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Walter Reed General Relieved of Command William Branigin The Army today relieved the commander of Walter Reed Army Medical Center, saying it had "lost trust and confidence" in his leadership in the wake of a scandal over outpatient treatment of wounded veterans at the Washington, D.C., hospital complex. Army Maj. Gen. George W. Weightman, commanding general of the North Atlantic Regional Medical Command and of the Walter Reed center, was relieved of command by the secretary of the Army, Francis J. Harvey, at 10 a.m. today, the Army announced in a news release. It said the action was under consideration for the past several days and that a decision was made yesterday. "Maj. Gen. Weightman was informed this morning that the senior Army leadership had lost trust and confidence in the commander's leadership abilities to address needed solutions for soldier-outpatient care at Walter Reed Army Medical Center," the statement said. It said Lt. Gen. Kevin C. Kiley, who serves as surgeon general of the Army and commander of the U.S. Army Medical Command, will take over temporarily as commander of Walter Reed "until a general officer is selected for this important leadership position." The action came 10 days after a Washington Post series exposed deplorable living conditions for some wounded outpatient soldiers at Walter Reed and bureaucratic problems that prevented many from getting the care they need. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates later described the situation as "unacceptable," appointed an independent review panel to look into it and vowed rapid corrective action. Gates today endorsed the leadership change. He said in a statement: "The care and welfare of our wounded men and women in uniform demand the highest standard of excellence and commitment that we can muster as a government. When this standard is not met, I will insist on swift and direct corrective action and, where appropriate, accountability up the chain of command." The Post reported today that top officials at Walter Reed, including Kiley, had heard complaints about outpatient neglect from family members, veterans groups and members of Congress for more than three years without acting effectively to deal with the problems. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), saying that the latest revelations "show a troubling trend," vowed that the House would address "the most pressing deficiencies at Walter Reed" in an upcoming supplemental appropriations bill for the military. "House committees will respond as a matter of urgent priority and will conduct aggressive congressional oversight of military medical care," she said in a statement. Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) said separately that he approves of the Army's decision to fire Weightman, and he called on lawmakers to support his proposal for an additional $18 million in the supplemental bill for mental health staffing assistance at Veterans Administration centers. "It's been clear to me for a long time that America's heroes are not getting the type of care and attention they deserve," Kerry said in a statement. "Now we see that even active- duty military are sometimes treated as second-class citizens, housed in sub-standard facilities and subjected to unending bureaucracy. Those who have spoken out are even being told to keep quiet. This is unacceptable and it disrespects the sacrifice that our brave troops are making on behalf of every American." In its statement today, the Army said it is "moving quickly to address issues regarding outpatient care at Walter Reed Army Medical Center." It said Harvey last week directed the vice chief of staff of the Army, Gen. Richard A. Cody, to "develop and implement an Army Action Plan to address shortcomings at Walter Reed as well as Army-wide." The Army said the action plan and a separate inquiry by an independent review group announced Feb. 20 "will continue examining military-medical rehabilitative conditions and administrative care in the weeks to come." The statement added, "The Army senior leadership will continue to take prompt corrective action as deficiencies are identified." It quoted Harvey as saying, "We'll fix as we go; we'll fix as we find things wrong." He described soldiers as "the heart of our Army" and said "the quality of their medical care is non-negotiable." In The Post series last month, reporters Dana Priest and Anne Hull reported finding wounded soldiers living in squalid conditions in Building 18, a decrepit former hotel just outside the Walter Reed compound on Georgia Avenue. Some of the soldiers were housed there in quarters plagued by mold, rot, mice and cockroaches. The series also documented a broader issue of bureaucratic indifference that soldiers and family members found demoralizing and said had impeded recovery. Kiley, the newly appointed commander of Walter Reed who lives just across the street from Building 18, told a news conference last week that the problems at the 54-room facility "weren't serious and there weren't a lot of them." He charged that The Post series unfairly characterized the living conditions and care for recovering soldiers, calling it "a one-sided representation." Kiley also said the problems were neither widespread nor symptomatic of a system that has "abandoned soldiers and their families." His comments came at the end of a media tour that featured repair efforts in Building 18. Kiley was commander at Walter Reed before becoming surgeon general in 2004. His comments stood in sharp contrast to those of top Pentagon officials, who blamed a breakdown in leadership for the problems at Walter Reed and pledged to make quick fixes. Cody, the Army vice chief of staff, and William Winkenwerder Jr., assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, declined last week to specify precisely where the leadership breakdown occurred or to identify anyone who was at fault. Instead, they and Weightman said they accepted overall responsibility for the situation. Last week, the Army relieved of their duties several low-ranking soldiers who managed outpatients at Walter Reed. The soldiers were not publicly identified, and details of their alleged transgressions were not released. Disclosing the action, Gates hinted to reporters after a visit to Walter Reed that higher-ranking officers also could face disciplinary measures. "We will be looking and evaluating the rest of the chain of command as we get more information," he said Friday. The same day, Weightman published an open letter in the hospital newspaper responding to The Post series, which was entitled "The Other Walter Reed." He disputed that characterization. "First and foremost, I want to assure all the staff that I do not believe that there is the 'other' Walter Reed," Weightman wrote. "I firmly believe that we deliver the same level of world-class health care to all our patients and their families, regardless of whether they are inpatients or outpatients." Weightman sent out an e-mail to the entire Walter Reed garrison shortly after noon today announcing his relief. "I am confident that you will continue to do a great job," he wrote. "You're a great team and I have been honored to work with you." Weightman served as Walter Reed commander for less than seven months, having assumed the post in August 2006. A native of Vermont, he graduated from the U.S. Military Academy in 1973 and received his medical degree from the University of Vermont in 1982. Weightman later became the chief surgeon of the 82nd Airborne Division and served with the division during the 1989 invasion of Panama and the 1991 Persian Gulf War. During the 2003 invasion of Iraq, he was the command surgeon for the Coalition Forces Land Component. Kiley, his replacement, graduated from the University of Scranton and obtained his medical degree from Georgetown University School of Medicine in Washington. He has served as division surgeon for the 10th Mountain Division, commander of the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany and command surgeon for the U.S. Army Europe and the 7th Army. Staff writer Steve Vogel contributed to this report. ---------------------------------------------------
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