It’s really great that Steven could go entertain the Troops at Club Survivor (the dinky outdoor bar and club inside Camp America).  I remember seeing Toby Keith and other bands like Ballentine while I was there.

Cocktail; We used that terminology. My personal favorite was snicker attack, or being snickered; AKA Brown-log Attack! That’s when a detainee poops in his hand and throws it at a guard. They did however install a poop shield back in 2005 to prevent such things. However, the government as usual isn’t very effective at anything they do.

My only advice would be to Steven is to go back to Gitmo as a journalist (I’m pretty sure Pajamas Media can hook him up with that) and actually visit the detention facility.  If he went as a comedian I know for a fact they would have let him drive past Camp Delta; however he wouldn’t have had a tour of Camp Delta and or X-Ray.  All he has to do is go back with media credentials and he can get a first hand experience of the place instead of rely on his information from other sources.  Not that he’s wrong, but as someone who’s seen the entire place; it’s worth seeing first hand.

It’s also important to note that Camp Delta and X-Ray were completely built from the ground up.  Sometimes I cry at night thinking about how much money the government spent to build the place; only to have Obama close her down.

Don’t get me wrong.  I think they (They being the Dirty Stinking Detainee terrorists expletives) should be tried in court.  However, it should be the military tribunals that the Bush administration had intended.  While I was there the administration had continually tried to give them their day in court.  Except the stupid US Court of Appeals for the 9th circuit over and over again put a hold on the process.  In the case of the detainees getting their due process we can only blame San Francisco Elitists who think they should dictate to the military our right to try the detainees in a military court.  We found’em we should get to Fry’em.  Many have already plead guilty so I don’t know what’s the big deal.

The meanest thing on that island isn’t even the detainees, it’s those darn iguanas. Their mean suckas! They don’t give up either. The only difference between a detainee and an iguana is that if the detainee attacks you at least you can beat the crap out of him. The Cuban Iguana are protected by law as endangered species.

One thing Steven you forgot to mention about the health care of the detainees. If a detainee attacked a guard and both were injured in the process… the detainee would be treated first over the American Guard… It’s true, and it’s sad.

To every problem lies a solution, if your willing to try.  In concerns to military housing, their is definitely an easy solution.  The United States Military is the only Federal Organization that forces employees to live inside government housing.  Minus, married couples and certain ranks of course.  If your single or below Staff Sergeant you have absolutely no recourse but what the military deems for you.

My solution is simple, pay everyone housing allowance and give everyone the choice to live or not to live in base housing.  It’s already a solution for some of those in the military, and it should apply to everyone.  If your married, by law the military has to give you, your own house to live in with your family, or you receive a housing allowance and can live off base.  Officers and senior NCOs also have this privilege.   However, single lower enlisted (which make up the majority) are forced to live in barracks.

By allowing lower enlisted the right of off base housing it opens up a free market solution to many problems.

1. If Soldiers aren’t living in barracks, then, we don’t have to build new barracks.  Saves the government loads of money in huge projects.

2. If Soldiers aren’t living in barracks, then, their is no issue of barracks being substandard or dangerous.

3. Right now, the US Government is a Slumlord.  The military isn’t a big enough voter base for radical change to take place; the status-quo will continue.

4. If Soldiers are living in their own houses or rentals then the government can get back to doing what they are supposed to be doing, enforcing health standards.  When it’s the government that’s breaking the standard it just leads to cover-up.

5. Hey remember that housing market crisis thing… Well if you put about 1 million troops into the housing market; It can only be a good thing, right?

Now, I don’t believe that the on base housing should be completely removed.  What should happen is everyone should be paid basic housing allowance and if someone chooses to live on base, then they should have to pay a rent fee just like the rest of us.  This should stimulate better on base housing; if the government wants some of it’s money back then they have to get people interested in living on base.

I was on a trip to Washington, DC recently and I visited several of my friends that are attending the Defense Information School (DINFOS) on Fort Meade.  I stayed the night inside of the Army enlisted barracks the night before I went to Washington.  I woke up feeling sick with a sore throat after one night stay.  Why is this you ask, or why should you even care?

Well it just so happens that the Army barracks (and maybe the Marine and Navy Barracks) are infested with black mold and it just so happens the government has known for two years now.

I did some further investigation.  What I found was a bit appalling.

Quick Information:  DINFOS is a Joint DOD School it has Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, Airmen and Coasties.  Each service has their own barracks.  However, the Army makes up the majority of DINFOS students.

Black Mold symptoms from Wikipedia

Depending on the length of exposure and volume of spores inhaled or ingested, symptoms can manifest as chronic fatigue or headaches, fever, irritation to the eyes, mucous membranes of the mouth, nose and throat, sneezing, rashes, and chronic coughing. In severe cases of exposure or cases exacerbated by allergic reaction, symptoms can be extreme including nausea, vomiting, uncontrollable bowel movements, and bleeding in the lungs and nose.

