Watchdog: US troops living in unsafe barracks with sewage, methane gas, filth

A government watchdog has announced its findings after studying the living conditions in U.S. military barracks, a concern it said goes back decades. The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) began looking into the Department of Defense’s housing management after reports of poor living conditions in barracks surfaced.

According to the report released Tuesday, Sept. 19, The GAO found that the Department of Defense does not reliably assess living conditions, and some barracks “pose potentially serious health and safety risks.”

According to officials, thousands of U.S. service members live in substandard living conditions. The 118-page report details a slew of issues, including broken fire systems, black mold, sewage, squatters, poor water quality and pests.

“One installation we visited in October 2022 had recently closed barracks due to legionella bacteria found in the building plumbing systems — an issue that has been challenging to remediate, according to officials,” the report read.

In some instances, the watchdog reported the smell of methane gas seeping through aging sewage pipes that routinely crack and need to be replaced.

The investigation also found that at one installation, “service members are responsible for cleaning biological waste that may remain in a barracks room after a suicide.”

In the report, the GAO says that the Department of Defense does not have complete funding information, adding that the DOD requested around $15 billion for facility sustainment for 2024. However, according to the report, the department “could not identify” how much of that money would be spent on barracks, or how much has been spent on housing allowances for service members who didn’t live in the barracks due to poor living conditions.

These findings come after the GAO examined and analyzed DOD policies and budgets, conducted interviews with DOD housing officials, and toured barracks at military bases in Texas, California, Colorado, and Washington, D.C.

The Government Accountability Office has given the DOD 31 recommendations to remedy the poor living conditions in which thousands of service members preside. All 31 recommendations are listed as “open,” meaning action has not yet been taken.