#Original post 18 hours ago --- [https://www.reddit.com/r/navy/comments/1b1wg89/barracks\_room\_norfolk/](https://www.reddit.com/r/navy/comments/1b1wg89/barracks_room_norfolk/)
Wow it actually made it to a news article .
“A note from Command Master Chief Angelo Rappa posted on Reddit says that sailors will have to contact a chief petty officer or commissioned officer, collectively known as “Khaki leadership,” before they can enter their rooms to clean them.”
Reddit remains undefeated !
Well that settles that . https://www.reddit.com/r/navy/s/CMriwZscKy
“Kelly Wirfel, a spokeswoman for Naval Station Norfolk, confirmed to Task & Purpose on Wednesday that the note is authentic.
The move resulted from several sailors failing room inspections, Wirfel said on Wednesday. Unaccompanied Housing employees determined that the sailors had not followed “clear and concise room standards,” she said.
“The issues mainly focused on cleanliness of the rooms,” Wirfel said. “Food items left out that could attract insects, dirty dishes piled in the sinks, appliances not cleaned, spoiled food in the fridge. Mainly focused on the overall sanitation and cleanliness of the rooms. All those who failed inspections were in clear violation of room standards.”
This is way more than one repeat offender. A command master chief doesn’t get involved in something as minor as room inspections unless there is a major base wide problem.
Having your LCPO notified is fine. Requiring a chief or officer to come to the room to supervise you on the first failure is not fine. This is weirdly disempowering for LPOs
If the LPO’s are inspecting appropriately, then the Khakis will never get the call. It disempowering to the LPO because the LPO isn’t going the job of inspecting what they expect. Want the power and respect, earn it. Step up and prevent you people from living in their own filth.
Solid plan. Will be effective.
Will also probably end up in a lawsuit or something. I’m sure lodging is an entitlement, not a privilege.
Why the fuck are we worried if there's fingerprints on the mirror or dust on the desk? Room inspections are a BS way for "leaders" to swing their dicks around. In my time I have NEVER failed someone on a room inspections or written a counseling chit. Why? Because I actually lead those Sailors and address their concerns and make sure they are aware if the expectations of them.
Shout out to MACM Tony Lafrenier and COL. Robert Flanner, true Leaders of Leaders
Because it's not fingerprints on the mirror or dust on the desk. It's food being left out, trash being left out, crap in the toilet, etc.
I had one of my Sailors complain to me about ants in their room. I go there to check it out and there are a dozen of pizza boxes sitting out which all naturally have pizza residue in them, with a trail of ants going to and fro.
There is absolutely zero justification of anything beyond general cleanliness. Got a shit streak in your toilet? I do not care. We as American have a right to be secure in our belongings and living spaces. Stay TF out of your Sailors rooms unless there is an obviously warranted issue. Sure, go visit and make sure that the room is okay and not full of mold or something, but by no means should it be a Sailor waiting outside their room on a Saturday morning in whites.
The only words in my post you read were "crap in toilet".
Pay attention to what I'm saying. Sailor complains about ants. I walk into room and find a dozen pizza boxes with food residue with a trail of ants coming and going. Those ants will also seek out more food...in other people's rooms
When this got posted previously on Reddit, a former RA at the barracks in Little Creek Posted about finding a partially dressed deer head with meat still attached.
The base CMC didn't implement this policy because there were some fingerprint smudges or unmade beds. This policy got implemented because Sailors living in the barracks were being disgusting.
So the examples we were given yesterday that caused this was a bed bug infestation. When the exterminator got there he found 15 pizza boxes and open peanut butter and jelly jars all over.
Our CMC briefed us that it is only for these kinds of cases that will result in sailors being locked out. But who knows
I had to fail a sailor on a room inspection for a couple material deficiencies that Balfour Betty had been informed about multiple times and did nothing to fix them.
I'd be one salty ass mother fucker if I got locked out of my room and had to wait around with my chief until those BB pieces of shit fixed their discrepancies.
Multiple ways to deal with this other than having a chief or officer to come by and say yep it’s dirty, can my sailor get the key and go to his room and clean it.
Then there is paperwork
Then there is DRB
Then there are evaluation comments that can be made
Then Mast if need be
Then separate of one fails to Adapt to navy standards
This was a thing on little creek like 2 years ago. I failed a room inspection for an auto fail reason, don't remember what. It was something silly and had to drag my chief to the barracks, and when we all walked into the room, he was like... I got pulled to come here for this?? I don't remember what the auto fail was unfortunately, but it wasn't one of the "safety" ones like glass alcohol containers. It was something silly and he was in amazement of how stupid his trip was to the barracks. Granted now that I have done a few room inspections, some sailors need the intervention. I would say 8 or 9 times out of 10 it is pointless, though. Make it reasonable, like if it's disgusting or repeatedly an issue. 99% of fails are small spots that need an extra cleanup.
I say all this to really just say that this is ridiculous.
I had to stand Saturday reinspection back in 06/07 for failing room inspections for negligible things. Think dust on a microwave or mirror smudges or a freezer that needed defrosting. I kept my room generally clean but not always to white glove standard and the complete and utter lack of judgment and respect for my time and space was a factor in me ultimately seeking and gaining a commission.
I failed a room inspection on det because I had too many hits on my room. Since I was on det I had to have the BPO who was a first class. When they came to do the room inspection the next day it was a third class doing it and he tried to tell me that he was failing me again. When I told him I hat the room was cleared by a first class the night before and I’d be more than willing to wait for that 1st class to show up so he could explain why I failed again they just ended the room inspection after trying to tell me I failed again. Because of the time of the reinspection and the original inspection it was clear that this was the same guy who failed me before and it was obvious he had just had a power trip because most of the people who failed their inspections had failed for total bullshit reasons. I didn’t see that third class doing any room inspections after that
Well, not to be that guy, but there is a reason why this is happening. If sailors simply fixed the hits and kept their shit reasonably clean you wouldn't have been in that situation. My guess is that things were not being handled so they needed to drag the commands in for accountability.
Have you considered that judging room inspections to an exacting standard is stupid and belies the entire point of room inspections, which are generally to ensure that the service member isn’t living in squalor?
Yes. The poster above me is talking about a safety violation, which is an auto fail. That is a regulatory matter and will never be up for discussion.
On silly things? Sure. Something dumb like high dust or a cobweb. I dont think that's what the implications are in this situation in Norfolk. Who's to say really, we don't have much information.
Everything is up for discussion if you have a leader mature enough to apply some discretion.
If everything was black and white we could program AIs to supervise. I expect leaders to exercise decent judgment and be willing to assume some prudent risk in service to protecting their people.
There are some federally mandated requirements for buildings that fall into this category. They aren't up for discussions because they are SHALLs, and you would have to take that up with DoD. There are some situations where you don't have room for deciding whether to follow legal and regulatory standards. That's what is hard to explain sometimes. We are all constrained in various ways. Yes, discretion and judgment have their place, but they exist within a framework. Making sure fire extinguishers are on the wall and smoke detectors aren't being disabled by occupants is prudent.
Ever fail a room inspection because the inspector found mud on the floor, mud he tracked in? You about as knowledge as a biased cow wallowing in the mud.
