Gates decries conditions at barracks
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, after watching a YouTube video showing poor barracks conditions at the Army’s Ft. Bragg in North Carolina, said that what he saw was “appalling” and that all commanders must ensure that their troops have decent living quarters.
“Soldiers should never have to live in such squalor,” Gates said during a speech at Ft. Bliss, Texas.
The video, put together by the father of an 82nd Airborne paratrooper, showed mold, peeling paint and broken plumbing fixtures in the Korean War-era barracks. The video triggered a worldwide inspection of Army barracks.
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