If you're a military family, you know all too well the horrible military housing conditions. Most of us must live in base housing to accommodate the deployments, finances, schooling, and my medical condition. We were transferred to Little Rock AFB, AR where the housing privatization has drastically failed to reach its goal. I have been closely watching the investigation of Carabetta, the contractors for Little Rock AFB housing project failure and find it absolutely absurd that this was offered to a contractor with a history of delinquent accounts and other known financial issues. There are reports of the Carabetta bankruptcy, a 25-year history of unpaid subcontractors, suits and counter suits and failed projects. Who approved Carabetta to win this bid and how do we prevent this from happening again?

This situation would have NEVER occurred had the government been more caring about whom they gave the project over to. Personally, the government has failed the military families in providing this project to the said contractors and not taking their history into account. That should have been a strict consideration, as I used to work as a Project Systems Administrator for an International Architectural Firm and when we reviewed bids for portions of the project, the contractor's history was very important in the deciding factor. So does someone from American Eagle Communities have internal military connections to have won this bid, because certainly the military isn't stupid enough to give $5.8 million dollars to just ANYONE, right? I could be wrong, in fact, in the eyes of us military families, that certainly does look like the case.Carabetta/American Eagle Communities has won the Housing Privatization bid for Little Rock AFB in Arkansas, Moody AFB in Georgia, Patrick AFB in Florida, Hanscom Air Force Base in Massachusetts, and Navy housing at Puget Sound, Washington. That's a lot of government money completely lost over something that could have been prevented.

Local contractors and the US Senate want to know why these problems were overlooked and why Carabetta was awarded all these projects with their known history, but it is not just the contractors and the Senate who are concerned because they do not have to live in these conditions. The military families have a right to know and they have a right to a better lifestyle. Not all military families live in beautiful homes with breathtaking views that you see in Army Wives or The Unit, in fact, enlisted families suffer so much harder because they cannot afford to live off base with the amount they are paid and therefore they are stuck in whatever the military provides.

Now, the military families suffer silently living in poverty-stricken housing developments that have everything from lead-based paints, thickened dust, roach-infestations, and molded counter space. I have lived in these conditions for 15 years and seen how horrible these families must live and this is how we thank the military soldiers and their families for giving up their "lives" in defense of our country?

Experience Military Housing

At McGuire AFB, NJ we were placed into a housing complex attached to each other with approximately 6 families all together. The roach infestation was so horrible that our non-military friends would bring RAID cans to our house when invited over for a movie and they would rarely accept dinner invitations. We ate out a lot. We had the military send in specialists to spray for the infestation every month and nothing seemed to work. One time we hired our own pest control company and the gentleman told me that it was out of control. He said that the entire building had to be cleared from beneath the complex in order for anything to matter and that would require moving everyone out of the complex. In other words, there was nothing we could do since the military placed us here.

One day when I was pregnant, I came back to the complex to find a man coming out from underneath my building complex wearing full plastic gear from head to toe and a sign around the basement saying "Asbestos Removal". It didn't bother me since I figured the military wouldn't subject their families to anything horrible while still having them live in the complex, but a week later, I had a miscarriage at 7 months pregnant and to this day, the military has no records of my first pregnancy.

At Hickam AFB, HI there was no housing available so we were forced to live off base and with the pay they give an enlisted to live off base, it is basically sticking a family in the poverty zone level once again. We didn't have children at the time, so it was easier for me to work and help pay the cost we had to cover in order to live in the apartments we chose. After my last experience at McGuire, I refused to live in a home that the military paid us for, so we went over the cost and the remaining rent came out of my pay. For a family who's spouse cannot work in order to stay home with the kids, (child care is not cheap, even on base) they are forced to live in poverty-stricken areas because they cannot go over their allotted military housing allowance. We were lucky at Hickam and ended up getting a new home thanks to the swift contracting done overseas.