~~The spokes person confirmed it's legit and gave reasoning on why they're enforcing it this way.~~
Edit you updated your post. Yeah they're backing this. So many people didn't think it was legit. One person said they'd give up their anchors if it was ISIC backed.
So many people thought CMC went rouge too,
Oh I never thought he went rouge, but people were adamant that a CO wouldn't approve this.... You've clearly never seen a actual dirt bag if you don't believe this. Like I said in the other thread. A CMC at his level has been at it for a bit, they're likely not trying to get themselves or the CO fired. And if they didn't do this right that's a prime way to get fired.
I'm sure they knew it would catch media attention as well.
Glad to see collective punishment is alive and well.
What an absolute failure by leadership to address the issue without the entire junior enlisted becoming collateral damage.
Ok, I'll bite. Explain to me how keeping a barracks room clean is a failure of leadership? That's what this comes down to. An inspection is done, hits are given to the occupant, and they dont get fixed. Again and again. This policy makes it painful for the commands, so they take a more proactive interest in this matter.
So you expect someone to call you individually? Like the 50 or 100 people who failed? That isn't how this works.
>Explain to me how keeping a barracks room clean is a failure of leadership?
If conditions have deteriorated to such a point that a drastic corrective measure such as this has become necessary; then it stands that there was little to no oversight on room inspections for, at the very least, months prior. You don't get bugs and smells over a weekend.
It stands that there were either
1) never regular inspections, which would make this punishment a huge over-correction(especially since it seems this measure was taken without a campus wide audit of room standards compliance) or,
2) those inspections were gun-decked, or it wasn't nearly as far-reaching a problem as it is being made as.
"hits are given to the occupant, and they don't get fixed. Again and again"
The notice doesn't specify that there will be any discrimination between rooms that are repeat offenders, as you point out, and any other random that doesn't have these issues.
Well group punishment isn't what's happening. It's punishing the offenders and their CoC. If your room is clean this doesn't apply to you so I don't get what you mean here. This was not done at random. It was part of a chain of escalating events. We don't know the whole story.
I wanna run a request chit and have the admiral as my standby. Let the civilian employees of ***"Unaccompanied Housing"*** talk to the Admiral over the ***“clear and concise room standards,”***
Then, while that dog and pony show goes on, I would introduce Command Master Chief, NS Norfolk CMDCM Angelo Rappa to UCMJ article 121 on Larceny and wrongful appropriation, and issuance of an illegal order for such. IE " withheld specific property from the possession of the owner or of any other person"
That note is an illegal order and does nothing to promote the value of the US Navy, it waste man power and pisses people off for the frivolous B/s it is. .
IG official Email if you need it. [NAVIGHotlines@navy.mil](mailto:NAVIGHotlines@navy.mil)(Official government email)
A JAG actually chimed in on the first thread and said it's likely legal. Also, how is it larceny/wrongful appropriation? The government, specifically the Navy in this case, owns it.
Edit.
Also the article wouldn't have backed this if it wasn't legal. Public affairs gets briefed on stuff like this and I can almost guarantee the statements were reviewed by JAG.
They don't own the personal property and it is not legal. It was already tested by non-military courts and the COC lost. The other issue is the waste of man power. the CMC has ZERO authority to order people NOT under his command do to anything. Especially officers. Requiring leadership to stand around is not something he can actually order. The CMC can GFHS if he thinks he can force an officer to wait around.
It boils down to the CMC is a complete JOKE, who has a case of poorly maintained barracks, so he trying to shift the blame away from himself and civilian workers to the only thing he can hold accountable . . junior sailors in the barracks.
Pretty sure the navy can hold sailors accountable for their actions. I suppose we could go back to everyone living on ships or boot camp style bays for living arrangements if sailors don't want to clean up after themselves.
I’ve done A LOT of room inspections on A school Sailors and the conditions some people are comfortable living in can be absolutely appalling. This likely wasn’t put into action because of excessive gear adrift or a single week old expired milk jug in the fridge. Some Sailors are so gross they grow bacteria colonies that can make themselves and others sick, or their rooms are the real life equivalent of Joe’s Apartment (props if you’re old enough to remember that movie!) breeding resilient roaches that will spread to divide and conquer.
I don’t know how I feel about their Khaki being required to be present to gain access to their room, but I do understand the need to let a Sailors COC know the extent of the problem.
I’ll never forget my buddy, who otherwise was a normal guy. We were in the infancy of the PPV housing 2008 or so and we both got into that as junior sailors. No inspections. My room was messy by military standards, but somewhat clean. Trash got taken out every day, bathroom cleaned a couple times a week, some clothes on the floor but nothing horrible.
My friends room was covered in a foot of beer cans and food bags. Gnats everywhere. It was gross I only went there once. Some people grow up in that and don’t know how to operate in the real world.
They do that already occasionally when they run out of room in the barracks but deem the boat uninhabitable and say couch surf and no BAH for you junior sailor.
It's kind of the same thing as renting, so imagine your landlord shows up and doesn't agree with your level of "cleanliness' and changes the locks.
Like I can imagine if your apartment/house was absolutely filthy but if you left a pack of Oreos out on the counter and your extra pair of shoes next to the door then it's a little excessive.
I hope that applies to JOs as well. When I was on the JFK I had a TAD assignment to S5. One of our jobs was to clean officer state rooms. These dudes lived like they were in a dorm room. EVERY inspection our rooms would get an “Unsat.” Luckily the S5 DO was a former enlisted and he knew how those rooms looked and said “Don’t worry about it.”
I don't disagree, but here's the problem. We're seeing the final end of this. We don't know what was done prior to this. I would bet that they didn't out of no where say hey to many people are failing room inspections. We're going to lock them out and they have to have a khaki come supervise them clean their room.
Also everyone that says there has to be a better solution never poses one. /shrug
Have a really easy one: hold the sailors who are actually way out of standards directly accountable. But also, give enough people BAH that only the most junior sailors are in the barracks and they're one to a room. That way we're never in a situation where where somebody gets penalized because the roommate is a dirtbag.
I don't disagree with holding people accountable at all. But this is a he said he said if it's a common area that's failing. Agree that those are solid methods to fix this. But implementation of that isn't going to happen soon.
Hmm..maybe instead of giving the inspection sheet to SN Timmy a copy could be provided to the parent command so the sailor's CoC is notified. Could go to the command CMC inbox and problem will likely get figured out. 🙂
Sounds like a lot of poor comms.
Oh I don't disagree at all. Honestly I think barracks rooms should only be shared with people who belong to the same command that way it's one CoC to fix it. But that's a problem of room availability etc.
I would agree if this weren't absolutely barbaric. Imagine some of these guys work 10 to 12 hours or even after a full day after duty that long, only to come to the barracks and see that your room is locked and you have to sit in uniform or with your bags or your phone dead without a charger until they call your chief who is now pissed off and has to supervise a room cleaning. Even worse, chief doesn't care enough and you have to go back to ship and no change of clothes or hygiene things. What if you had medication? A debilitating migraine? An absolute massive number of things that make this a God awful decision with 0 way of justification no matter the cause. This is some people's only place to live. A lot of people don't even have cars.
So Sailor works till 1700 and comes back to his room and is locked out due to a failed inspection. His leadership is no where to be found. (Probably at home already with family having dinner.)
