It may not be what you think.
Since 2007, 10 babies have died while living in homes at Ft. Bragg. While there is an ongoing probe, officials at Ft. Bragg have declared the homes safe to live in.
While our government spends millions of dollars in the desert fighting an un-winnable war, we continue to scrimp and save federal dollars when it comes to supporting our troops back home.
Think this deserves more attention? Are you looking for a job? Are you a grassroots organizer? Then this may be the perfect opportunity for you to make a huge difference. Military Families Speak Out is hiring an Executive Director.
More about both stories below the fold.
First, the job.
Military Families Speak Out (MFSO) seeks an experienced, strategic-thinking executive director who is passionate about ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. We are looking for a dynamic leader who has extensive organizing and campaign strategy experience to lead MFSO in its next stage of growth and development. We want an experienced manager who has had demonstrated success in participatory staff and board management, grassroots and institutional fundraising and nonprofit financial management. Successful candidates will have excellent facilitative and consensus-building skills, and ability to work competently with military families.
The mission of Military Families Speak Out is to end the U.S. military occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan and the policies that allow them to happen, bring our troops home now, and take care of them when they get here. MFSO believes the voices and actions of military families opposing the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are a key to differentiating between "support for the troops" from "support for the war," and essential to building a social movement powerful enough to have a significant impact on ending these military occupations.
This position offers a unique opportunity to work with families directly impacted by the wars and bring the human face and personal costs of the war into the public discussion.
Following the November 2010 elections and the upcoming review of the current strategies in Afghanistan set to begin in December, this is an exciting political moment for MFSO and an important time for new energy and ideas. Successful candidates will be able to inspire our members, build consensus with leaders, our members, board and staff to chart a clear course forward.
Candidates who have personal experience with a family member or loved one in the military are especially encouraged to apply.
The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq (no, we're not really finished there until we're 100% out), are slowly but surely draining our economy, our resources, our way of life. In order to save money, the military has privatized housing at most military bases. After years of mismanaging their own military housing complexes by failing to make repairs and update properities, they gave the responsibility to privately owned corporations. Ft. Bragg is run by Families First.®
Families First is at the core of everything we do—from planning neighborhoods that provide families with a cohesive, secure environment; to designing homes that meet the needs and aesthetics of a modern American family; to ensuring the long-term maintenance and upgrade of each and every home. Picerne Military Housing is dedicated to providing America’s military families with the quality homes and neighborhoods they deserve.
In typical military fashion, the brass have determined that the housing where these children have died is safe:
Fort Bragg officials released the test results at a news conference last week and declared then that the eight homes where infants died were all safe.
The detailed report, commissioned and paid for by Fort Bragg, ruled out several environmental contaminants at the homes, ranging from tainted drinking water to carbon monoxide to mold.
But, they haven't tested for the right thing:
The safety commission report, obtained last week by The Fayetteville Observer, raised concerns about the possibility of Chinese drywall in at least one of the military homes where infants died. The flawed imported building material is known to emit harmful sulfur gases.
Fort Bragg officials said their study ruled out tainted drywall as a factor in the infant deaths by testing the wall boards in the homes for a pair of dangerous carbon-sulfur chemical compounds.
But LeBlanc said they instead should have tested the homes for hydrogen sulfide - the corrosive gas most commonly emitted from bad drywall.
It's basically a military run-around, the kind that families put up with on an almost daily basis. But, the difference in this case, is life threatening.
A comment left on Military.Com reminds us that health issues in military family housing are an ongoing concern:
This has been an ongoing issue for many military housing units in all branches. I wrote an article about LRAFB housing, took pictures, and got interviews with former housing employees about the housing issues. Luckily my family and I moved out of base housing and had the funds to make our own move, but for many other families, base housing is their only reasonable option, esp when a mother cannot work and the husband is deployed often. I do not believe the military's "testing results" ... when I went to a military doctor for issues while we lived in housing, it was "discarded as a viral infection" and when we went to a civilian doctor, these were signs of lead and mold issues. This has been a common factor with military families. It is true the military hires the "lowest bidder" to do the construction and there is a reason they are the lowest bidder! I am saddened for these families, but my advice for them and for every other military family is to make your voice be heard! YOU are the advocate and only the families can make changes! As a spouse/family give as much, if not more, to the military as our soldiers do and we deserve better than this!
Obviously, there will be no quick answer for these families. There will be no way to bring back dead babies.
Our only hope is to prevent these things from happening in the first place. It's time we spent our tax dollars properly. It's time that military families live in housing that is safe, clean, and affordable. It is time for us to demand that government do the job properly in the first place and to stop them fobbing of responsibility to private corporations. Those corporations have only one goal in life... make more money.
I don't know what to do anymore. It is nearly impossible to politically organize military families. MSFO is the closest I have seen. Help them hire a great director! Spread the word, apply for the job yourself!
And speak to your congressmen about this issue, especially if you live in North Carolina. Those serving on the House and Senate Armed Services Committee would be worth contacting as well. I'll be placing links in the comments section below. Let them know you are concerned for those that serve their country and their families. Our military families deserve better than this.