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Florida Troops Move From Metal Huts To The Holiday Inn

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By BILLY HOUSE

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 15, 2008

WASHINGTON - The housing of 35 Florida National Guard combat medics and other soldiers in sweltering metal huts during training in Texas was "a bit out of control," says a congressman who wants to know of any similar conditions elsewhere.

Rep. C.W. Bill Young, R-Indian Shores, stopped short Thursday of calling for a congressional investigation, but said "what we need to do is inquire of the Army - or all of the military - if they know of any more situations like this that need fixing."

"The situations like this" refers to the news that the Army was housing the Florida troops - scheduled to be deployed to Iraq by October - on a base near San Antonio, Texas, in huts without adequate bathroom facilities.

The medics have been undergoing three weeks of training at Camp Bullis.

But with temperatures climbing to 107 degrees, word of stark housing conditions made it back last week to the Florida Guard's commanding general, Doug Burnett, who considered sending a cargo plane to bring his medics home.

In an interview Thursday, Burnett said those concerns were heightened after he sent a Guard officer, Gen. Mike Fleming, to view the housing conditions firsthand. Fleming reported back that the troops were sleeping on cots in huts with no running water - likening it to storage sheds where people keep gardening tools - and that temperatures in the metal huts were reaching as high as 107 degrees.

Fleming also reported that as many as 50 males and 24 females had to use the same "common latrine," with just eight stalls and eight shower heads, in shifts.

"My intent was to rescind the military's orders sending them there to Texas and go get them - and I had the support of Gov. Charlie Crist to do it," said Burnett.

Instead, as Burnett was making his concerns known up the Army's chain of command, he said Young - who himself had been made aware of the conditions in an e-mail from the high school principal of one of the guardsmen - was making inquiries.

Young, ranking Republican on the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee, successfully pushed to get the military approval needed to move the 35 members of Florida's 256th Medical Company and more than 100 other troops from other states into a nearby hotel.

"We're keeping them at the Holiday Inn Holiday Crown Plaza, and vans are coming to pick them up for training every day," said Burnett, who said his job is to take care of the soldiers of "the moms and dads of Florida who trust us with their kids."

"We're taking care of them, and they are still getting training," he said, confirming that he took $250,000 from his own budget to help pay for the hotel, money he hopes will be reimbursed by the Army or National Guard Bureau.

Army officials, including those with Army Medical Command, had no comment Thursday on the actions by Burnett and Young.

Not everyone has been so sympathetic. On a blog called Bad Dogs and Such, another soldier in training at Camp Bullis on Saturday posted a comment about the Florida unit's complaints.

At one point, she writes: "There's been some drama down here as a result of a formal complaint another unit lodged alleging horrible living conditions that subjected them to 'grotesque heat.' It is hot, but it's not grotesque.

"The unit in question, however, was moved from our current location to a hotel so that they may sleep in comfort. I won't name them, but I will say that I hope they're not around if I'm ever bleeding in the desert, since they probably wouldn't bring me a pressure dressing if it's above 85 degrees," according to the blogger's comments at baddogs andsuch.blogspot.com/2008/08/every-day-holiday.html.

Burnett says it's not that he thinks the troops need to train in air-conditioned comfort - far from it. But he said there is "no reason for them to suffer needlessly," and he thinks there is a "cultural problem within the mid-levels of the Army" that seem to believe otherwise.

Young seemed to agree in an interview, saying he doesn't buy the argument that "we need to get them ready for Iraq ... They are ready.

"This was a situation that got a bit out of control, but it's fixed now," he added.

"I think it was just something that the chain of command didn't pay attention to. Let's face it, they are busy," Young added, saying he wants to know of any similar conditions elsewhere.

"Congress can do a lot to fix these things - if there's a problem that requires money we can provide the money," he said.

Reporter Billy House can be reached at bhouse@tampatrib.com or at (202) 662-7673.

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