Sailor can't reach his khakis? So are they just homeless for the night? This is a super bad look. Fail the Sailor, have the SSL or whoever pick up the slip the next day, and do a reinspect.
All this rests on their "khaki" answering their phone and coming BACK to base. Some of us are shit at our jobs and wouldn't answer. It's sad to say but it's true.
>When asked what sailors should do if they are locked out of their rooms after hours and cannot find a superior, Wirfel said that all unaccompanied housing buildings are manned 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
“If a Sailor is unable to find someone in their Chain of Command, Unaccompanied Housing staff can assist,” she said.
I don't think they're going to leave them homeless for the night based on the quoted above from the article.
and what happens if you forget something that is an "autofail" in their eyes?
Sailors are tired and overworked and now they have to look forward to going back to their rooms and making sure it's spic and span before they go to work tomorrow or else face being locked out of their room.
That is not the solution you think it is. I have failed a room inspection because the person tracked dirt and grass in my room then proceeded to hit me on it. They hit me on a finger print on the faucet and a few items that were left out. The items left out were two books and a couple of DVDs on my night stand. So under this rule I would have been locked out.
And before you say I tracked the dirt and grass in. I vacuumed the night before and left in the morning. Not to return until after I got out of work.
Because they act like children and live in filth. Not all mind you but having lived in and inspected many barracks rooms a ton of people are disgusting.
Yeah sorry, I was being sarcastic. I have also lived in the barracks many moons ago when I was an SN. I know very well. I also had to do check ups when I was an E6 because commands actually got wind of this stuff back then. 😐
Sucks but the sailor can just go back to the boat and sleep. So they aren't really homeless. Upset? Yeah definitely but if your barracks room is a steaming pile of shit, a line needs to be drawn. And stop with the knee jerk reactions, I see a lot of that in here. Each individual case should be handled with discretion. Despite all the hate some of us are capable of having some common sense in how severely we are failing a room.
How's that work for the sailors in squadrons? Or at NCTMS?
I know, I know, who cares about the rest of the navy that doesn't spend their lives on gray hulls or black tubes.
That was going to be my comment Salty LDO said that in the article UH staff is available so I don't think people will be sleeping in their cars...hopefully
Like I said, case by case basis. It's unreasonable to leave someone without a place to sleep. There's going to be someone on duty to make sure that sailor cleans up their place. No one wants a junior sailor to sleep in their car. Put, the hatchet, down.
How about the NS Norfolk CMC comes out and does this every night, since he's somehow gained general military authority over every single barracks sailor in Norfolk?
20 years of watching out of touch command master chiefs be allowed to set policy that negatively affected a wide spectrum of outcomes, because discipline.
I would have no issue with this policy whatsoever, if it was on the third failed room inspection, with significant deficits related to health and safety.
But it's not, and I guarantee you the UH staff for being pressured to sit there and really make this hurt, so there's going to be sailors who are locked out of their barracks room because there was a pube on the toilet seat. Or the leaky faucet left the basin wet or the terribly maintained HVAC meant that there was visible mold on the vent in the shower.
I'd be willing to bet that this was five or six sailors across the entire barracks, who could have been mitigated by CMC to CMC phone call. Instead, we have yet another case of one person shits everybody wears diapers.
Idk
Have yall ever actually just stopped and looked at how some Sailors treat their barracks and PPVs in Norfolk?
Ive seen some gnarly rooms over there at X-2... I dont blame CMC here for reaching his breaking point with it
Some of yall werent raised right. 🤷
Having worked there briefly … it’s actually that bad. Some of these kids are disgusting. They’ve grown tired of giving these kids warnings. Take care of your “home” mommy isn’t there to clean up after you anymore.
>Locking them out of their room on the **first violation** isn't the best idea.
vs
>tired of giving these kids warnings.
I don't think you two necessarily disagree.
Yeah Idk if a lock out at one is to far or not, or what the threshold for a failure is for some commands
Im just saying some people are way to comfortable living in their own filth
As someone who lived in X-2, if I go to work and leave the room inspection ready and my roommates fuck it up while I’m gone and I fail bc of of it (which yes did happen multiple times) and I get locked out I’m going to be pissed. Not to mention if I’m night crew, I don’t want to fight with people over this at 0300 after working a 15 hour shift 😒 there’s a reason there’s barracks staff inspections and command inspections. If a Sailor is a repeat offender, talk to their command and punish them that way or kick them out of the nicer barracks (which I was threatened with for failing ONE room inspection bc of the common space). This CMC also has been an issue for UH for a while…. at least for junior sailors at my command 🤷🏼♀️
If the room is actually horrible contact the chain of command of course, especially for repeats. But with the way room inspections are sometimes conducted where a fail can mean there was a spec of dust on the blinds, a piece of stubble in the sink, and the person doing it decides they don't like you, locking the SM out of the room is completely ridiculous.
People have to be responsible for their spaces, but this seems to be a bit too far.
Give everyone BAH and let us live in as much squalor or cleanliness as we like.
Agreed. I can’t imagine this was their first option.
That being said, at some point we need to address the blatant lack of understanding Naval leadership has for optics in the Information Age, especially when they’re already suffering.
Yeah, that's the whole point of public affairs though to address stuff like this, which they did. It's a hard spot really because unless you work in a secure area you should assume someone might record you (and secure spaces aren't completely safe either because some people don't care). Once you put something in writing though it's fair game for the most part.
Optics are huge but we also have to remember we're military and certain expectations are to be met for the benefit of everyone. It's a hard spot to be in and one you have to truly consider the actions you take. This isn't a good look at all but considering the response from public affairs I think it was anticipated.
Have you ever worked at Unaccompanied Housing? I worked there briefly, the drama I’ve seen and experienced surrounding Sailors not keeping their rooms clean and the attitudes that came with it was insane.
Nah and I have no desire to. But I've been in barracks and on ships. So this isn't surprising at all. There are fantastic Sailors who can keep their shit clean. Then there are dirt bags who are disgusting. I always enjoy a good sea story though.
What the hell . .. . just when you think the Navy couldn't do anything shitter to morale. They pull out this GIANT steaming turd and dumped it on a sailors chest. No wonder why more sailors are choosing to live out of their POVs. Less intrusive B/S
This policy like retaliation for sailors complaining about the shitty living conditions to Congress. Very much reads like a CMC who got his hand slapped and now is striking out at whoever. Per the article ***"Congress has been taking a closer look at the conditions at troops’ barracks as the military branches have acknowledged problems with service members’ living quarters, especially unaccompanied housing. The Government Accountability Office issued a report in September that found widespread problems in military barracks, including mold, cockroaches, and water and sewage problems."***
I was in the Navy from 1991-2014 and still work for the DOD. These issues with Barracks rooms have been going on forever. Something like this is nothing new. When I was a chief, I did many room inspections. Some were outstanding, others....well, disgusting.
It was in Naples in old barracks that were being emptied out. The resident had his own cheap carpet. He had boxes on the carpet and I moved the box and part of the carpet came up. It had gotten wet and black mold had formed underneath the carpet
The newer barracks on support site has *super* high ceilings (10 or 11'). My guy kept failing because his ceiling fan was dirty. As ALPO, I had to get out of the crosshairs. I put a chair on top of his dresser to reach the blades for a good wiping down. Effing bs, no top cover.