It turns out that not long ago a new set of barracks that meets the Army living conditions standard were built.  The new barracks are really nice and designed in an apartment complex style with two rooms and a kitchen to every apartment.  The new complex was built because the old housing doesn’t meet new housing standards.  The Army has the oldest of the barracks so the new barracks were supposed to house enlisted Soldiers.  It makes sense, who ever has the oldest barracks gets the newest first.

Well, that’s not how it happened.  About 2 years ago they found black mold in the barracks.  So what did they do?  They put all of the Air Force enlisted in the new barracks. Just so happens the old Air Force building was newer than the old Army building.  So, put the Army guys in the Air Force building, right!? Nope! They condemned the old Air Force barracks, boarded up all the entrances and built a huge fence around the complex.   Hmmmm….

Doesn’t make a lot of sense till I spoke with someone that works for the commander’s staff.

The commander of the base figured that it would be easier to get more funds from congress for building more living complexes if the Air Force took the new building and then said, “We need more money for housing, the Army is living in substandard housing, and it’s infested with black mold.”  It would have been harder to get money had the Army lived in the new building and the other services lived in their complexes that aren’t as degraded.

Good intentions?  For the Soldiers at DINFOS, the good intentions of getting better barracks are making them sick and could also be causing them to lose their jobs.

How could mold cost someone their job?  DINFOS is for intelligent warriors.  DINFOS teaches courses in; Journalism, Broadcasting, Multimedia and Intelligence.  While all of those jobs require a clear mind, the broadcasting career relies heavily on the ability to speak.  Broadcasting for the military is TV Production and Radio.  Can you think of any radio or TV personality that’s going to take a chance of ruining their money making voice?

So that sore throat from the black mold could cause you to fail in announcing skills.  In the miltiary, failing any subject will either force you into a different career field or expel you from the military.  Several people I talked to said they were getting sick all the time and had to go to the hospital occasionally.

Two years ago when they found the black mold the military took two actions in concern to the infestation.  The first thing they did was remove the tiles.  The tiles were so full of black mold that the weight bowed them in the middle.  The second thing they did was paint over the mold.  I’m not an expert, but I don’t think painting over the mold is enough.

Two months ago, after a meeting between enlisted Soldiers and the Inspector General about computer access and the living conditions in the barracks; the old computer room was reopened.  It just so happened that when the cadre opened the room they found the ceiling tiles sunken from mold infestation.  It’s not clear if they just missed this room previously or if they cleaned it and then closed the room off allowing the mold to grow unchecked by routine cleaning.

Now here is some nasty cover up by the cadre.  The Army cadre were told that the buildings were going to be inspected by the health inspector.  So instead of allowing the truth to come out about the barracks.  They mustered the prior service and the all the fresh out-of-basic Soldiers to replace all of the tiles, and then clean and scrub the two Army barracks with bleach; the night before the inspector was to arrive.

Now you have to ask yourself; Should the government be allowed to dictate health care, when it can’t even take care of it’s own?  Just think of Walter Reed and rats running around.

Insult to Injury: The Airmen just don’t get the new barracks, they also get more money because the new barracks don’t meet Air Force standards.  Whoops!  Are the Army standards really that low they you have to pay Airmen to live in brand new barracks.

More Insult to Injury: The Army only pays more money for housing if your in a combat or danger zone.  Apparently, mold and substandard housing isn’t a danger.

Doubling Over in Insult to Injury: Well, it turns out that the new barracks, that the Air Force dudes are staying in; is full.  So instead of putting them in with the Army or other service.  They gave them their own hotels.  WAH!  I guess Uncle Sam loves my Air Force brother more than me, why not put some Army Dudes in the hotels and get them out of those condemn buildings?

Makes sense.  When I was stationed at Guantanamo Bay a new Air Force arrival showed up at our barracks and immedeatly complained.  The guy was like, “This doesn’t meet Air Force standards.”  Even though there was about 40 other Air Force enlisted staying in the same barracks.  They gave him his own hotel room on base.

Additional Problems I found: This is the other stuff I noticed around the barracks.  The air conditioning doesn’t work in all of the rooms (which they won’t fix because they want to condemn the building).  Even the rooms the air conditioning works in, the air conditioning fails to remove moisture from the air.  It’s just cold wet air.  Which causes the mold and also causes the carpets to peel.  You know those carpets that are built in little squares and are held down by glue, well all of the floors  have missing or destroyed carpet because the moisture causes the carpet to rise and peel.  Since the air isn’t dry, everything is wet.  Electronics start acting funny, clothes are always moldy, the carpets and wooden closets are always wet.

