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Training military journalists strains Fort Meade’s barracks
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FORT MEADE, Md. (Map, News) - A sniper takes out a leader of American troops. He writhes on the ground, while another soldier stands nearby videotaping his dying comrade.
Army Master Sgt. Lance Milsted stops the training exercise and speaks to the young soldier-journalist about the most important lesson he would learn.
“You have to learn when to stop shooting video and start shooting bullets,” said Milsted, an instructor at the Defense Information School at Fort Meade.
This is the kind of tutelage more than 3,500 journalists, broadcasters and public affairs officers from all five service branches receive at DINFOS, the military’s journalism and communications school.
The Department of the Defense is pushing for more DINFOS graduates, but it has also put a strain on the 50-year-old barracks plauged by mold and leaky pipes that houses the students.
“With a continuous student population, you can’t just shut down the showers,” said Col. Kenneth McCreedy, fort commander.
The military’s demand is so high DINFOS cannot meet the requested allotment of graduates in 19 of 26 courses. The Navy has doubled its requested graduates in the past year, and the Army is offering bonuses to recruits who graduate, officials said.
“Providing factual information and communication to the public is as important as holding tactical ground,” said Army Command Sgt. Maj. Raymond Cordell, of DINFOS.
Meanwhile, the DINFOS barracks' moldy rooms, and aging pipes contribute to the problem. Army officials are working to renovate the barracks where students live for three to nine months during training.
“When you enlist, you know you’re not getting put up in the Ritz, but you also don’t expect to live in black mold,” said Airman Chris Jacobs, 24, of Texas, who lives in the Air Force barracks — considered the worst by Fort Meade officials.
Army Sgt. Gina Vaile, 26, of the Kentucky National Guard, said she was moved to a newer barracks because of her mold allergy.
Graduates become embedded with convoys and provide the now-to-familiar images of troops coming under fire in Iraq and Afghanistan. They also become the voice of the military. But they are also soldiers, Marines, saliors, airmen and Coast Guardmen.
“Without credibility, you can’t win a war, and the only way to do that is to provide information to all,” said Navy Capt. W. Curry Graham, DINFOS’ commandant.
DINFOS students are trained to be journalists, but instructors stress the importance of remaining a military service member above all else.
Milsted worked as a videographer, and was covering a group of soldiers sweeping roads for improvised explosive devices when one hit the vehicle he was riding in.
“It was then that I realize that if one of these men go down, I’ll be in the fight,” Milsted said.
Officials said DINFOS has served as an “international model.” Slovenia has modeled the school, and Canada built its own defense information school after sending its military journalists to DINFOS for several years, officials said.
While some newly graduated civilan journalists have trouble finding work, DINFOS students are guaranteed jobs after graduation. But that job may put them in the combat zones.
Since the Korean War, more than 100 military journalists have died in combat, with about eight dying in the recent Middle East conflicts. DINFOS has a memorial honoring fallen graduates.
“No matter what job you do, you’re going to see combat. I want to show what the troops are doing on the ground,” Vaile said.
jflanagan@baltimoreexaminer.com
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Examiner Reader said:
I moved on post in 2006. My husband was an instructor at Fort Meade. My kids were sick with high fevers EVERY week!!! I spent hours upon hours sanitizing my house constantly. My 6 month old son contracted botulism because of Fort Meade. Col. McCreedy came into my home and told me that the BRAC merger was coming and that NOTHING was going to stop the building of new houses on base!!!! I guess his concern for the people living aboard his base came last on his priority list!!!!
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Examiner Reader said:
COL McCreedy is someone I will be glad to see go away and far away from this base. He is someone that will do anything to make the community happy but for the Soldiers underneath him for years and years before retiring I know the truth. And many other unfortunatetely, its no surprise the Army saw it too and that is why he will retire an 0-6 and not an 0-7 like most his peers with the same grade & rank- we reap what we sow in life Col! Take care!
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Examiner Reader said:
As I work in the field (UXO) and hear about certain things.. I know that the EPA (which has no knowledge of Unexploded Ordnance nor can they spell it) is only in this for the money. That is correct, they receive money for their pockets when they get involved in what they call "Superfund Sites". I worked on Ft. Meade clearing UXO during the 90's and we were not under the EPA's control and performed our tasks just fine thank you. Let the personnel who do the work for a living get it done. An example, an EPA offical stated that UXO is hazardous waste because "It performed its intended function and therefore can be moved to another location to be disposed of as hazardous waste". Well needless to say, I handed the individual a hammer and asked him if he was so sure it had functioned to please feel free to apply the hammer to the shiny aluminum object in the nose of the projectile, but to wait until I and the rest of the team had moved to a safe distance. He is still alive.