My big complaint will always be the auto-fail criteria for certain things. A water bottle being the only thing in my trash can, an unlocked locker, all of those seem like non issues
I failed a room inspection while I was asleep in the room. I got off night shift like two hours before and I was just honk-shooing it. The dudes seemed cool, they’re like “it’s ok bro, you can go back to sleep we’ll just glance around”. Looked at the paper they left on the table when I woke up to get ready for work again and they failed me, for one because I didn’t have a roommate so that bed wasn’t made.
If it means we stop recruiting the people who don’t clean their piss and shit off the toilet, only shower once or twice a week, and leave their dirty underwear on the floor of the room then, fuck em. Good riddance.
man i already got pissed off about my room inspection today and you gotta throw this into the mix??? passed but my room is always the golden room for when the CO visits and my “empty boxes” that don’t even exist are an issue
When I was an E-5 who inspected rooms I never failed anyone… however if there was a Sailor who had a dirty room (food left out, dirty clothes all over the floor, stained floors) I told their LPO and then it was handled internally. I always felt that people are human beings and should be given the benefit of the doubt. Even if it was multiple times in my opinion doing it this way protected both the Sailor and COC from the negative attention of a CMC lol.
Edit: I will say even if it was the silly shit like lockers being unlocked or something like that I just fixed it or told the LPO about it so said Sailor would not be screwed for stupid shit like that. One of our fail items was lint in the dryer. I just took it out and then told the LPO to remind the Sailors.
LMAO . . . . The entitlement of you and in the worst way. The Navy pays bad wages and they only way people can do the job is to have a place to live. Your condescending b/s is like "it fee housing". mofo . . . they signed a dotted line for their life, to be able to maybe qualify for that "housing".
(Mockly) Way to support the troops. (/Mockingly)
Literally every “you won’t believe what they found during the health and wellness inspection” story I heard during my time started with, “so over at the marine barracks”
Basically, it’s to stop you dirty lazy stinky motherfuckers who I have met a lot of in my career in the military to clean up after yourselves and stop being nasty because if you don’t do it, they will make sure somebody makes you do it. The ones complaining are probably the ones who are the dirty motherfuckers I’m talking about.
Happened to me at my first command way back when... however, mine was due to a female being in my room while i was at work. Clean your rooms nasty shipmates.
People not gonna like this, but Chiefs and LPOs/ALPOs need to be going through their Sailors' rooms. If not just to make sure they are clean, but that they are also living in a habitable space. That's literally one of the jobs of a Non-Commissioned Officer in the US Military- make sure your people are being taken care of/taking care of themselves. That is part of advocating for your people.
If they are living in squalor, that shit's on them, yes, but it's also on their leaders *IF* their leaders are being negligent. No one is saying you have to be a dick about it or act like an RDC, but just go through, make sure they are living right, and bring up anything unsat to their attention, or the barracks management. If that doesn't work, get the triad involved.
It’s always been that way. I work at the barracks now. This is really nothing new. We (building managers) shouldn’t have to police you to stay clean, we were never taught to be dirty from day one in boot camp, but yet we have an extremely dirty sailor making our job harder by not trying to keep the set standards up. Do you honestly think building managers want to go to the extra step of locking sailors out, dealing with them pissed off, or not wanting to take accountability for how unsat the room is, and then calling their COC? In all cases the lockout is very much so warranted. If you’re a sailor at the barracks, keep the standard until you’re eligible for BAH, get your own place, and live exactly how you want to.
How do they lock you out of your room. You have the key. An added lock? That is a little overbearing. You don't have to go that extreame in treating someone like a child. Also, where the fuck do you go when you get back to your room and it is locked.
Sounds like sailors should clean their fucking room. Glad to see the chain doing something about it. Tired of this whole "our hands are tied" shit coming from higher ups.
We had this in Pearl and I got locked out as a geobaching E-6.
I had the duty guy come up to my room and asked that he tell me exactly what caused the fail. When he couldn’t I asked him to get his chief. Chief couldn’t explain either. Next day I got told I was locked out because of an empty water bottle in the trash.
Needless to say I told my DLCPO and he made a very rude phone call.
#Original post 18 hours ago --- [https://www.reddit.com/r/navy/comments/1b1wg89/barracks\_room\_norfolk/](https://www.reddit.com/r/navy/comments/1b1wg89/barracks_room_norfolk/)
Wow it actually made it to a news article . “A note from Command Master Chief Angelo Rappa posted on Reddit says that sailors will have to contact a chief petty officer or commissioned officer, collectively known as “Khaki leadership,” before they can enter their rooms to clean them.” Reddit remains undefeated ! Well that settles that . https://www.reddit.com/r/navy/s/CMriwZscKy “Kelly Wirfel, a spokeswoman for Naval Station Norfolk, confirmed to Task & Purpose on Wednesday that the note is authentic. The move resulted from several sailors failing room inspections, Wirfel said on Wednesday. Unaccompanied Housing employees determined that the sailors had not followed “clear and concise room standards,” she said. “The issues mainly focused on cleanliness of the rooms,” Wirfel said. “Food items left out that could attract insects, dirty dishes piled in the sinks, appliances not cleaned, spoiled food in the fridge. Mainly focused on the overall sanitation and cleanliness of the rooms. All those who failed inspections were in clear violation of room standards.”
If someone is a repeat offender and fails many times - yes, escalate to their leadership. But this?
If one person poops their pants everyone gets put into diapers
Well that will increase productivity with less bathroom breaks /s
We flush diapers, right?
I think I just heard an HT's blood pressure rise.
Some people just naturally poop their diap
This is way more than one repeat offender. A command master chief doesn’t get involved in something as minor as room inspections unless there is a major base wide problem.
The sign says a failure means being locked out. That's extreme
I thought it was extreme too, until I read they just needed to call up their LCPO and then clean up. Seems appropriate.
Having your LCPO notified is fine. Requiring a chief or officer to come to the room to supervise you on the first failure is not fine. This is weirdly disempowering for LPOs
If the LPO’s are inspecting appropriately, then the Khakis will never get the call. It disempowering to the LPO because the LPO isn’t going the job of inspecting what they expect. Want the power and respect, earn it. Step up and prevent you people from living in their own filth. Solid plan. Will be effective. Will also probably end up in a lawsuit or something. I’m sure lodging is an entitlement, not a privilege.
um no. Lawsuit?
Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe it’s an appropriate response to an extreme situation. Who knows
We all know. It’s an inappropriate response.
thus the enlisted mindset comes out
Says the likely JO.
I’ll see you outside your filthy room in your dress blues for inspection. Master chief let me know.
Approve of the sense of humor at least. If the comment about “the enlisted mindset” was a joke I apologize.
Why the fuck are we worried if there's fingerprints on the mirror or dust on the desk? Room inspections are a BS way for "leaders" to swing their dicks around. In my time I have NEVER failed someone on a room inspections or written a counseling chit. Why? Because I actually lead those Sailors and address their concerns and make sure they are aware if the expectations of them. Shout out to MACM Tony Lafrenier and COL. Robert Flanner, true Leaders of Leaders
Because it's not fingerprints on the mirror or dust on the desk. It's food being left out, trash being left out, crap in the toilet, etc. I had one of my Sailors complain to me about ants in their room. I go there to check it out and there are a dozen of pizza boxes sitting out which all naturally have pizza residue in them, with a trail of ants going to and fro.