At Kirtland AFB, NM the housing was so filled with dust that during my second pregnancy I started developing serious allergies, extreme blotches and hives all over my body. With consulting from my Nurse Midwife, the military brought in a civilian company to clean the vents out in order to ensure cleaner air in the house. It didn't do much for me, but we had no other choice.

During my third pregnancy I experienced the same problems with the dust and immediately requested that we be moved from the house to a newer home that they were building at the time. Upon receiving a letter from my doctor with the concerns outlined, we were rapidly moved to a new home, but we had to pay for the move, as the military would not move us, even though it was a medical condition. Thus, basically telling the families "we don't care if you are suffering in those homes, you can move out on YOUR pay and YOUR time"! It wasn't as if I wanted to move to a new home JUST BECAUSE it was NEW.

At Pope AFB, NC we chose to live off base and it was the hardest thing for me. In order to steer clear of the poverty area where military bases are usually located, we lived 30 minutes from the base, in an area far out from everything and no support for the military families when the soldiers are deployed. Had I not had children, this might have been acceptable, but with three toddlers, not being able to work, and my husband deployed, it was the most mentally and emotionally disturbing event of my life. I was practically alone and on my own with 3 toddlers and nobody around. This is the way many military families choose to live due to the military conditions in base housing, and they wonder why the military spouses have emotional and mental problems. We should not have to choose between loosing our sanity for better living conditions.

Now at Little Rock AFB, we live on base for the community closeness, but once again we sacrifice ourselves in a poverty lifestyle for a closer community. This should never be something a military family must choose between. The spouses give everything to support these soldiers, from careers to a better lifestyle, the families are held back. Why couldn't the government see that the way one lives affects the course of a marriage, health, and happiness in a family? We are not ungrateful for what we have, in fact, we are so grateful that we chose to stay in this lifestyle and stand by our military soldiers for 15 years and more, but we also want to be recognized that our families deserve a little better, even if it means just a new kitchen and a bathroom.

TODAY'S HOUSING

Below are actual photos of my housing unit at Little Rock AFB. We are paying $1100/month to live in these conditions. Yesterday we suffered serious flooding in our house and now the entire hallway, dining room, and storage room is buckled up and water damaged. The roof leeks, the house smells of old wood and mold, and the electrical units are so old that one neighbor had a sever fire in her home earlier this week (from a pop in the electrical circuit unit of the kitchen) and lost everything.

This new housing contractor does answer as quickly as possible and many of the guys are very considerate and friendly, but that still does nothing for the conditions we are living in. If you plan to move to Little Rock AFB, don't consider living on base. It is more of a hassle than it's worth.

 

 

 

LRAFB Housing:  Inside kitchen cabinets

 Air conditioning unit inside hallway

 

Warped bathroom cabinets and molded tiles

 

Mold and Rust build up in all bathrooms

   It's that time of year again for school supplies, uniforms, lunchboxes, and backpacks. Whether you're sending your child off to school for the first time or for the last time, going back to school can be an anxious and exciting time for both the parents and the children.

This year my biggest problem was trying to find a school uniform small enough to fit my 5yr old daughter who weighs a mere 26lbs. and is the smallest, yet most precious (though I'm being partial) in her Kindergarten class. The smallest uniform sizes in the stores from JCPenny's to Wal-mart was a size 4T and my daughter needed a size 2T or 3T. Oh boy, was this going to be fun. I could have bought the 4 and had it tailored, but I save things for the last minute and I didn't have time. Thus, entered Google! Yeah for the Internet. I found a wonderful little place called EZ2BUY Uniforms at http://www.ez2buyschooluniforms.com and they were perfect! Not only do the uniforms fit perfect, but I received them in just 2 days with standard shipping! I bought my daughter her uniforms and a few extras for my boys sizes 5T-6T

The first day of school my daughter's teacher smiled and asked "Where in the world did you get a uniform that small?" and I answered "A little friend named Google!"


My kids in their school uniforms the first day of school