‘I wanted to get out,’ sailor says of mass relocation of military medical students

FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas — Silence hung in the hallways of the now abandoned housing for the military’s medical trainees — and heat.

As of Monday, all 5,200 students at the Medical Education and Training Campus at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston had been relocated to safer housing. The herculean task showcased the power and the bureaucracy of the military’s joint-base initiative that brought the Army, Navy and Air Force’s medical students into one sprawling campus.

As if to remind why the buildings are slated for demolition after roughly 12 years of use, the air conditioning went out in the Air Force dormitory selected for a tour. The bathroom floor in one room had a soft spot at the shower entrance, and the wall was peeling below the shower head. Flooring in the hallways appeared ripped and uneven. Outside, one building’s foundation vents were clearly lower than those of the building next to it.

With the temperature hitting 97 degrees on Monday, troops were sweating as they hauled the salvageable furniture out of the building and into another barracks near Brooke Army Medical Center that will house displaced troops.

Petty Officer 3rd Class Aaron Dow has moved twice in his first month as a student on the campus. He first lived in the Navy’s ships on the medical campus in 2017 and was not looking forward to moving back for secondary schooling for a job repairing medical equipment. After two days on the ship, he was relocated, ultimately landing at Lackland Air Force Base, where he is bused 16 miles for class each day.

“I definitely wanted to get out as soon as I could,” he said.

Having functional air conditioning — and not worrying that it will go out — makes up for the longer days, Dow said.

An empty hallway in Air Force dorms at the Medical Education and Training Campus on Aug. 31, 2026. It is among housing for 5,200 troops at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, Texas, that is scheduled for demolition after military leaders determined in July that the housing was unsafe. (Rose L. Thayer/Stars and Stripes)

Airman Basic Dalton Rogers moves furniture Aug. 31, 2026, at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, Texas. (Rose L. Thayer/Stars and Stripes)

A sailor walks through vacant housing at the Medical Education and Training Campus on Aug. 31, 2026, at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, Texas. It is among housing for 5,200 troops at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, Texas, that is scheduled for demolition after military leaders determined in July that the housing was unsafe. (Rose L. Thayer/Stars and Stripes)

A damaged wall in the bathroom of Air Force dorms at the Medical Education and Training Campus on Aug. 31, 2026. It is among housing for 5,200 troops at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, Texas, that is scheduled for demolition after military leaders determined in July that the housing was unsafe. (Rose L. Thayer/Stars and Stripes)

Housing will continue to improve

The relocation of the medical training students began in July after the Defense Department determined it was unsafe for them to remain in the housing on the medical campus, where service members learn jobs such as pharmacy tech, combat medic and dental assistant.

Leaders established a working group to make sure the challenges of relocating and shuffling troops during training would have little impact on their studies, said Air Force Lt. Col. Misty White, spokeswoman for Joint Base San Antonio.

Col. Rebecca Zinnante, commandant of the Army Medical Center of Excellence, said there have been growing pains but that it is important to forge ahead because new soldiers arrive each month and the units receiving them expect competency. Most of the Army’s roughly 2,400 soldiers at the school are in initial combat medic training.

“The leadership’s doing the best they can to take care of folks, and it’ll continue to evolve and adapt. The conditions will probably improve with each iteration and each experience,” she said.

The Army moved its personnel into three hotels and is using Camp Bullis for the final two weeks of the 16-week combat medic course because that part already focused on field training, she said.

“It’s good for us to go through [this move] because nobody is complacent in this situation. Everybody is evolving, adapting, and we’re making it work,” Zinnante said. “We’re monitoring soldiers’ progress. We are not adjusting our standards.”

A room in the hotel housing the medical students. (Joint Base San Antonio)

A room in the hotel housing the medical students. (Joint Base San Antonio)

Converting hotels

Centinel, the company that owns and manages the hotels, began making space immediately and working around existing customers and reservations, said company president Phillip Carpenter.