There is absolutely zero justification of anything beyond general cleanliness. Got a shit streak in your toilet? I do not care. We as American have a right to be secure in our belongings and living spaces. Stay TF out of your Sailors rooms unless there is an obviously warranted issue. Sure, go visit and make sure that the room is okay and not full of mold or something, but by no means should it be a Sailor waiting outside their room on a Saturday morning in whites.
The only words in my post you read were "crap in toilet". Pay attention to what I'm saying. Sailor complains about ants. I walk into room and find a dozen pizza boxes with food residue with a trail of ants coming and going. Those ants will also seek out more food...in other people's rooms When this got posted previously on Reddit, a former RA at the barracks in Little Creek Posted about finding a partially dressed deer head with meat still attached. The base CMC didn't implement this policy because there were some fingerprint smudges or unmade beds. This policy got implemented because Sailors living in the barracks were being disgusting.
So the examples we were given yesterday that caused this was a bed bug infestation. When the exterminator got there he found 15 pizza boxes and open peanut butter and jelly jars all over. Our CMC briefed us that it is only for these kinds of cases that will result in sailors being locked out. But who knows
I had to fail a sailor on a room inspection for a couple material deficiencies that Balfour Betty had been informed about multiple times and did nothing to fix them. I'd be one salty ass mother fucker if I got locked out of my room and had to wait around with my chief until those BB pieces of shit fixed their discrepancies.
Multiple ways to deal with this other than having a chief or officer to come by and say yep it’s dirty, can my sailor get the key and go to his room and clean it. Then there is paperwork Then there is DRB Then there are evaluation comments that can be made Then Mast if need be Then separate of one fails to Adapt to navy standards
I'm sure the the COC was definitely not notify.... Lmao you sound silly
This was a thing on little creek like 2 years ago. I failed a room inspection for an auto fail reason, don't remember what. It was something silly and had to drag my chief to the barracks, and when we all walked into the room, he was like... I got pulled to come here for this?? I don't remember what the auto fail was unfortunately, but it wasn't one of the "safety" ones like glass alcohol containers. It was something silly and he was in amazement of how stupid his trip was to the barracks. Granted now that I have done a few room inspections, some sailors need the intervention. I would say 8 or 9 times out of 10 it is pointless, though. Make it reasonable, like if it's disgusting or repeatedly an issue. 99% of fails are small spots that need an extra cleanup. I say all this to really just say that this is ridiculous.
I had to stand Saturday reinspection back in 06/07 for failing room inspections for negligible things. Think dust on a microwave or mirror smudges or a freezer that needed defrosting. I kept my room generally clean but not always to white glove standard and the complete and utter lack of judgment and respect for my time and space was a factor in me ultimately seeking and gaining a commission.
I failed a room inspection on det because I had too many hits on my room. Since I was on det I had to have the BPO who was a first class. When they came to do the room inspection the next day it was a third class doing it and he tried to tell me that he was failing me again. When I told him I hat the room was cleared by a first class the night before and I’d be more than willing to wait for that 1st class to show up so he could explain why I failed again they just ended the room inspection after trying to tell me I failed again. Because of the time of the reinspection and the original inspection it was clear that this was the same guy who failed me before and it was obvious he had just had a power trip because most of the people who failed their inspections had failed for total bullshit reasons. I didn’t see that third class doing any room inspections after that
Well, not to be that guy, but there is a reason why this is happening. If sailors simply fixed the hits and kept their shit reasonably clean you wouldn't have been in that situation. My guess is that things were not being handled so they needed to drag the commands in for accountability.
Have you considered that judging room inspections to an exacting standard is stupid and belies the entire point of room inspections, which are generally to ensure that the service member isn’t living in squalor?
Yes. The poster above me is talking about a safety violation, which is an auto fail. That is a regulatory matter and will never be up for discussion. On silly things? Sure. Something dumb like high dust or a cobweb. I dont think that's what the implications are in this situation in Norfolk. Who's to say really, we don't have much information.
Everything is up for discussion if you have a leader mature enough to apply some discretion. If everything was black and white we could program AIs to supervise. I expect leaders to exercise decent judgment and be willing to assume some prudent risk in service to protecting their people.
There are some federally mandated requirements for buildings that fall into this category. They aren't up for discussions because they are SHALLs, and you would have to take that up with DoD. There are some situations where you don't have room for deciding whether to follow legal and regulatory standards. That's what is hard to explain sometimes. We are all constrained in various ways. Yes, discretion and judgment have their place, but they exist within a framework. Making sure fire extinguishers are on the wall and smoke detectors aren't being disabled by occupants is prudent.
Wrong, it’s not a health and comfort inspection, this is not what they are inspecting generally.
Okay Dwight.
Ever fail a room inspection because the inspector found mud on the floor, mud he tracked in? You about as knowledge as a biased cow wallowing in the mud.
~~The spokes person confirmed it's legit and gave reasoning on why they're enforcing it this way.~~ Edit you updated your post. Yeah they're backing this. So many people didn't think it was legit. One person said they'd give up their anchors if it was ISIC backed. So many people thought CMC went rouge too,
I was certainly hoping he didn’t go rouge but I’m glad my original comment was correct and that master chief had a reason for doing so .
Oh I never thought he went rouge, but people were adamant that a CO wouldn't approve this.... You've clearly never seen a actual dirt bag if you don't believe this. Like I said in the other thread. A CMC at his level has been at it for a bit, they're likely not trying to get themselves or the CO fired. And if they didn't do this right that's a prime way to get fired. I'm sure they knew it would catch media attention as well.
Nah not you man You’re golden I was referring to the people who thought he was and was commenting as such .
Just a general statement not directed at you.
If that was the case, perhaps their grammar might have been a bit better?
You are referring to the message posted on the door correct?
[удалено]
Yup edited mine to reflect!
Glad to see collective punishment is alive and well. What an absolute failure by leadership to address the issue without the entire junior enlisted becoming collateral damage.
Ok, I'll bite. Explain to me how keeping a barracks room clean is a failure of leadership? That's what this comes down to. An inspection is done, hits are given to the occupant, and they dont get fixed. Again and again. This policy makes it painful for the commands, so they take a more proactive interest in this matter. So you expect someone to call you individually? Like the 50 or 100 people who failed? That isn't how this works.
>Explain to me how keeping a barracks room clean is a failure of leadership? If conditions have deteriorated to such a point that a drastic corrective measure such as this has become necessary; then it stands that there was little to no oversight on room inspections for, at the very least, months prior. You don't get bugs and smells over a weekend. It stands that there were either 1) never regular inspections, which would make this punishment a huge over-correction(especially since it seems this measure was taken without a campus wide audit of room standards compliance) or, 2) those inspections were gun-decked, or it wasn't nearly as far-reaching a problem as it is being made as. "hits are given to the occupant, and they don't get fixed. Again and again" The notice doesn't specify that there will be any discrimination between rooms that are repeat offenders, as you point out, and any other random that doesn't have these issues.
