Location: George Air Force Base, Calif.
Cost: $72 per month, including utilities (plus $30 month transportation).
Occupied by: Alc. -
wife, 8-year-old daughter.
Problem: 311 square feet of living space.
Picture above shows front view.
He is an aircraft accessories repairman, subject to frequent recalls to the base,
and long periods of TDY with its tactical fighter squadrons.
Wife does not drive; nearest shopping area, 8 miles away.
Elements of inadequacy are tin roof, cracked windows, leaking pipes, covered
cement floor is cracked, and there are no shade trees or grass.
Last duty station was Hickam AFB, Hawaii, where he waited 2 years and 7
months of a 3-year tour for onpost substandard housing.
His priority on waiting list for George's onpost substandard housing is too
low for him to expect an apartment during his tour.
Location: George Air Force Base, Calif.
Family: Staff Sergeant
Problem: Intends to leave Air Force due to continual housing deprivations; family now living in mother-in-law's trailer in Idaho.
is an aircraft electrical navigation equipment technician,
a critical skill throughout the Air Force. He describes his experiences:
"Have looked for adequate housing in immediate area, but difficult to find
furnished house which landlord will accept four children. At the present time,
I have 8 months service left, and I plan to be discharged because of housing
situation and separation from family. After 8 years in the service, I find, every-
where I go, the housing problem is critical. I spent 31⁄2 years at DOW AFB,
Bangor, Maine. There I paid an average of $75 for housing, which was by far
substandard. Housing that was standard was at least $110 to $150 per month,
and utilities, and as an Alc and below during this period, I could not afford it.
I then was shipped to Japan. Offbase housing (known as Paddy Houses) was an
average of $75 per month for these cheap cracker boxes. The driving conditions
were horrible. No place for the children to play. The base housing was a
24- to 27-month wait, and when moved into was, I consider substandard. Plus,
when I shipped back to the United States, my son had 1 month to go to finish
the first grade. They do not authorize extensions overseas for the purpose of
keeping children in school. Therefore, I had to leave my wife with her mother,
so my son could attempt to finish his first grade and be promoted to the second
grade, as it would take too long in this area to find a house to live in. I received
a base brochure from George AFB, which stated that onbase housing for senior
staffs was seldom, and for junior staffs almost never. I'm still looking.
not intend to move my family into a pigpen such as I was forced to do while
stationed in Japan. At the present time, if I cannot find housing here, my
family will remain with my mother-in-law until I get discharged from active
duty on February 13, 1964. Then I will not have to pay the outrageous prices
for living in the slums as the present conditions are for the majority of the lower
grade in the military."
He is 86th on the waiting list for substandard Lanham and 104 for Wherry, with virtually no hope of being reached.
Location: Minot Air Force Base, N. Dak. Cost: $75 month including utilities. Occupied by: Alc.
wife, two small daughters.
Problem: Great distances and scarcity of rentals force junior airmen and
NCO's into marginal housing at this expanding SAC base.
This 7-year veteran is a multijet engine mechanic charged with keeping a
SAC bomber ready.
After long search, he located an apartment in the basement of an uncompleted
house shown above.
Unit has no hot water, wood-coal stove for heat, substandard electrical wiring, leaking roof, and badly deteriorated walls and ceiling.
This family is 265th on the base waiting list.
wife, two sons and two daughters (3 to 9 years).
Problem: Poor housing has forced this family to separate for majority of 11 years of marriage.
This tank commander has 17 years service and a Purple Heart for a Korean war wound.
He was stationed at Camp Roberts when he married; no onpost or offpost quarters were available, so his wife lived in Visalia, Calif.
Next, at Fort Irwin, they bought a trailer and lived onpost.
Next, they were stationed in Germany, with an initial 8-month separation
while awaiting quarters.
Next, they were forced to buy another trailer to live-six people-at Fort Ord.
Next, came an 18-month separation while the sergeant was again in Korea.
Now he is back at Fort Irwin, and again no housing is available. The family
is back at Visalia, 250 miles away.
After waiting 16 months, they expect assignment soon to two small bedrooms
in inadequate, onpost housing. It will be at least another year before their turn
for adequate public quarters comes up.
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