They're in the Navy, and living comfortably

Luxury high-rise opens for sailors

The view from the Pacific Beacon high-rise. Each unit in the $322-million project in San Diego will house two sailors. (Sean Masterson/Los Angeles Times)

SAN DIEGO - It is a complaint common to junior enlisted personnel in the US military and one made famous by Goldie Hawn in the 1980 movie "Private Benjamin."

Hawn, as Private Judy Benjamin, is shocked when she realizes that her recruiter exaggerated when he described her future living accommodations.

"See, I did join the Army, but I joined a different Army," she says in horror when she sees the barracks. "I joined the one with the condos and the private rooms."

If only Hawn's character had waited to join today's Navy. In San Diego, she could have her condo and private room - as well as a rooftop swimming pool, bay-front views, fitness rooms, a WiFi-equipped cafe, and other amenities common to upscale residences and resort hotels but heretofore missing from military housing.

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.

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.

"What's not to love?" said Captain Ricky Williamson, the base commander. "I'd live here in a heartbeat."

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.

"I like the privacy," said Trumaine Shermon, a petty officer third class. "It's like I can establish my own life and have a fresh start when I'm not on duty."

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.