A soldier’s hidden camera allegedly caught a maintenance contractor stealing from their barracks room. Officials said the incident at Fort Gordon, Georgia, is under investigation.
The video posted to Reddit was filmed with a soldier’s laptop camera on July 17 and shows two men entering a barracks room in construction vests. One worker seems to look directly at the camera and appears to take something off the desk and put it into his pocket. The worker then walks over to the camera and turns it around before the video feed ends.
The Fort Gordon soldier who caught the contractor on video told Task & Purpose that the worker took a $20 bill off their desk. Task & Purpose is not identifying the soldier because they were not authorized to speak with the press. The soldier said he did not post the video online but confirmed the video’s authenticity.
A Fort Gordon spokesperson told Task & Purpose that leadership at the base is aware of the video involving a Georgia Power subcontractor. The spokesperson said that they were aware of the “allegations made against at least one individual,” and that the “event” is under investigation by military police.
The soldier said they set up recording software on their laptop after previous civilian contractors were “disrespectful” with his belongings on a previous visit.
“They will literally leave footprints on all of our beds. They leave trash in our rooms. They eat in our rooms,” the soldier said. “I decided to hide my laptop and just see what they were doing in the room because I wanted to see if they were going to have footprints on my bed and turns out, they decided to snag some money that was left on the desk.”
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The soldier said he had a sign on his door that reads: “Please take off your boots.” In the video, the worker is heard mocking it.
Base officials confirmed that the contractors went into the barracks unaccompanied by military or base personnel.
“The military chain-of-command will learn more from a fulsome investigation. Yet, we are immediately reminding soldiers about the importance of physical security and reviewing our procedures for escorting contracted workforce teammates,” the base spokesperson said.
The Fort Gordon soldier said their unit put out an announcement the night before to lock up their valuables inside of Army-issued lockers.
After the incident, the soldier asked military police for additional security camera evidence but was told that cameras in place could not rewind the footage. In another Reddit post, soldiers expressed frustration with the lack of security in the barracks.
Base officials said that different barracks buildings have different rules for camera coverage.
Barracks that house new recruits attending basic training and advanced initial training, AIT, are required to have cameras in place under Army Training and Doctrine Command regulation. Barracks that house more senior soldiers who are at Fort Gordon to cross-train into a new MOS, and who are generally in E-4 or E-5 pay grades, do not require cameras, said Lesli Ellis-Wouters, an Army spokesperson.
The barracks in question previously housed AIT students, which is why there are cameras, but they “are no longer functional,” Ellis-Wouters said.
Broken or non-functional security cameras in barracks were one of many issues identified in a highly critical Government Accountability Office 2023 barracks report. “Poorly lit hallways, blind spots in hallways and corridors, and lack of security cameras made barracks difficult to monitor,” first sergeants at one base told GAO.
John Kraft, a spokesperson for Georgia Power, said the subcontractor was from E. Sam Jones, a lightning distribution company based in Atlanta. The worker was inspecting indoor lighting for a base lighting upgrade project.
“While the individuals are not Georgia Power employees, we expect anyone working on our behalf on this project to follow base guidelines and act ethically and in compliance with all laws. We’re in touch with the base and the contracting company, which has removed the two employees from the site,” Kraft said in a statement. “We take this very seriously and appreciate the soldiers involved bringing it to our attention.”
Officials at E. Sam Jones declined to comment.
