News & Information - The Mercury - December 2008 Mercury

by John J. Kruzel
American Forces Press Service

	COL Mike Madsen, commander of the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe Healthcare Facility, visits the new warriors in transition barracks at Chievres Air Base, Belgium. (Photo by Christie Vanover/USAG Benelux)

The Army has three dozen Warrior Transition Units across the country dedicated to nurturing the wounded back to health and even into civilian life, said BG Gary H. Cheek, director of the Warrior Care and Transition Program.

"If you compare this to Walter Reed and the organization we had in place in February 2007 when the articles from the Washington Post came out, we had one noncommissioned officer responsible for a couple hundred Soldiers," he said. "That Soldier, in fact, was also a cancer patient."

Now one primary-care manager is assigned to 200 Soldiers, a nurse case manager is responsible for 20 Soldiers, and each squad leader monitors 10.

Cheek also addressed how the Army has mitigated the chaotic bureaucracy that Families faced while attempting to visit the injured service member they love. Thanks to the Soldier Family Assistance Center, he said, connecting wounded troops and Family members is far easier than in the past.

"When the Walter Reed articles were first written, Families would have to go all over the place on the Army installation just to get some of these things taken care of," he said.

But now, imagine that a Soldier who hails from Wisconsin is hurt while on deployment in Iraq. He is medically evacuated to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Germany, en route to Walter Reed.

"What we can do with the Soldier Family Assistance Center is assist that Family in their travel to Walter Reed, accommodations when they get there [and with] expectations of what their Family member's going to go through," Cheek said. "We basically help them with any issue or problem they have in a single place."

In addition to these initiatives, the Army has invested $350 million into upgrading its facilities to comply with Americans with Disabilities Act strictures. And with an increase in numbers, some 3,200 medical personnel now are committed to helping wounded warriors heal from the moment they "inprocess" to the time they transition back to civilian life.

COL James Rice directs the Army Wounded Warrior Program, which signed a memorandum of agreement with the National Organization on Disability to help increase the rate that disabled Americans are hired. He said that while some employers are reluctant to hire recovering troops, others are eager.

Echoing Rice's comments, Cheek emphasized the role of employment in a wounded warrior's recovery.

"If a Soldier is employed, suddenly he begins to heal a lot faster," Cheek said.

From the December 2008 Mercury, an Army Medical Department publication.