This was also not clear, either the barracks have already been condemned, but remain open.  Or, they are to be condemn once they get people out.

I think I’ll start this post with a similar joke that the joke Petreaus told was probably based on.  It’s a pretty well-known joke in the military world.

The classic joke:

So I saw this poster the other day.  It was really great!  It depicts the 4 different services on it, the first one is a Soldier out at a checkpoint in the middle of the jungle and it’s raining and the bubble above his head says, ‘This Sucks!’  The next picture shows a Marine in the middle of the jungle with a 80 pound pack on and it’s raining and he’s covered in mud and he says, ‘This sucks, but I love it!’  Man, those Marines are crazy.  Then, there’s a picture of this Sailor and he’s out in the middle of the ocean and the waves are crashing over-top of his ship and washing over him and he says, ‘This SUCKS!’  The last picture shows this Air Force Officer sitting on his couch in his office looking at his TV.  He’s clicking the remote and he says, ‘The CABLE IS OUT! THIS SUCKS!’

Why is this evidence that Petraeus plans on running for president?  It’s simple, no self-respecting Soldier would ever apologize for telling this joke.  Only a politician who is very worried about offending a large section of potential voters would apologize for this kind of joke.

The Marines’ sense of toughness permeates the Corps’ lore as well as its reality.

To recall an illustrative story, a soldier is trudging through the muck in the midst of a downpour with a 60-pound rucksack on his back. “This is tough,” he thinks to himself.

Just ahead of him trudges an Army Ranger with an 80-pound pack on his back: “This is really tough,” he thinks.

And ahead of him is a Marine with a 90-pound pack on. And he thinks to himself, “I love how tough this is!” Then, of course, 30,000 feet above them, an Air Force pilot flips aside his ponytail — I’m sorry, I don’t know how that got in there, they haven’t had ponytails in a year or two — and looks down at them through his cockpit as he flies over. “Boy,” he radios his wingman, “It must be tough down there.”

You have to understand; Soldiers and Marines are Warriors.  We follow a Warrior creed, and we fight and kill the enemy under any condition.  However, Airmen are not warriors.  They are Technicians.  The only people in the Air Force that actually train to fight are Pilots and their Special Forces guys.  They can take their physical training test on a stationary bicycle for goodness sake!  The fact of the matter is that most of the time when you joke around with Air Force people about this, they are usually pretty proud of it.  Why are they proud?  The have insanely higher living conditions standards, and when they have to live in Army or Marine housing, they get paid extra!  Air Force Personnel are treated like civilians (business-professionals).  They have better housing, food, bases, everything!  They really don’t have a reason to feel bad.

So if you have really thin skin and get bent out of shape because of a joke that made you feel like your not working or enduring as hard as the rest of us.  Then, frankly, you shouldn’t have joined the Air Force.  That’s what I would have said.  But!  I’m not running for an elected position.  Not yet… at least.

The US Army has by far the worst commercials in the entire world.  The Marines are off fighting dragons while the Army is portrayed as standing in formations making facing movements.  Who really thought that was a good idea?  For god’s sake the Navy’s commercials are nothing but showing off the Navy Seals!  The Navy Seals have to make up like less than 1% of the total Navy, but they make up about 98% of their advertisements.    This is what is called, “Smart.”  The Air Force of course shows off their fighter jets and their Para-jumpers.  Once again, Pilots make up 4% of the total Air Force and the PJ are probably around 1%.  Why are these other services showing off combat, but not the Army?

The Army shows Soldiers standing around in formations, some videos of combat but they are all of Soldiers doing things very carefully, cautious and not being extreme. Also, note the use of really dull music. The Army’s videos always try to instill some sense of pride (BORING!). The other services have this hard rock music and things exploding.

Marines fighting Dragons, I mean Demons! (Proabably a Baylor from Lord of the Rings) (I know there is a Dragon one but I couldn’t find it)

Marines Fighting Wizards!

Marines Doing Crazy Things and Transforming!

This proves cool videos get people (Warning extreme Language)

Air Force Rocking Out the Jets!

Air Force Jumping out of Planes!

Navy portraying it’s 1%!

Probably the Only Army Commercial I liked. Dude Running in Desert being B.A.

Soldiers Standing Around, Not Doing Cool Things, Just Reciting Boring Stuff! (This one makes me think, “Army standing around becoming cannon fodder in formations!”

Really Old Boring Army Commercial

Soldiers Turning Their Heads and Soldiers Jumping out of Planes in a Boring Manner.

This Isn’t Going to Get Young People In The Army

You know what would fix this… maybe a little free market mix up!  I see things like Poptent being the future of Advertisement.

Even the Brits have better commercials then us…. NOOO!!!

I love the music in this one

Choose SOMETHING!