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Soldiers getting caught in housing crunch

Oct- 2-2006 » Filed Under: 2nd SCR

By Seth Robson, Stars and Stripes


GRAFENWÖHR, Germany — Demand for housing from incoming soldiers and civilians has forced Army officials to expand their search area.

Last month, the garrison’s housing office ditched a plan to house new arrivals within a 30-minute drive of post and is now offering troops homes as far as 45 minutes away, said Dwane Watsek, Grafenwöhr director of public works.

The arrival of thousands of troops and families from the 2nd Cavalry (Stryker) Regiment has put increased pressure on local housing, he said.

“It was getting hard to find places [close to post] readily available. We want to get people close, but we don’t want people to wait in the guest house,” he said.

Houses offered to new arrivals, “may not be the house of their dreams,” Watsek said. “But we need to get them housed.”

Despite the change, which Watsek said is temporary and meets the U.S. Army Europe standard, soldiers coming here can expect good housing on post or close to base, he said.

“If you are a soldier coming to Graf you will be offered state-of-the-art housing with U.S. appliances, 110-watt voltage and a single-car garage in less than the average USAREUR wait time (13 days),” he said.

“Efficient Basing Grafenwöhr will bring about 500 more units (for soldiers and their families) on line next year, including 400 at Netzaberg and 100 off post.”

But for civilians the housing situation is more complex, Watsek said.

“Houses in Grafenwöhr are in high demand. It is first-come, first-served,” he said, adding that he lived in a hotel for months waiting for his own “very nice” house in Grafenwöhr.

Neville Gallimore, a Department of Army civilian range control worker, and his wife, Brigitta, said Monday that they’ve had no luck finding a house near Grafenwöhr since moving there from Fort Hood, Texas, in August.

“When we first got here, the housing office showed us some things that were very substandard. There would be oil smell all through the house or in the basement there would be mold. It has been pretty much all junk,” he said.

The housing office even offered them a “castle” that the couple said had no kitchen and was so large it would have cost massive amounts to heat.


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