Ramshackle military barracks adversely affect recruits, says report

Defense Department barracks that house military recruits are in poor condition and adversely affect the recruits' quality of life, according to a new report from the General Accounting Office. The crumbling infrastructure in many of the department's facilities may have caused health problems and made overcrowding worse, service officials told GAO in the report "Most Recruit Training Barracks Have Significant Deficiencies" (02-786). During GAO's inspection of 10 military installations that house recruits undergoing basic training, interior temperatures in some barracks rose above 90 degrees with no air circulation, while several facilities on Parris Island, S.C., had deficient air conditioners. Trainers stationed at Parris Island suspected that the faulty air conditioners allowed mold spores to circulate, causing the high incidence of respiratory problems among recruits. Leaky pipes and broken toilets and showerheads have also worsened overcrowding problems and cut into training time, according to service officials at many of the buildings GAO visited. "Officials told us that because of the inadequate bath facilities for the high number of recruits, they often had to perform 'workarounds'-such as establishing time limits for recruits taking showers-in order to minimize, but not eliminate, adverse effects on training time," the report said. Most barracks have less than the required 72 square feet of living space per recruit, especially during the summer months. Service officials blamed a lack of funds for maintenance on the poor condition of many of the buildings. Army officials told GAO that funds earmarked for maintenance were used for other priorities, including training. Although the disrepair in many facilities is having "an adverse impact on the quality of life for recruits" and are a "burden on trainers," base officials were able to accomplish their overall training mission, according to the report. GAO said the Defense Department has made improvements in some facilities and has plans for sustaining or upgrading other buildings. The Army, for example, has long-term plans for updating its facilities over the next 20 years. Currently, the creation of bachelor living quarters is taking precedence over updating recruit barracks, according to Army officials. The other military services have more short-term plans for improvement. The Marine Corps and Air Force are concentrating on renovating existing facilities, while the Navy is planning to build new barracks for fresh recruits. The Marine Corps is also planning limited short-term renovations to its barracks for recruits, since it is also under pressure to renovate and create more bachelor living quarters. The conditions of Defense Department facilities were not regularly reviewed until 2000, when Congress deemed that installation readiness was integral to overall defense readiness. Now, each service develops its own system for rating the condition of its facilities. GAO agreed with most of Defense's ratings of its barracks, but there were some exceptions. For example, the department gave the Marine Corp facilities at Parris Island, S.C., the best rating overall in its defense readiness reporting system, but GAO criticized that rating, saying the barracks were in "the worst physical condition [they] had seen." Marine officials explained that their rating was based on old data because the newest inspection information had not been entered in their database. GAO's report is part of a larger, ongoing project assessing the condition of all Defense facilities.