Webb Says Conditions at Walter Reed Are Part of Systemic Problem
Webb Says Conditions at Walter Reed Are Part of Systemic Problem
Senator Jim Webb of Virginia today said that conditions at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center are part of a systemic problem with the way service members, and particularly the wounded, are returned to military service or transitioned to care with the Veterans Administration.
"There was a clear breakdown at the point of transition, attributable to a lack of priorities and military leadership," Senator Webb said.
Webb praised medical care at the facility, but contrasted it with the experience of many service members being treated as outpatients or transitioning to care with the Veterans Administration (VA).
"I have been a lifetime recipient of military medicine's compassionate care, but people are getting lost today when they transition not with respect to medical care, but on a wide range of issues," said Webb. "On the VA side, we have a 400,000-case backlog in evaluating claims."
"I cannot help but look at this issue with the perspective of someone who has spent time in command and in civilian leadership responsibilities," Webb said. "Uniquely in the military, there are the responsibilities and obligations of command, and one of those responsibilities is to show up and supervise any facility that is under one's jurisdiction. People need to show up, to talk to the troops, and to ask them how they are doing."
"Our civilian and military leaders need to put a higher priority on taking care of people who are returning to civilian life," Webb said. "This goes to the essence of how we are rewarding military service. This was one of the reasons I introduced legislation for a new G.I. Bill for people who have served since 9/11. Some seem to have resisted this bill because of the potential cost, but how do you evaluate the price and value of service?"
Many of the problems associated with the military's disability-determination process are well-documented in a Government Accountability Office report issued in March 2006.
"The Department of Defense is beginning to implement the GAO's recommendations, but had more aggressive action been taken a year ago, many of today's breakdowns could have been avoided," said Webb.
The Senator said he would question the Department of Defense on the GAO's findings relating to trends in the Department's determinations of military disability.
http://webb.senate.gov/newsroom/record.cfm?id=270201&