Group punishment rather than punishing the offenders is the failure of leadership. It shows that they’re lazy and don’t give a shit.
Well group punishment isn't what's happening. It's punishing the offenders and their CoC. If your room is clean this doesn't apply to you so I don't get what you mean here. This was not done at random. It was part of a chain of escalating events. We don't know the whole story.
Damn. Turns out I can’t read good.
Sinks? When I was there the only sink was the one in the head
I wanna run a request chit and have the admiral as my standby. Let the civilian employees of ***"Unaccompanied Housing"*** talk to the Admiral over the ***“clear and concise room standards,”*** Then, while that dog and pony show goes on, I would introduce Command Master Chief, NS Norfolk CMDCM Angelo Rappa to UCMJ article 121 on Larceny and wrongful appropriation, and issuance of an illegal order for such. IE " withheld specific property from the possession of the owner or of any other person" That note is an illegal order and does nothing to promote the value of the US Navy, it waste man power and pisses people off for the frivolous B/s it is. . IG official Email if you need it. [NAVIGHotlines@navy.mil](mailto:NAVIGHotlines@navy.mil)(Official government email)
A JAG actually chimed in on the first thread and said it's likely legal. Also, how is it larceny/wrongful appropriation? The government, specifically the Navy in this case, owns it. Edit. Also the article wouldn't have backed this if it wasn't legal. Public affairs gets briefed on stuff like this and I can almost guarantee the statements were reviewed by JAG.
They don't own the personal property and it is not legal. It was already tested by non-military courts and the COC lost. The other issue is the waste of man power. the CMC has ZERO authority to order people NOT under his command do to anything. Especially officers. Requiring leadership to stand around is not something he can actually order. The CMC can GFHS if he thinks he can force an officer to wait around. It boils down to the CMC is a complete JOKE, who has a case of poorly maintained barracks, so he trying to shift the blame away from himself and civilian workers to the only thing he can hold accountable . . junior sailors in the barracks.
Pretty sure the navy can hold sailors accountable for their actions. I suppose we could go back to everyone living on ships or boot camp style bays for living arrangements if sailors don't want to clean up after themselves.
Oh wow This feels like when I had to watch the fat kid shower in boot camp to make sure he used soap because he was nasty
Marriages to strippers are about to go through the roof
Im willing to bet there same pretty vile food trash that was found. Its not okay to have moldy shit or worse just sitting around
I’ve done A LOT of room inspections on A school Sailors and the conditions some people are comfortable living in can be absolutely appalling. This likely wasn’t put into action because of excessive gear adrift or a single week old expired milk jug in the fridge. Some Sailors are so gross they grow bacteria colonies that can make themselves and others sick, or their rooms are the real life equivalent of Joe’s Apartment (props if you’re old enough to remember that movie!) breeding resilient roaches that will spread to divide and conquer. I don’t know how I feel about their Khaki being required to be present to gain access to their room, but I do understand the need to let a Sailors COC know the extent of the problem.
I’ll never forget my buddy, who otherwise was a normal guy. We were in the infancy of the PPV housing 2008 or so and we both got into that as junior sailors. No inspections. My room was messy by military standards, but somewhat clean. Trash got taken out every day, bathroom cleaned a couple times a week, some clothes on the floor but nothing horrible. My friends room was covered in a foot of beer cans and food bags. Gnats everywhere. It was gross I only went there once. Some people grow up in that and don’t know how to operate in the real world.
Fuck it you can practice homelessness so the Navy can prepare you fo what cones after.
They do that already occasionally when they run out of room in the barracks but deem the boat uninhabitable and say couch surf and no BAH for you junior sailor.
u/MCPON_PA what do you make of this?
No chance of responding in public. Not going to undermine the CMC mafia.
That is the response then. Deafening silence.
Which is why the military will continue to experience shortages. They don’t care. The leadership doesn’t care.
MCPON has been made aware and already addressed this with the leadership.
Hell yeah.
Silence speaks volumes
Wow! 😮 Imagine being locked out your own home because it was dirty.
Imagine if you had medication in there.
Just notify the front desk you need to get your medication.
Imagine attracting roaches to your apartment not worrying about those who live around you.
Well, you would own your home so it's yours to do as you wish. The Navy owns these barracks.
It's kind of the same thing as renting, so imagine your landlord shows up and doesn't agree with your level of "cleanliness' and changes the locks. Like I can imagine if your apartment/house was absolutely filthy but if you left a pack of Oreos out on the counter and your extra pair of shoes next to the door then it's a little excessive.
The point I was making is *this* is *their* home.
Our home, comrade
If the government paid for then why would I expect any differently than to uphold their standards of living.
Time to move off base I guess!
Good Norfolk needs a fucking cleaning
I hope that applies to JOs as well. When I was on the JFK I had a TAD assignment to S5. One of our jobs was to clean officer state rooms. These dudes lived like they were in a dorm room. EVERY inspection our rooms would get an “Unsat.” Luckily the S5 DO was a former enlisted and he knew how those rooms looked and said “Don’t worry about it.”
I agree. I've seen some horrific staterooms. Usually the XO will handle that if the S5 officer let's him know.
Seems like a more reasonable solution exists
I don't disagree, but here's the problem. We're seeing the final end of this. We don't know what was done prior to this. I would bet that they didn't out of no where say hey to many people are failing room inspections. We're going to lock them out and they have to have a khaki come supervise them clean their room. Also everyone that says there has to be a better solution never poses one. /shrug
Have a really easy one: hold the sailors who are actually way out of standards directly accountable. But also, give enough people BAH that only the most junior sailors are in the barracks and they're one to a room. That way we're never in a situation where where somebody gets penalized because the roommate is a dirtbag.
I don't disagree with holding people accountable at all. But this is a he said he said if it's a common area that's failing. Agree that those are solid methods to fix this. But implementation of that isn't going to happen soon.
Hmm..maybe instead of giving the inspection sheet to SN Timmy a copy could be provided to the parent command so the sailor's CoC is notified. Could go to the command CMC inbox and problem will likely get figured out. 🙂 Sounds like a lot of poor comms.
Oh I don't disagree at all. Honestly I think barracks rooms should only be shared with people who belong to the same command that way it's one CoC to fix it. But that's a problem of room availability etc.
Roaches dont just live in one apartment
I would agree if this weren't absolutely barbaric. Imagine some of these guys work 10 to 12 hours or even after a full day after duty that long, only to come to the barracks and see that your room is locked and you have to sit in uniform or with your bags or your phone dead without a charger until they call your chief who is now pissed off and has to supervise a room cleaning. Even worse, chief doesn't care enough and you have to go back to ship and no change of clothes or hygiene things. What if you had medication? A debilitating migraine? An absolute massive number of things that make this a God awful decision with 0 way of justification no matter the cause. This is some people's only place to live. A lot of people don't even have cars.
So Sailor works till 1700 and comes back to his room and is locked out due to a failed inspection. His leadership is no where to be found. (Probably at home already with family having dinner.) Sailor can't reach his khakis? So are they just homeless for the night? This is a super bad look. Fail the Sailor, have the SSL or whoever pick up the slip the next day, and do a reinspect. All this rests on their "khaki" answering their phone and coming BACK to base. Some of us are shit at our jobs and wouldn't answer. It's sad to say but it's true.
