Mold painted over, wires dangling and black rusted pipes framing the ceiling were part of everyday reality for Marines, sailors and airmen living in barracks on Guam. The conditions left the Navy’s top admiral in charge of barracks across the service baffled.

Photos of the Palau Hall barracks at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, and comments in an email from a senior Navy official were obtained by the Project on Government Oversight and shared with Task & Purpose.

“It is baffling to discover sailors living in these conditions,” Vice Adm. Scott Gray, the head of Navy Installations Command, wrote in a May 5 email obtained by POGO.

Guam is home to nearly 21,000 U.S. military personnel and their families from three of the services. In 2024, the U.S. began moving Marines who were based in Japan

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