Young U.S. military troops are suffering from toxic living conditions, as revealed by a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report.
These dire living conditions were identified in some military barracks across the United States. Toxic wastes and bed bugs are just some of the things young soldiers have to deal with.
GAO: US Military Troops Suffer From Toxic Living Conditions
A soldier in the 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment of the US Army sleeps on a cot in a crude hallway in a Saddam-era fortified concrete bunker that's being converted to an Army field post is seen July 13, 2007 in the tense Amariyah neighborhood of Baghdad, Iraq.
According to Fox News' latest report, GAO revealed that many young American soldiers living in barracks on military installations are forced to face dire living conditions.
These include pests, such as bed bugs and roaches, as well as squatters and toxic wastes. All these dangerous elements potentially put their overall health and safety at risk.
"We observed barracks in poor condition, including some with safety risks like sewage overflow and inoperable fire systems," said GAO via its official report, which was published on Sept. 19.
"And some barracks don't meet DOD requirements for privacy or amenities," added the government agency.
In its latest 118-page report, GAO concluded that military leaders from the Pentagon failed to provide proper oversight over the living conditions issues of U.S. military soldiers.
The organization added that these military leaders left problems to be fixed by individual services instead.
Below are all the specific issues discovered by GAO in the Department of Defense's way of handling barrack conditions at military installations:
- DOD does not have complete funding information to make informed decisions.
- DOD conducts insufficient oversight.
- DOD does not reliably assess conditions, and some barracks are substandard.
GAO Visits 12 US Military Installations
US soldiers attend an inauguration ceremony by transforming the Area Support Group Poland into the permanent US Army Garrison Poland, at Camp Kosciuszko in Poznan, on March 21, 2023. - The United States inaugurated its first permanent military garrison in Poland.
GAO said it ordered some of its investigators to observe the living conditions in 12 military installations.
But, the independent organization didn't disclose their names and locations. GAO personnel interviewed some service members during their investigations to gain their perspective.
Many of these American soldiers complained about dirty water in their barracks buildings. Meanwhile, others said that their air conditioning and heating systems were broken.
Aside from these, some U.S. military troops also complained about insufficient windows and doors. They said the lack of these building parts allowed squatters to occupy rooms.
These are just some of the issues American soldiers face in some parts of the U.S. today. You can click here to learn more.
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