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VIRGINIA BEACH, VA. (AP) — At a naval base that’s home to many sailors in the special warfare community, a large tarp is pulled over the base’s only outdoor lap pool.
Lounge chairs are piled in high stacks and what little water was visible in the swimming pool on a recent visit appeared a dark shade of green.
Elsewhere at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story, a water park that’s highly popular with the children of service members is open one less day a week this summer.
In the sweltering days of summer, members of the military and their families like to cool off by using low-cost swimming pools found on many bases around the world.
But this year the annual tradition of swimming laps under the sun and whizzing down waterslides behind heavily protected gates is taking a hit due to automatic budget cuts.
Some installations are closing their outdoor swimming pools altogether, while many others are reducing hours or opening fewer days each week.
The pools and water parks are typically open to active-duty personnel, family members, military retirees, Defense Department civilians and their guests. The costs can range from free to just a few dollars. The cutbacks are one tangible way the automatic spending cuts are affecting the broader military community.
“Everybody’s a little bit emotional,” said Michael Martin, a spokesman for Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Virginia. “People are a little upset ... These decisions are tough. They really are. But in the budgetary climate we’re working in, these are the types of decisions we have to make. It’s unfortunate.”
Martin said the commander for the joint Army and Air Force base had already planned to close the outdoor pool at Fort Eustis in Newport News prior to sequestration, but made the decision to close the outdoor pool at Langley Air Force Base in Hampton following the automatic spending cuts ordered by Congress.
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