Military officials respond to photo of grimy shower at Texas training base

Military officials are “actively addressing the state of the showers” at Camp Bullis, Texas, after a photo shared on social media appeared to show the floor of one of the base’s showers covered in grime, a spokesperson for Joint Base San Antonio said.

“Our civil engineers inspected the showers and determined that the last unit to occupy the facility did not maintain it as required,” said the spokesperson, who added that base officials have “since addressed the immediate cleanliness of this shower.” 

Earlier this week, a photo was posted on Reddit that purportedly shows one of the Army training base’s showers with brown and discolored tiles on the floor and along the walls. The post, titled “Camp Bullis showers are nasty,” did not provide any information about when the photo was taken or how the shower came to look unsanitary.

Leaders at Joint Base San Antonio, which oversees Camp Bullis, are “aware of the photo,” said the base spokesperson, who confirmed to Task & Purpose that the photo on Reddit is a current image.

“Visually, the condition of the shower is further worsened by its age, San Antonio’s hard, mineral-rich water, which stains over time, high humidity and intense heat, which can rapidly accelerate buildup,” the spokesperson said. 

Camp Bullis is an aging training facility that several military units pass through for exercises and operations, the spokesperson said. Those units are responsible for maintaining the base facilities and cleaning them before they leave.

“We expect all visiting units to enforce basic hygiene and facility maintenance standards, and [Joint Base San Antonio] leadership is currently evaluating options to improve oversight and ensure clean handovers between rotating units,” the spokesperson said.

For many years, U.S. troops have encountered substandard barracks and other on-base facilities, prompting the Defense Department to ask Congress for $57 billion as part of next fiscal year’s budget to address longstanding problems.

Recently, more than 5,000 enlisted medical service members assigned to a healthcare education facility that is also part of Joint Base San Antonio were told they need to move due to “systemic infrastructure failures” of their dormitories resulting from the buildings’ construction.