Dad: Soldier returned home to moldy barracks

FORT BRAGG, N.C. (WTVD) -- It wasn't rather the homecoming 1 Fort Bragg worker was expecting.

"It's conscionable mold everywhere, computer, TV screens, everywhere," described the soldier's begetter who wants to stay anonymous to support his son.

The begetter said his lad was successful Afghanistan for astir 2 months earlier helium returned to Fort Bragg barracks earlier this week. He said mold covered the room, apparel and bedding.

"So they conscionable had to propulsion distant their stuff," helium said. "Clothes they bought and they couldn't prevention it."

The begetter besides said his lad had to enactment astatine a edifice country owed to the room's conditions and spent wealth connected an aerial purifier.

"These are the guys going retired there. First ones in, past ones retired anyplace they go, nary questions asked. And past they travel location to this and it's conscionable bumming and...he says he'd alternatively beryllium retired successful Afghanistan, it was nicer successful Afghanistan than surviving present and it sucks to deliberation that way," the begetter said.

He said this isn't the archetypal clip they've experienced issues with mold but this is the worst. The begetter said portion the mold has been cleaned successful the past, helium claims the contented has ne'er truly been addressed.

"You tin lone instrumentality truthful much, you tin lone spell truthful acold with it. You marque the telephone calls, you effort to resoluteness it to get the attraction of idiosyncratic but obviously, it's not getting done," the antheral said.

He said helium is astir acrophobic for his son's health.

"Even speaking with him today, helium was wearing a disguise and was conscionable feeling similar crap and having breathing issues and was sick and helium was lone successful the country for an hour," the begetter said.

Col. Scott Pence, Fort Bragg Garrison commander, said the information and payment of the soldiers and their families are a apical priority, particularly erstwhile they instrumentality from deployment.

"Mitigating mold hazard is portion of beingness connected Fort Bragg. When we person enactment orders for mold conditions, we instrumentality enactment and remediate arsenic rapidly arsenic possible. We personally behaviour walkthroughs successful the barracks to guarantee prime of life," Pence said successful a written statement.

Pence said those walkthroughs are conducted earlier soldiers instrumentality arsenic well.

A spokesperson for Fort Bragg said determination was not a enactment bid for the mold successful this soldier's country connected record. Once ABC11 reached out, officials searched the barracks and did find a country with mold conditions and are taking steps to hole the situation.

"We don't cognize if there's a interest if they are not reported. For that reason, we promote soldiers to taxable a request enactment bid request, truthful we tin rapidly supply remediation," a spokesperson wrote.

Officials impulse soldiers to file enactment orders online oregon by calling (910) 396-0321.

Since January, 3 of the 40 enactment orders successful the barracks were related to mold, according to an Fort Bragg spokesperson.

ABC11 has investigated mold concerns connected Fort Bragg successful the past. In 2019 and 2020, a fewer families reported mold issues astatine their on-post housing. Last September, Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy visited Fort Bragg and toured the houses. He pledged to support on-post lodging a apical priority.

"What you saw overtime is an abdication of responsibility. We outsource this to a corporation. That's the information erstwhile you acceptable up these public-private partnerships. Over time, you get lazy. As an institution, we got lazy. The wake-up telephone came 2 years ago. It is embarrassing and it is awful," said Army Secretary Ryan D. McCarthy past year.