Soldier’s Online Complaint Prompts Army to Fix Month-Long A/C Issue in Barracks

After a soldier brought it up on the Hots & Cots app, the U.S. Army fixed the air conditioning problem in Building 356 at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, that had been going on for a month. 

The soldier, who lives in the barracks, wrote on Saturday about the problem, which has been happening since the power went out on January 30. The post quickly received much attention, leading military leaders to help.

The next day, power was restored across the base, but the old air conditioning systems in older buildings still wouldn't work. On Tuesday morning, it was still hot in many rooms in Building 356. But when Task & Purpose asked about the problem, the soldier told them later that same day that the fixes were done.

According to Nathan Wilkes, a U.S. Army Garrison Hawaii spokesman, work orders were put in for three of the four damaged rooms on February 20 and finished on Tuesday. On February 7, the last room was fixed up. Wilkes said that the delay was due to a shortage of repair tools, but that all 144 soldiers in the barracks now have working air conditioning.

This event brings to light a problem that happens all the time: soldiers using social media to get maintenance issues fixed faster. The Army wants soldiers to report concerns through the proper channels, but many find that problems don't get fixed until they become public. The soldier said that work orders that aren't emergencies, like fixing broken tools or fixing damage to the ceiling, often take a long time to get done, sometimes six months or more.

"I went to Hots & Cots because problems don't usually get fixed quickly unless they're emergencies," the soldier said.

This situation shows how more and more service members are using the internet to talk about how bad things are in their barracks, which gets things done when traditional routes fail.

‍