22 style paperwork drill they have to go through.
Comment by 74 — 20070302 @ 1733
One of my favorite stand-up military comedy lines:
(tenderly cooing voice)
“The military will take care of you—-”
(bitterly cynical voice)
“So don’t turn your back on it for a %*^#@ing moment!”
Comment by Sgt. Mom — 20070302 @ 1833
I thought it was just me. Being NOT surprised I mean.
My Dad spent a total of two weeks in the VA Hospital in Chicago before we pulled him out of that hell-hole in the early 80s. He was a WWII Vet and Mom wound up spending all of their savings on care for him rather than let him spend another minute in that cockroach infested urinal.
And here’s an important safety tip for anyone else getting ready to retire, don’t tell the folks at any of the clinics that you’re getting ready to retire. All of a sudden, all of the available appointments are out past your retirement date. No…seriously. I knew vets were treated less than…but I didn’t expect it until after I was officially retired.
I’ve lived in barracks and base housing that most people would consider…less than adequate…okay, housing projects back home were nicer.
I’m very ready to retire. I’m also making sure that I have full insurance with any new job I take.
Comment by Timmer — 20070302 @ 2153
My worst office was at Mather AFB at Sacramaneto in the early 1980’s. It was a long wooden building of unknown vintage and infested with black widow spiders. During storms, the papers on my desk would rustle from the leaks around the windows. When we finally moved out, the fire department used the building for a controlled burn. Didn’t even let us toss the match.
My worst living quarters were in a hanger at Sharjah IAP, UAE. Early in Desert Shield, we lived in a room that had the worst stench I’ve ever come across. No one went to bed unless they had too. After several weeks, the walls were torn off and a dead cat discovered.
Comment by Timothy — 20070303 @ 0519
Richard,
Those sprinklers were designed for shorter people I guess. We just learned to walk around them, eventually.
Sam
Comment by Sam Parkins — 20070303 @ 0659
Sam, I was in AAVS at Norton, please drop me a line.
fhelton AT mindspring.com
Comment by Frank Helton — 20070304 @ 0809
We do SRPs for deploying troops. Rumour is that the barracks on base were to be used for FEMA housing after Katrina, but they were not up to FEMA standards (but just fine for the troops).
Comment by andrewdb — 20070304 @ 0953
Yep. as I write this, all the Sunday morning talking head shows are going on. And the media are universally acting as though this is all something new, and that the VA/Army Medical has been “overwhelmed” but the casualities coming out of Iraq.
Throughout history, nations have struggled to care for their war wounded. But is is shameful that this is still true here, in the United States of the 21st century, with our great wealth and would-leading health care industry. This is just more evidence that we are trying to do this war on the cheap.
But also, we who have first-hand experience know that, overall, the VHA has improved massively under this administration. It doesn’t mean there isn’t far more room for improvement, just that we shouldn’t lose our perspective.
Comment by Kevin L. Connors — 20070304 @ 1107
1991 - Camp Kinser, Okinawa. Billeted in a 4-story barracks. Not such a bad setup but easily second worst on the island.
The bit I really remember is when they turned on the a/c after the chilly rainy season. Just the rooms were air conditioned so the passageways walls dripped with condensation and mold grew thick and slimy. Oh and the heads had a thicker coat of slime from the steam …
The Communication Company guys had it worse. Same era construction but in squad bay format.
Comment by Brian — 20070305 @ 2122
While I certainly love the war stories, I am trouble by the poor treatment the wounded GIs are getting. This isn’t some podunk, end of the world site, this is the Army’s premiere hospital. What kills me is the way the soldiers suddenly have 0700 room inspections. Typical brass reaction — blame the victim for pointing out the bruises.
Comment by Ranten N. Raven — 20070311 @ 0146
Typical brass reaction — blame the victim for pointing out the bruises.
I’ve never been in a casualty company but I’ve been in a holding unit or two. Pointless inspections are the likely SOP - it takes a good leadership team to know when to ease up on the pointless foofraw.
Those guys didn’t have good leadership - they suffered. Now the replacement team has been told to stick to the books ‘or else’.
Comment by Brian — 20070311 @ 1108
Misawa, Japan
I just got back last week from a trip to Japan. We spent most of our two and a half weeks in Misawa. Its a town in Japan to the far north. I would liken it to Canada. They get a ton of snow in the winter and the sun comes up unnaturally early…
Trackback by Schwo.com — 20070709 @ 1443