"They're in the Navy, and living comfortably; Luxury high-rise opens for sailors" by Tony Perry, Los Angeles Times | February 8, 2009
SAN DIEGO - .... A rooftop swimming pool, bay-front views, fitness rooms, a WiFi-equipped cafe, and other amenities common to upscale residences and resort hotels....
Actually, they should be treated well; grunts get crapped on enough.
To boost morale and reenlistment rates, the Navy and a private development firm have opened the first phase of Pacific Beacon, a $322 million high-rise housing project at Naval Base San Diego.
Oh. I thought they were doing it out of the kindness of their heart.
Four 18-story towers now surround a quad on what was once the base's par-3 golf course. At full occupancy, the towers will accommodate 1,882 unmarried sailors in 941 apartments....
So when they setting you up, foreclosed homeowner?
The project is reserved for ranks E-4 (petty officer third class) through E-6 (petty officer first class). Rental rates are set below what sailors receive in their housing allowances. At Pacific Beacon, each unit accommodates two sailors - each with his or her own room and bathroom. The roommates share a kitchen, living room, washer and dryer, and balcony....
To old salts who might be tempted to say the Navy is going soft, Williamson has a response: Better accommodations will help the Navy attract and keep talent. "We're competing for the best and the brightest," he said.
The chief of naval operations wants the Navy to earn a spot on one of those Best Employers lists that magazines run. That may be tough, given certain inescapable facts of Navy life: long, arduous deployments at sea, cramped living quarters aboard ship, constant noise, and lack of privacy.
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