Despite uproar, officials say all well at WTU

[JohnP]

Despite uproar, officials say all well at WTU

By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Dec 23, 2008 13:23:15 EST

At a recent gathering in a small auditorium at Fort Lee, Va., wounded soldiers listened as everyone in their chain of command up to a full colonel reassured them that life in the post’s Warrior Transition Unit remained good.

Capt. David Payne, their company commander, reminded them that Fort Lee had ranked in the top five of 35 WTUs for 15 straight months, according to monthly online polls. The barracks are “rated the top in the Army.” Three members of the cadre are former wounded soldiers themselves.

Lt. Col. Robert Lather told them the hospital is being revamped, with more space dedicated to active-duty soldiers so they don’t have to wait in long lines with troops going through Advanced Individual Training.

“Your mission is to heal,” said Col. Donna Diamond, head of Fort Lee’s Kenner Army Health Clinic. “We’re here to make sure your needs are addressed.”

In the back of the room, Sgt. Loyd Sawyer shook his head.

“We’re having another dog-and-pony show,” he said.

Before the meeting, troops were told their attendance was mandatory, and they needed a doctor’s note to get out of going. After the meeting, soldiers seen talking to reporters — or even surreptitiously passing notes with phone numbers — said they were called in by their chain of command and asked about what they had said.

“The town hall meetings are never like that,” said 1st Lt. Rebecca Ludwick, one of about 70 injured soldiers assigned to the WTU. “I’ve never seen all those officers there.”

The disparities didn’t end there. As officers from the unit explained that they were fully staffed, that the cadre is well-trained and cares, and that the troops consider their chain of command friends, the soldiers offered a different story: They can’t get appointments; they are forced to perform 24-hour duty while on sleeping medications; they say they are treated as whiners trying to get over on the system; they say training injuries are treated as less important than combat injuries, even though by law, both require the same medical care.

Two said they sought off-post counseling to help them deal with the stress of being in the WTU. One with severe post-traumatic stress disorder went back to the hospital as an inpatient after a cadre member yelled at him for playing with his unit patch.

One said she was named the executive officer of the unit, even though she injured herself during initial training and had no command experience. Another faced an Article 15 for oversleeping — even as he was going through a sleep study that eventually diagnosed him with narcolepsy.

They say that when they ask for help — through an ombudsman, the Wounded Warrior hotline or through the Inspector General office — they are admonished for violating the chain of command.

The Army created Warrior Transition Units after the scandal at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, D.C., in early 2007 after investigations showed that soldiers working their ways through the military medical retirement system had to fight through a thick bureaucracy of lost paperwork, incorrect documents, untrained lawyers and counselors, and unfair ratings that left them with a lifetime of injuries and little or no compensation.

It was revealed that sick and injured soldiers served as platoon sergeants and squad leaders even as they took medications or dealt with mental health issues. Some spent months — even years — in medical hold units. Ultimately, many signed whatever they were handed so they could go home.

The 35 Warrior Transition Units, formed about a year and a half ago, include professional cadre pulled in to provide stability; nurse case managers assigned to monitor soldiers’ progress and appointments; a doctor just for the soldiers in the unit; and family resources. They have ombudsmen and case managers. Everyone, officials say, has been trained in the special needs for soldiers with PTSD or traumatic brain injury.

But in recent months, the Army realized it does not have the manpower to staff the units, the rules changed about who would be allowed in, and the focus shifted to those with combat injuries rather than those who injure themselves preparing to deploy. Those who don’t go to a Warrior Transition Unit remain in their home units, where unfit soldiers fill deployable slots — leaving line units understaffed as they prepare for deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan.

http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2008/12/military_lee_warriortransition_122308w/

[joelpietersen]

Well, this is good to hear. After all those uproars, this is calming to know.

[SGM]

With this happening now, just think what things will be like after Hussain Obama gets his cut in the military budget!!