Overseas Basing Commission report: Military housing could pose problem

[lebkuchen]

Panel doubts facilities will be ready for returning troops, families


The Overseas Basing Commission still has doubts about stateside facilities needed when servicemembers and families are brought back to the United States in a massive realignment of forces, despite months of reassurances from the Department of Defense.

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Commission members note that questions still exist about whether stateside bases have facilities such as schools and medical facilities ready to maintain families¡¦ quality of life.

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¡§The thing we don¡¦t want to see is taking people out of Germany, where they have good homes and schools, and bringing them home to dirt,¡¨ she said. She said the group is particularly concerned with plans to use old barracks and other makeshift facilities as temporary barracks at several bases until more permanent housing can be built or found. Walker said defense officials have said some troops may need to live in the temporary quarters for several years.

The report calls that plan unacceptable. It also states that even short-term hardships for families could have long-term consequences for the military, noting the rising divorce rate among troops.

In May, Pentagon officials disputed the commission¡¦s opinion that the reorganization was moving too quickly.

http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=30964

It's clear that the Bushies want those fat contracts in hand in case the GOP loses control of the WH/Congress in 2008, health and welfare of the US military and security of the country be damned.

[kestrel91316]

1. That's ok. They can just live in tents.

[anitar1]

2. Let the peasant class live in huts. They should be glad

to have a job.