New Barracks at Camp Pendleton
By Rick Rogers
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

May 15, 2008


CAMP PENDLETON ? Camp Pendleton officials yesterday unveiled a new barracks building, the first of 24 to
beconstructed on the base in the next two years for single Marines.

The four-story, 170-room structure represents nothing less than an about-face by the Marine Corps on the issue of housing for unmarried troops, who make up about half of the service and spend more time fighting overseas than their married counterparts.

?We just fundamentally had to change the way we were treating them,? said Maj. Gen. Mike Lehnert, commander of Marine Corps Installations West. ?We didn't want Marines getting married just to get out of the barracks. When Marines say they were living better in Fallujah (Iraq), it hurts.?

Camp Pendleton's emphasis on family housing in the past decade might have come at the expense of single Marines, who live in barracks that are about three decades old.

Three years ago, Lehnert convinced Marine commandant Gen. Michael Hagee that money ? a lot of it ? was needed for bachelor barracks at Camp Pendleton. The current commandant, Gen. James Conway, worked with congressional leaders to line up the funding.

The result: Camp Pendleton's $1.1 billion facilities renovation package for fiscal years 2008 and 2009 is larger than that of any other Marine base. Nearly $800 million will go toward erecting barracks. The rest will be used for repairing and maintaining training sites, gyms and other infrastructure.

Camp Pendleton's leaders plan to spend more money from 2010 to 2013 on projects to help the base accommodate 4,000 more troops. The anticipated growth is part of the Marine Corps' mission to expand by 22,000 service members within roughly the same time period.

The barracks building that opened yesterday in the Horno section of the base cost $21.4 million to complete. Its design, based on recommendations from focus groups of young Marines, likely will serve as the blueprint for future barracks at Marine installations nationwide.

With its brick facade and activity center, the building resembles a college dormitory more than military barracks.

Out are metal bunks, standing lockers and open bays where 50 or more Marines sleep. Also out are basketball courts without lights, and washers and dryers that dominate small, closed rooms.

In are two-person rooms with walk-in closets and matching wooden beds and desks. Also in are banks of gleaming washers and dryers where troops can do laundry while watching TV, areas with wireless Internet access, surround-sound chairs for the video-game room, pool tables and lighted volleyball and basketball courts.

"This not not your mother's (bachelor enlisted quarters)," Lehnert said. "If you think about what the Marines are being asked to do in war, they deserve this."

He and other commanders insisted that new barracks feature public spaces for communal interaction so Marines don't feel isolated sitting in their rooms. They said camaraderie on a base translates to camaraderie on the battlefield.

Most Marines at Camp Pendleton have served at least one combat deployment. Base officials said it's important that troops talk about their wartime experiences instead of shutting themselves away.

Enlisted Marines will start living in the freshly minted building later this week.

?They are anxious to move in there, that's for sure,? said Pfc. James Stein, 23, of his fellow Marines from the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment. They will be the first service members to call the barracks home.

?If you are in the field for week or a month, this place will welcome you home,? said Pfc. Herbert Hartfield, 20. ?For those who have experienced combat, it is certainly deserved.?

Source: San Diego Union Tribune

I hope the Marines take care of them.

The Marines always takes care of their barracks -- 4 hours field day once a week. I think if it wasn't for the Marines cleaning those barracks like their rifle, those barracks would have been condemned a long time ago.



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quote:

Originally posted by FormerEmbassyMarine:
I hope the Marines take care of them.

somehow, i think they will

ya know, fock fock games & all

I field dayed many many times in the fleet as Thursday was field day...

I am just saying the vandalism, lack of upkeep (maint), and general crappy atmosphere of the barracks that I lived in at 21 area CAMPEN from 95-97 made my time in the barracks suck.

maybe it was just the dirty azz amtrackers....

2/1 got the new barracks, even though 1/4 was the first to get back to Horno from deployment and we have Marines (including myself) in these squadbays.

Makes sense.

Field day all you want. The DNCO will have his hands full when the Marines come back from partying out in town. I fel bad for the first one that has to call the SDNCO and report something fugged up.

it's about time!

i'm glad to see that these Marines will get nice new barracks.

about a month ago, there was an article on CNN about these crappy Army barracks that would overflow with sewage.

i'm sure everyone here has their own horror story concerning barracks life.

the worst barracks i ever lived in was my last 6 months at Miramar. the barracks were former temporary family housing. the rooms all reeked. the showers and the toliets clogged and overflowed. the walls leaked when it rained. there was so much lime and calcium buildup in the shower. it was easily an inch thick.

however, soon after my discharge, the Marines down there began to move into the new barracks with the individual bedrooms.

i'm sure the Marines will take good care of the new barracks. since they are new, i forsee alot of field day **** **** games to keep them that way

Just think of all those new rocks to paint!