WASHINGTON - Sen. Russ Feingold urged the Defense Department Wednesday to investigate bad conditions at Fort Bragg, N.C. which were recently captured in a video slide show by a Wisconsin man visiting his son there.

Feingold, a Wisconsin Democrat, also called on the Army to make sure any servicemember living in unsafe conditions at Fort Bragg is relocated to safe and acceptable housing.

Ed Frawley of Menomonie, Wis., says he was disgusted by conditions that greeted his son, Jeff Frawley, and other members of the 82nd Airborne unit that returned this month after a 15-month tour of duty in Afghanistan. His images showed mold inside the barracks, peeling interior paint and a bathroom drain plugged with sewage.

In a telephone interview Wednesday, Frawley said that the soldiers joked about the awful conditions.

"To them, it was a joke that they were put into this, and they just kind of sucked it up and were laughing it off," he said. "And I sat there and I was embarrassed."

Frawley said that he decided to document the problems at the barracks after his son showed him a picture he had taken of a soldier standing in a sink, sticking a plunger into a several inches of toilet water that had overflowed.

"He didn't know what I was going to do," Frawley said. "I just walked around and took a lot of pictures."

Frawley said his son went into the Army two days after he graduated from high school in June 2004, and landed in Baghdad on Dec. 7 of that year.

Frawley, who produces videotapes on how to train dogs, said he knew how powerful the images would be. As of Wednesday afternoon, they had been viewed more than 120,000 times.

On Tuesday, Army officials said they were inspecting every barracks building worldwide to see if the problems revealed at Fort Bragg are widespread.

"We let our soldiers down, and that's not like us," said Brig. Gen. Dennis Rogers, who is responsible for maintaining barracks throughout the Army. "We let our soldiers down. That's not how we want America's sons and daughters to live. There's no good excuse for what happened."

Frawley said he was impressed with the Army's response.

"The last thing in the world I am is anti-military," he stressed. "My son re-enlisted for four more years in Afghanistan, and I was proud of him about it then, as I'm proud of him now. I just hope I haven't done anything to screw his career."

Frawley said he thinks the problem lies more with Congress for not providing enough funding than with the military.

In a statement, Feingold said that it was "absolutely unacceptable" for soldiers to return home from Afghanistan and return to live in potentially unhealthy conditions.

"They must be transferred to suitable facilities immediately and the Army's failure to provide acceptable housing must be investigated," he said.

In a letter to Army Secretary Peter Geren Wednesday, Feingold said, "There is no excuse for housing U.S. servicemembers in such conditions."

In a separate letter Wednesday, Feingold called on Defense Department inspector general Claude Kicklighter to launch an investigation into whether the base's barracks are safe for housing, and how long the conditions have been present, among other things.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates "has seen Mr. Frawley's video of his son's barracks at Fort Bragg and he agrees that the conditions depicted inside that particular facility are utterly deplorable and absolutely unacceptable," said Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell, adding, "Our troops deserve better and (Gates) is committed to making sure they get it."

Army spokesman Paul Boyce called Frawley's pictures "alarming," adding, "our soldiers deserve the best conditions we can provide as an institution."

He said that the maintenance problems documented by Frawley have been corrected, with the exception of some ongoing painting and installation of new water fountains.

"In this case, the unit returned three weeks ahead of schedule with 72-hours notice," he said. "The rear detachment attempted to surge resources to meet requirements, but failed to have the building ready in time for the return of the unit."

Boyce said Fort Bragg is in the midst of an "unprecedented construction period to upgrade its infrastructure — most importantly, its barracks facilities. This construction, though fully funded, takes time and must occur in phases."