Army thins warrior transition entrance rules
LINK
Not a problem that is going away. I was informed by a veterans advocacy group that the WTU's also have a serious lack of case-managmnet staffing.
Reed
Urgent issues for New President- GAO Report
Providing More Timely and Accessible Care for Returning Servicemembers
Quote:
As of October 2008, over 33,000 servicemembers have been wounded in action, resulting in serious injuries such as amputations, traumatic brain injury (TBI), and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). We have identified a number of weaknesses with the health care returning servicemembers are receiving as well as the complex and cumbersome disability systems they must navigate. While improvement efforts have started, identifying and treating servicemembers for specific combat-related health conditions, providing timely and accessible disability services, and addressing continuity of care issues are critical challenges facing our nation and will require sustained attention, systematic oversight by the Departments of Defense (DOD) and Veterans Affairs (VA), and sufficient resources. We have identified and reported on the following key challenges:
While returning servicemembers and veterans may have a range of health care needs, many servicemembers have been exposed to combat conditions that increase their risk of experiencing a TBI or developing PTSD. Identification and treatment of TBI and PTSD is critical; however DOD and VA face challenges screening, diagnosing, and treating TBI and PTSD.
DOD and VA operate separate disability evaluation processes for wounded servicemembers and veterans, respectively, that together may take months or years to complete. Since November 2007, the agencies have been piloting a joint process for determining disability benefits, but whether their efforts have been successful has not been determined.
Over 850,000 servicemembers have left active duty and are eligible for health care and potentially other benefits from VA. In recent years, problems have been identified with DOD and VA efforts to coordinate care and services for this population, including managing their transition from DOD to VA’s health care system, and expediting their access to VA disability benefits.
DOD and VA also are in the process of setting up a new interagency program office that will play a crucial role in accelerating their efforts to achieve electronic health records and capabilities that allow for full interoperability between the two departments’ systems. However, the departments’ plan for achieving interoperability by September 2009, as required in law, is incomplete because many milestones have yet to be determined.
http://www.gao.gov/transition_2009/u...ce-members.php
WTU Soldier dies in standoff
Found this Sad Story:
Carson soldier in WTU dies after standoff
Quote:
WIDEFIELD, Colo. (AP) — A man who died at a Widefield home after an armed standoff with sheriff’s deputies was a Fort Carson soldier assigned to the Warrior Transition Unit.
El Paso County sheriff’s spokeswoman Lari Sevene says 27-year-old Spc. Larry Curtis Applegate died Friday of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. Deputies responded to the house on a report that a man was firing assault rifles inside.
The gunfire continued for about an hour. When it ended, a SWAT team entered the house and found Applegate dead.
Applegate, of Myrtle Beach, S.C., was a twice-deployed Iraq war veteran awarded the Purple Heart and Army Commendation Medal with Valor. He joined the Army in 2004.
