These Soldiers Say Mold in Barracks Isn't Just Disgusting, It's Making Them Sick

Poor living conditions for the Army's youngest troops have been at the center of the service's quality-of-life issues, but top leaders have struggled to make significant gains, partly due to a relatively small barracks budget. Army Secretary Christine Wormuth and Sergeant Major of the Army Michael Grinston have both made quality-of-life improvements key components of their tenure, with soldiers reporting significant gains in areas like the service's parental leave policy, which is more generous than the other branches.

"The mentality used to be suck it up, but that isn't where we are as a nation anymore," Katherine Kuzminski, a military policy expert at Center for a New American Security, told Military.com. "[Senior leaders are] acknowledging that it's a problem and that's a step in the right direction, but they are bound to the resourcing Congress provides."

...

"There's a challenge that Congress controls the dollars. Neither the Army nor Congress want [barracks] money to take away from dollars going toward the lethality of the Army for a conflict in the Pacific," Kuzminski said. "The reality is the Army needs an influx of cash today."

Read the full story and more from Military.com.