The hotels retained all employees in the transition to help with check-in, inspect the rooms and wash the linens and towels. Otherwise, they’ve done their best to modify the space to feel like a barracks or dormitory.

Centinel quickly purchased all new furniture for the rooms to meet the needs of the soldiers and airmen being housed there. The furniture that was moved out of the hotel rooms is available for free to military families and to the service members. In just one day, they have seen up to 200 people collect a free bed, TV, couch or chair, Carpenter said.

he furniture that was moved out of the hotel rooms is available for free to military families and to the service members. (Joint Base San Antonio)

“We are making quick decisions, but we are taking the time to make sure they are smart decisions,” Carpenter said.

Tech. Sgt. Manuel Martinez, a military training leader, worked to help establish the hotels as an appropriate housing space for airmen in training. The main challenge has been space while housing two trainees in each room, he said. In the condemned housing, each student had a walk-in closet securable by padlock.

“These programs are anywhere from 36 days to 11 months … so seeing how much space each person needed for all the stuff they’ve accumulated,” Martinez said. “It’s playing Tetris with a little bit of a smaller room, making sure to tell them to secure their items.”

Once the troops move into their new housing, which is estimated for 2029, he said they’ll renovate the hotels from the wear that will come from continuous use at twice the average capacity and reopen.

Initially when soldiers moved in, they did not have capacity at the hotel for everyone to do their laundry, Zinnante said. So they’ve since added laundry service for troops staying there to get their uniforms cleaned.

To house the remaining students, the joint base looked at service members assigned to the installation who wanted to and could support receiving a housing allowance to live off base, regardless of rank. This was done through individual assessments that considered factors such as reliable transportation or experience leasing an apartment, White said.

Sailors walk through vacant housing at the Medical Education and Training Campus on Aug. 31, 2026, at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, Texas. It is among housing for 5,200 troops at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, Texas, that is scheduled for demolition after military leaders determined in July that the housing was unsafe. (Rose L. Thayer/Stars and Stripes)

An Air Force dormitory building at the Medical Education and Training Campus on Aug. 31, 2026. It is among housing for 5,200 troops at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, Texas, that is scheduled for demolition after military leaders determined in July that the housing was unsafe. (Rose L. Thayer/Stars and Stripes)

Mattresses are stacked in the entryway of Air Force dorms at the Medical Education and Training Campus on Aug. 31, 2026. It is among housing for 5,200 troops at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, Texas, that is scheduled for demolition after military leaders determined in July that the housing was unsafe. (Rose L. Thayer/Stars and Stripes)

Designing to last

Moving forward, the Air Force has received $469 million for military construction and has awarded a contract to begin design of the new housing. Because the housing supports all the services, the Army and Navy will have a shared responsibility, according to the Air Force.

“JBSA, as the host installation, is coordinating closely with the [Defense Health Agency] and the individual service training commands to ensure resources are aligned and equitable across the joint force. Because follow-on requirements remain under active negotiation, additional details regarding proposals, costs and related procurement information are not available at this time,” the service said.

Given the lessons learned with the now abandoned housing, the Air Force is working with contractor Layton/Gensler to ensure the mistakes that led to the failure of the infrastructure don’t happen again, said Air Force Col. Maureen Kovacic, project manager for the new medical campus housing.

The old building had a wooden frame whereas the new one will be metal and steel, she said. They’re also considering the needs of this specific population that tends to move on a synchronized schedule.

“There were some residential uses here that are just not applicable to a building of this size and the number of people we have in the facility,” Kovacic said. “There’s a very good chance that at 6 a.m., there are 600 people flushing the toilet. Then at 6:15, 600 more. That is a very different design standard and understanding in the approach that we’re taking.”

Over time, White said, they will focus on trying to move all students back onto Fort Sam Houston to avoid the 30-minute commute trainees such as Dow face each day. In the meantime, he’s using the drive to study.

“It’s not as ideal a situation to be far from your training, but the living situation makes it a little more bearable,” he said.