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DINFOS Student said:
I am currently attending this school and LIVE in these deplorable conditions. This story does not even begin to scratch the surface of the very unhealthy mold that has attached itself to every crevice of each of these buildings. Also, it was not mentioned that in at least one building, they have already "renovated" the same way they are "renovating" the other two buildings. Guess what -- there is STILL mold.
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Barracks Survivor said:
While attending the MARDET from 2005-2006 I became severely sick multiple times, once I ended up in the ER with a 105 temp after resting in bed for four days straight. Many times my classmates and I had a cold or the flu. In my case, at least once every two weeks. After completion of the course and moving on from Ft. Meade I can recall becoming ill maybe 3-4 times at most durring the last several years.
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DINFOS Examiner Reader said:
I've pulled staff duty over there several times during my tour here. What the MTL is showing is not nearly the nastiest areas (and there are many). There's carpet that literally squishes with humidity and water pooling. The stench on the first floor at times is unbearable. Some students tell me they sleep on their stomach for fear of something dropping on their face while they sleep. Let's not even discuss the pest problem such as the brown recluse spiders that were found in two other service dorms. I've been in tropical environments that had far fewer mold problems than this (and the MarDet) dorm. The solution is complete renovation, not paint and a bottle of Tilex. I understand the commanders' budgetary concerns, but CPT Chung hit it on the head: would you want your kids to live here? If the commanders and top enlisted folks had to endure this standard of living, wouldn't they raise hell? But some find it easier to tell their troops to "suck it up and drive on." That's leade
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DTruss said:
I lived in the USAF barracks at Ft. Meade, and the picture shown is the least of the building's problems. There is a room that is also uninhabitable in the Air Force barracks due to the excessive amount of mold growing on the walls, and I wouldn't even force an animal to bathe in the conditions that were in the bathroom I used for a majority of the time I was there. The common areas have seen enough paint to make them liveable, but the rooms and bathrooms alone call for the facility to be condemned immeditately. Living at that location for 6 months gave me plenty of time to see the ins and outs of the building, and I pity anyone who has to live there for any length of time.
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Examiner Reader said:
As one who has been in command, I know that the Public Works Office seldom has a "nice" day. Government housing, barrack space, and operations facilities have lifetimes and upkeep demands attention relentlessly. A commander must not overspend his/her budget nor spend money for what it is not intended; those rules are underpinned by Law and their breach can result in the end of an otherwise stellar career. Yet, facilities' maintenace demands attention always. Which is better: armor-up HumVees for war duty or wage chemical warfare on dormitory mold? Attack the Mahdi army or the barrack plumbing? Such questions plague responsible leaders especially when monies are deferred or ordered used for other priorities. Then is when the CO has to make hard choices or have them levied upon him/her from above. Sometimes, accountable leaders figure out a way to have guns and butter both, but such luxury is temporary -- and always cedes to a thing called "war." Steve M
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Examiner Reader said:
I'm an instructor at this school and the conditions were not as bad as they were when I went through. However, that was EIGHT years ago. A couple cans of paint is not going to do the trick. They need to build new barracks and move our young servicemembers. This is NOT the first impression we should be giving our troops.
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Examiner Reader said:
With BRAC, there is an influx of money into Ft. Meade - this is a fact. Coupled with the fact that OUR troops are living in filthy, mold-infested barracks equates to CRIMINAL ACTS. We cannot tolerate this lack of concern for our troops. Congress must allocate funding. Military leaders must be held accountable when their failure to plan leads to troops living in urine and mold. Troops deserve better... much better.
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Examiner Reader said:
I got very ill from living in a home with indoor mold and I am sure this place is worse. I was very healthy before this and now disabled. It ruins your life so I would consider this situation verys serious and put it on the front burner. They are spending so much money in Iraq and these soldiers have to deal with these terrible conditions. And paint doesn't do the trick. It is mostly political why this mold problem is not a concern for our polititians even though there have been several governor's mansions including Bush's in the 90's and millions were spent on these governors. Some how they found the money for them. Disgusting. Linda
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