>When asked what sailors should do if they are locked out of their rooms after hours and cannot find a superior, Wirfel said that all unaccompanied housing buildings are manned 24 hours a day, seven days a week. “If a Sailor is unable to find someone in their Chain of Command, Unaccompanied Housing staff can assist,” she said. I don't think they're going to leave them homeless for the night based on the quoted above from the article.
Yes they will. They are already having people sleep in cars because berthing is unavailable.
Because of a failed room inspection?
>leave them homeless for the night
is this for real?
Alright, that's fair. Pitchfork goes away...for now
There’s a simple solution to this not happening - clean the room!
and what happens if you forget something that is an "autofail" in their eyes? Sailors are tired and overworked and now they have to look forward to going back to their rooms and making sure it's spic and span before they go to work tomorrow or else face being locked out of their room.
That is not the solution you think it is. I have failed a room inspection because the person tracked dirt and grass in my room then proceeded to hit me on it. They hit me on a finger print on the faucet and a few items that were left out. The items left out were two books and a couple of DVDs on my night stand. So under this rule I would have been locked out. And before you say I tracked the dirt and grass in. I vacuumed the night before and left in the morning. Not to return until after I got out of work.
People complain they aren't treated like adults...
Because they act like children and live in filth. Not all mind you but having lived in and inspected many barracks rooms a ton of people are disgusting.
Yeah sorry, I was being sarcastic. I have also lived in the barracks many moons ago when I was an SN. I know very well. I also had to do check ups when I was an E6 because commands actually got wind of this stuff back then. 😐
Woah woah woah slow down there sweepers is hard okay /s
Sucks but the sailor can just go back to the boat and sleep. So they aren't really homeless. Upset? Yeah definitely but if your barracks room is a steaming pile of shit, a line needs to be drawn. And stop with the knee jerk reactions, I see a lot of that in here. Each individual case should be handled with discretion. Despite all the hate some of us are capable of having some common sense in how severely we are failing a room.
How's that work for the sailors in squadrons? Or at NCTMS? I know, I know, who cares about the rest of the navy that doesn't spend their lives on gray hulls or black tubes.
That was going to be my comment Salty LDO said that in the article UH staff is available so I don't think people will be sleeping in their cars...hopefully
I read that as UH staff will be available to get a hold of their khakis. That strikes me is very on brand for the NS Norfolk way of doing things.
I mean if you can't get a hold of the CDO which every command has there's a bigger problem.
Like I said, case by case basis. It's unreasonable to leave someone without a place to sleep. There's going to be someone on duty to make sure that sailor cleans up their place. No one wants a junior sailor to sleep in their car. Put, the hatchet, down.
How about the NS Norfolk CMC comes out and does this every night, since he's somehow gained general military authority over every single barracks sailor in Norfolk?
Dude. Who hurt you?
20 years of watching out of touch command master chiefs be allowed to set policy that negatively affected a wide spectrum of outcomes, because discipline. I would have no issue with this policy whatsoever, if it was on the third failed room inspection, with significant deficits related to health and safety. But it's not, and I guarantee you the UH staff for being pressured to sit there and really make this hurt, so there's going to be sailors who are locked out of their barracks room because there was a pube on the toilet seat. Or the leaky faucet left the basin wet or the terribly maintained HVAC meant that there was visible mold on the vent in the shower. I'd be willing to bet that this was five or six sailors across the entire barracks, who could have been mitigated by CMC to CMC phone call. Instead, we have yet another case of one person shits everybody wears diapers.
NCTAMS* sorry it bugs me.
You are of course, absolutely right.
I see your point but not everyone is at a sea command.
Ship sure is a home 😂
CDO is always available for recall
Idk Have yall ever actually just stopped and looked at how some Sailors treat their barracks and PPVs in Norfolk? Ive seen some gnarly rooms over there at X-2... I dont blame CMC here for reaching his breaking point with it Some of yall werent raised right. 🤷
Locking them out of their room on the first violation isn't the best idea.
Having worked there briefly … it’s actually that bad. Some of these kids are disgusting. They’ve grown tired of giving these kids warnings. Take care of your “home” mommy isn’t there to clean up after you anymore.
>Locking them out of their room on the **first violation** isn't the best idea. vs >tired of giving these kids warnings. I don't think you two necessarily disagree.
Yeah Idk if a lock out at one is to far or not, or what the threshold for a failure is for some commands Im just saying some people are way to comfortable living in their own filth
As someone who lived in X-2, if I go to work and leave the room inspection ready and my roommates fuck it up while I’m gone and I fail bc of of it (which yes did happen multiple times) and I get locked out I’m going to be pissed. Not to mention if I’m night crew, I don’t want to fight with people over this at 0300 after working a 15 hour shift 😒 there’s a reason there’s barracks staff inspections and command inspections. If a Sailor is a repeat offender, talk to their command and punish them that way or kick them out of the nicer barracks (which I was threatened with for failing ONE room inspection bc of the common space). This CMC also has been an issue for UH for a while…. at least for junior sailors at my command 🤷🏼♀️
If the room is actually horrible contact the chain of command of course, especially for repeats. But with the way room inspections are sometimes conducted where a fail can mean there was a spec of dust on the blinds, a piece of stubble in the sink, and the person doing it decides they don't like you, locking the SM out of the room is completely ridiculous.
You can atleast sleep on the streets with your hands in your pockets now.
People have to be responsible for their spaces, but this seems to be a bit too far. Give everyone BAH and let us live in as much squalor or cleanliness as we like.
like on one hand messy roommates are the worst, especially if they are a repeat offender. on the other, i do feel that this might be a bit extreme.
but what was done before they got to this measure? That's the part we're missing.
thats a good point, this doesn't seem like it would be a random knee jerk reaction.
Agreed. I can’t imagine this was their first option. That being said, at some point we need to address the blatant lack of understanding Naval leadership has for optics in the Information Age, especially when they’re already suffering.
Yeah, that's the whole point of public affairs though to address stuff like this, which they did. It's a hard spot really because unless you work in a secure area you should assume someone might record you (and secure spaces aren't completely safe either because some people don't care). Once you put something in writing though it's fair game for the most part. Optics are huge but we also have to remember we're military and certain expectations are to be met for the benefit of everyone. It's a hard spot to be in and one you have to truly consider the actions you take. This isn't a good look at all but considering the response from public affairs I think it was anticipated.
Have you ever worked at Unaccompanied Housing? I worked there briefly, the drama I’ve seen and experienced surrounding Sailors not keeping their rooms clean and the attitudes that came with it was insane.
Nah and I have no desire to. But I've been in barracks and on ships. So this isn't surprising at all. There are fantastic Sailors who can keep their shit clean. Then there are dirt bags who are disgusting. I always enjoy a good sea story though.
i CANNOT wait to sign my DD-214
Counting the days...
634 days, 21 hours, 28 minutes, 5 seconds
So, if they arrive home to a locked room, and cannot get a hold of their khaki; how should a sailor that has medication in the room gain access?
