'We can do better': What Fort Bragg leaders say about substandard barracks

Rachael Riley, The Fayetteville Observer
·6 min read

FORT BRAGG — Moving 1,200 soldiers from old substandard barracks is a top priority, Fort Bragg officials said Friday.

Leaders have walked through the rooms and evaluated which ones were “unsuitable,” based on “health, safety and quality of life issues,” said Maj. Gen. Brian Mennes, deputy commander of the 18th Airborne Corps and acting senior commander of Fort Bragg.

Mennes and other Fort Bragg officials spoke during a media round table by phone.

From an economic standpoint, it became cost-prohibitive to continue to try to maintain the Smoke Bomb Hill barracks, Mennes said.

“I think it’s a bold move facilitated by an Army that cares for soldiers,” he said.

As of Friday, 120 soldiers have been relocated from the Smoke Bomb Hill barracks, Fort Bragg garrison commander Col. John Wilcox said.

About 1,200 impacted soldiers total are from the 1st Special Forces Command; 18th Airborne Corps units, including the 20th Engineer Brigade and 35th Corps Signal Brigade; and other units on post.

Wilcox said the goal is to have all Smoke Bomb Hill soldiers moved by the end of September.

Mennes said soldiers who have moved because of concerns about health or safety have been placed in Army hotels until a permanent residence that meets standards is identified.

For almost the past two decades, Mennes said, a brigade of about 4,500 soldiers have routinely deployed in support of the Global War on Terror, allowing the garrison team to remediate issues in barracks that weren’t being occupied.

“We no longer have that luxury … and sort of are now at maximum occupancy on post,” he said.

Mennes said moving the soldiers accelerates a facility investment plan that was already in place.

There are 12 facilities currently undergoing renovations, and projects involving another eight barracks will start at the end of December.

After an inspection last month that involved Sgt. Maj. Of the Army Michael Grinston, officials decided that 10 to 12 of the Smoke Bomb Hill barracks, which were built in the 1970s, “do not meet today's HVAC standards.”

As of Friday, Fort Bragg’s Directorate of Public Works had 21 work order requests tied to mold, DPW director Aaron Brown said.

Wilcox said if mold is being remediated, officials want the root cause removed so that issues don’t continue.

The mold requests, Brown said, are a priority one issue meaning that they’ll be responded to within 24 hours.

Mennes said moving the soldiers is a commitment to not just “put a Band-Aid” over the problem.

Mennes said not all of the barracks rooms are “necessarily uninhabitable,” but some have humidity issues that have gotten to the point of being a “struggle to maintain” based on the older design of the buildings.

Lt. Col. Teresa Pearce, director of Fort Bragg Public Health, said no soldiers have complained about health conditions tied to living in the Smoke Bomb Hill barracks.

Pearce said similar to pet dander or peanuts, some people may have allergic reactions like itchy eyes, while others have no reaction at all.

“All leaders take seriously any health effects, and if any come up as a result (of living in the barracks), we’ll address that and immediately launch an investigation with the individual,” she said.

Command Sgt. Maj. T.J. Holland, the senior enlisted advisor for the 18th Airborne Corps, said that Fort Bragg soldiers “deserve the best resources.”

“It is our utmost responsibility to make sure they live in a clean, safe, functional area,” Holland said.

Leaders have discussed the situation and want to ensure appropriate resources are applied to fix the problem while assuring enlisted soldiers that they should not be fearful of communicating what they see in their barracks with their chain of command, Holland said.

He said finding a solution is a “whole of Army,” approach that’s involving collaborating with local community partners in the counties that border Fort Bragg to ensure soldiers who move off post aren’t faced with “undue financial hardship,” and leaders are interested in hearing if soldiers have ideas, too.

Holland said the move is a deliberate process, and that leaders are working with units across post to identify senior soldiers and noncommissioned officers living in barracks rooms who won’t face “undue hardship,” or have personal vehicles if they move, so that rooms are freed up for the younger soldiers.

Command Sgt. Maj. Jeffrey Loher, Fort Bragg garrison’s senior enlisted adviser, said garrison leaders are coordinating a plan for busses and cargo vans to provide transportation for soldiers without vehicles who are moving.

Maj. Gen. Tom Tickner, deputy commander of the Installation Management Command, was part of the senior leader inspection that led to the decision to move the soldiers.

Tickner said he saw some of the worst cases that included mechanical issues, areas where air couldn’t properly flow into rooms to maintain moisture levels.

“We can do better,” Tickner said. “We knew mold was in there and had been going in and cleaning it on a case-by-case basis … it was not working.”

Tickner said the inspection accelerated funding for additional renovations on post and led to the decision to demolish areas that were becoming costly to maintain.

Tickner said the Army is implementing a maintenance application that allows soldiers to make work order requests and that the system will help track issues to allow leaders to make tough choices about investments.

Holland said a leader engagement tool is also being developed to track inspections of barracks.

Holland said whether soldiers are moving into other barracks or into Corvias housing on post or into homes in the surrounding five-county area, leaders want to ensure the space is safe for soldiers.

Holland said the soldiers living in the Smoke Bomb Hill barracks are a priority.

Wilcox said identifying buildings on post that need renovation, demolition and new construction is a constant process that’s never stopped.

“With the help from senior leaders in the Army, a lot of time and attention has been given to these specific barracks,” he said. “It’s important to note that it’s not just a whole of Bragg approach but rather a whole of Army approach for a solution.”

Holland said soldiers and leaders try to be good stewards of the Army’s and nation’s resources, but it came to a “tipping point,” that it was time to move the soldiers out.

Staff writer Rachael Riley can be reached at rriley@fayobserver.com or 910-486-3528.

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Fort Bragg leaders speak out about substandard barracks