DoD hiring freeze

[Swanee]

There are few, if any, now. In the olden days (ca 1981) I came off a float and after finishing my leave I was assigned to base facilities where I ran the MCB Lejeune marina. It was nice. I wore a USMC polo shirt, shorts, and boat shoes. The work was never hard and I was treated well. I think it went about three or four months and then we rolled back into our training cycle. Some guys mowed lawns, some guys worked the scullery, and my buddy even got assigned to drive the 2 MarDiv commander around! But, those “good deal” things are pretty much over.

Yeah, all of that stuff has been turned over to MWR, and then cycled to NAF. I was a NAF employee at the MWR Marina on NS Norfolk 20 years ago. We stopped receiving MWR funding and were told we had to offer services at significantly reduced rates compared to what those marinas out in town charged. Thus, the place was getting pretty run-down when I left. That's my concern with a privatized monopoly system like what the Army has. It will deteriorate into the substandard conditions of the BOQs and BEQs we currently see on other bases. What keeps the hotels competitive and nice is that people won't spend money to stay in crummy conditions if they don't have to.

Also, having an E-6 or a Chief/Gunny be the general manager of the marina , with a couple of E-4s, might have helped a little on manpower costs, but not to the extent really MWR needed to properly fund the place. The retired Master Chief who managed it did just fine, and it was a good high school and college job.

 

[ChuckMK23]

BTW on a related note, an urgent message went out today to active duty folks who are pending retirement or otherwise exiting service - to do a SkillsBridge with CBP or ICE in a sworn capacity.

Who's signing up? @Brett327 ?

 

[Griz882]

Yeah, all of that stuff has been turned over to MWR, and then cycled to NAF. I was a NAF employee at the MWR Marina on NS Norfolk 20 years ago. We stopped receiving MWR funding and were told we had to offer services at significantly reduced rates compared to what those marinas out in town charged. Thus, the place was getting pretty run-down when I left. That's my concern with a privatized monopoly system like what the Army has. It will deteriorate into the substandard conditions of the BOQs and BEQs we currently see on other bases. What keeps the hotels competitive and nice is that people won't spend money to stay in crummy conditions if they don't have to.

Also, having an E-6 or a Chief/Gunny be the general manager of the marina , with a couple of E-4s, might have helped a little on manpower costs, but not to the extent really MWR needed to properly fund the place. The retired Master Chief who managed it did just fine, and it was a good high school and college job.

I don’t necessarily disagree, but I believe the army system, having the facilities run by a major hotel chain under their commercial names, keeps lazy operators and managers away. A poor reputation on base will certainly, in my opinion, lead to a poor reputation in the public world.