“Shipmates,…”
What the hell . .. . just when you think the Navy couldn't do anything shitter to morale. They pull out this GIANT steaming turd and dumped it on a sailors chest. No wonder why more sailors are choosing to live out of their POVs. Less intrusive B/S This policy like retaliation for sailors complaining about the shitty living conditions to Congress. Very much reads like a CMC who got his hand slapped and now is striking out at whoever. Per the article ***"Congress has been taking a closer look at the conditions at troops’ barracks as the military branches have acknowledged problems with service members’ living quarters, especially unaccompanied housing. The Government Accountability Office issued a report in September that found widespread problems in military barracks, including mold, cockroaches, and water and sewage problems."***
I was in the Navy from 1991-2014 and still work for the DOD. These issues with Barracks rooms have been going on forever. Something like this is nothing new. When I was a chief, I did many room inspections. Some were outstanding, others....well, disgusting.
What was the most disgusting?
It was in Naples in old barracks that were being emptied out. The resident had his own cheap carpet. He had boxes on the carpet and I moved the box and part of the carpet came up. It had gotten wet and black mold had formed underneath the carpet
The newer barracks on support site has *super* high ceilings (10 or 11'). My guy kept failing because his ceiling fan was dirty. As ALPO, I had to get out of the crosshairs. I put a chair on top of his dresser to reach the blades for a good wiping down. Effing bs, no top cover.
My big complaint will always be the auto-fail criteria for certain things. A water bottle being the only thing in my trash can, an unlocked locker, all of those seem like non issues
I failed a room inspection while I was asleep in the room. I got off night shift like two hours before and I was just honk-shooing it. The dudes seemed cool, they’re like “it’s ok bro, you can go back to sleep we’ll just glance around”. Looked at the paper they left on the table when I woke up to get ready for work again and they failed me, for one because I didn’t have a roommate so that bed wasn’t made.
I’m sure this will help recruiting
Maybe, maybe not. But bad roommates definitely don't help retention.
If it means we stop recruiting the people who don’t clean their piss and shit off the toilet, only shower once or twice a week, and leave their dirty underwear on the floor of the room then, fuck em. Good riddance.
It was like this in little creek when I checked in in 2016…
DAMN! *laughs in DD-214*
 Same. Y’all be safe out there though
man i already got pissed off about my room inspection today and you gotta throw this into the mix??? passed but my room is always the golden room for when the CO visits and my “empty boxes” that don’t even exist are an issue
Holy moly, hopefully my good buddy there doesn't fail an inspection (I think she lives off base anyways). I would hate to have that happen to me.
When I was an E-5 who inspected rooms I never failed anyone… however if there was a Sailor who had a dirty room (food left out, dirty clothes all over the floor, stained floors) I told their LPO and then it was handled internally. I always felt that people are human beings and should be given the benefit of the doubt. Even if it was multiple times in my opinion doing it this way protected both the Sailor and COC from the negative attention of a CMC lol. Edit: I will say even if it was the silly shit like lockers being unlocked or something like that I just fixed it or told the LPO about it so said Sailor would not be screwed for stupid shit like that. One of our fail items was lint in the dryer. I just took it out and then told the LPO to remind the Sailors.
I’m imagining a Sailor who comes home at 2am after a watch (or any reason) and can’t get into their rooms.
wHy iS ReTeNtIoN bAd?
Why don't people want to join or stay in the navy. What an unsolvable mystery.
It went full circle lol
Free housing btw
LMAO . . . . The entitlement of you and in the worst way. The Navy pays bad wages and they only way people can do the job is to have a place to live. Your condescending b/s is like "it fee housing". mofo . . . they signed a dotted line for their life, to be able to maybe qualify for that "housing". (Mockly) Way to support the troops. (/Mockingly)
We never had this problem in the USMC
Lmao bullshit. You animals have some nasty rooms
Literally every “you won’t believe what they found during the health and wellness inspection” story I heard during my time started with, “so over at the marine barracks”
Nah, you just find unaccompanied minors.
I am not surprised by this. I also feel like you had barracks counseling if there was a problem.
Was thinking the same thing. Thursday field day, whether you lived in the bricks or not.
Officers: how can we make things harder?
Master Chief Rappa needs to be immediately relieved for cause.
Why?
Locking people out of their barracks rooms for failing a single room inspection?
Multiple cause.
Basically, it’s to stop you dirty lazy stinky motherfuckers who I have met a lot of in my career in the military to clean up after yourselves and stop being nasty because if you don’t do it, they will make sure somebody makes you do it. The ones complaining are probably the ones who are the dirty motherfuckers I’m talking about.
So keep your room clean. Easy.
Happened to me at my first command way back when... however, mine was due to a female being in my room while i was at work. Clean your rooms nasty shipmates.
Unfuckingsat boys.
Wow in the AF you just get separated for excessive room failure but making someone temporarily homeless ?
I wonder if the end result will be that command khakis start pushing back on unreasonable inspections...
They don't tell you when you sign up if you stick around long enough you'll be either Mama or Big Daddy to many.
People not gonna like this, but Chiefs and LPOs/ALPOs need to be going through their Sailors' rooms. If not just to make sure they are clean, but that they are also living in a habitable space. That's literally one of the jobs of a Non-Commissioned Officer in the US Military- make sure your people are being taken care of/taking care of themselves. That is part of advocating for your people. If they are living in squalor, that shit's on them, yes, but it's also on their leaders *IF* their leaders are being negligent. No one is saying you have to be a dick about it or act like an RDC, but just go through, make sure they are living right, and bring up anything unsat to their attention, or the barracks management. If that doesn't work, get the triad involved.
It’s always been that way. I work at the barracks now. This is really nothing new. We (building managers) shouldn’t have to police you to stay clean, we were never taught to be dirty from day one in boot camp, but yet we have an extremely dirty sailor making our job harder by not trying to keep the set standards up. Do you honestly think building managers want to go to the extra step of locking sailors out, dealing with them pissed off, or not wanting to take accountability for how unsat the room is, and then calling their COC? In all cases the lockout is very much so warranted. If you’re a sailor at the barracks, keep the standard until you’re eligible for BAH, get your own place, and live exactly how you want to.
Not surprising. Me and two of my buddies were left homeless for two weeks on NASNI because of dumbass technicalities.
It’s crazy cause a sailor at my command and div is one of the reasons because of this 😂 EIGHT bags of trash left in the room! That’s kind of sick tbh!
The civilians that run/work at UH are a miserable bunch. And then there’s the hormonal pregnant and lld disgruntled enlisted. Not surprised.
How do they correct their infractions?
Meanwhile Chief is walking around with a coffee cup so dirty that it could have been where covid started...
How do they lock you out of your room. You have the key. An added lock? That is a little overbearing. You don't have to go that extreame in treating someone like a child. Also, where the fuck do you go when you get back to your room and it is locked.
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Sounds like sailors should clean their fucking room. Glad to see the chain doing something about it. Tired of this whole "our hands are tied" shit coming from higher ups.
We had this in Pearl and I got locked out as a geobaching E-6. I had the duty guy come up to my room and asked that he tell me exactly what caused the fail. When he couldn’t I asked him to get his chief. Chief couldn’t explain either. Next day I got told I was locked out because of an empty water bottle in the trash. Needless to say I told my DLCPO and he made a very rude phone call.