[Dawnsblood]

Cpt Jason looks at it here.

[lawnguy]

It's a reflection of our culture. A good many Americans barely realize we have an Army.

I am ashamed of this as an American, and it needs to get fixed.

[Dumpster Baby]

This could simply be a severe budget constraint problem, but I strongly suspect that it’s actually full blown CYA - don’t make waves, don’t stick your neck out, don’t draw attention to yourself by complaining or requesting things that don’t interest the top brass.

[BloodOrFreedom]

"Mold and mildew and peeling paint are bad enough, but what about a big barracks bathroom ankle-deep in raw sewage?...Scandals like this latest one and an earlier eruption of public outrage over the miserably maintained quarters where wounded soldiers were warehoused at Walter Reed Army Hospital are an indictment of the core competency of our Army."

It is not just the Army, though. The condition of the housing for the soldiers at the Navy Weapons Deopt in Colts Neck, NJ is poor as well. I spoke to a Marine who works at the base, who told me that he lives off-base and receives a stipend for off-base housing.

He asserted that although the billets were brand new, the floors had already started to buckle. So it is present everywhere in the Armed Forces, not just the Army

[DieHard the Hunter]

> The best military leaders I’ve known never ate or slept until they’d first seen to the needs of their soldiers. Never. Got that? NEVER.

The list of “the best military leaders” Joe Galloway would know is impressive indeed: it includes Gen. Hal Moore, S-Maj Basil Plumley and the late Rick Rescorla (all heroes of Ia Drang). Galloway therefore writes with some considerable authority, and the Army should take immediate steps to pay careful attention.

[Polybius]

....but what about a big barracks bathroom ankle-deep in raw sewage?

Anybody who has gone their entire lives living in houses where a sewer pipe has NEVER backed up or plugged up, raise your hand.

Anybody?

[LifeOrGoods?]

All I ever hear from liberals is how much Bush has spent on the military and how it’s so terrible that he’s spending money on the military. Well, we haven’t spent enough if you ask me.

[Alia]

There’s verbiage and word choices selected for by this author which have my hackles raised.

[SERE_DOC]

Sorry my thoughts are no surprise here. After working with the army (directly) and the leadership in the Army is non-existent (you can't have 2-3 stellar leaders that can impact the Army directly)

(1976 - 1996) Worked with Army forces in my capacity as a Marine and as a Navy Corpsman.

(2005 - 2008) Scumbag contractor (their words) Iraq, Afghanistan

CRCX2

Buffoons = Army Leadership (Maj & above and the fools that the same leadership promote in the enlisted ranks SFC-SGTMAJ) Sorry to be so brutal but when you see the troops suffer like this it is a inbred problem with the Army leadership.

[Alia]

And OMG! Those poor enlisted get splinters from doing training exercises! And the famous "gas mask" testing! Core incompetency, certainly. Doesn't anyone realize the realize our military guys might vomit from such an exercise?

Hell, our poor guys and gals also have to live in "shared tents" when they go to war (tents, if they are among the lucky ones)! OMG. And the raw sewage from the countries they go to definitely exhibit incompetency in our military leadership - subjecting our troops to stuff like that. Oh dear.