WALTER REED: THE REAL STORY

This is from the Chief of Chaplains at Walter Reed. He provides an accurate perspective of the Walter Reed issue.

I have had enough and am going to give my perspective on the news about Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Please understand that I am speaking for myself and I am responsible for my thoughts alone. The news media and politicians are making it sound like Walter Reed is a terrible place and the staff here has been abusing our brave wounded soldiers; what a bunch of bull!

I am completing my 24th year of service in the Army next month so you decide for yourself if I have the experience to write about this topic. I have been the senior clinical chaplain at Walter Reed for four years and will leave to go back to the infantry this summer. I supervise the chaplain staff inside Walter Reed that cares for the 200 inpatients, the 650+ daily outpatients from the war who come to us for medical care, the 4000+ staff, and over 3000 soldiers and their families that come for clinical appointments daily. Walter Reed has cared for over 5500 wounded from the war. I cannot count the number of sick and non-battle injured that have come through over that timeframe. The staff at this facility has done an incredible job at the largest US military medical center with the worst injured of the war. We have cared for over 400 amputees and their families. I am privileged to serve the wounded, their families, and our staff.

When the news about building 18 broke I was on leave. I was in shock when the news broke. We in the chaplains office in Walter Reed, as well as the majority of people at Walter Reed, did not know anyone was in building 18. I didn't even know we had a building 18. How can that happen? Walter Reed is over 100 acres of 66 buildings on two installations. Building 18 is not on the installation of Walter Reed and was believed to be closed years ago by our department. The fact that some leaders in the medical brigade that is in charge of the outpatients put soldiers in there is terrible. That is why the company commander, first sergeant, and a group of platoon leaders and platoon sergeants were relieved immediately. They failed their soldiers and the Army. The commanding general was later relieved (more about this) and his sergeant major has been told to move on--if he gets to. The brigade sergeant major was relieved and more relief's are sure to come and need to. As any leader knows, if you do not take care of soldiers, lie, and then try to cover it up, you are not worthy of the commission you hold and should be sent packing. I have no issue, and am actually proud, that they did relieve the leaders they found who knew of the terrible conditions some of our outpatients were enduring. The media is making it sound like these conditions are rampant at Walter Reed and nothing could be further from the truth. We need improvements and will now get them. I hate it that it took this to make it happen.

The Army and the media made MG Weightman, our CG, out to be the problem and fired him. This was a great injustice. He was only here for six months, is responsible for military medical care in the 20 Northeast states, wears four "hats" of responsibilities, and relies on his subordinate leaders to know what is happening in their areas of responsibilities. He has a colonel that runs the hospital (my hospital commander), a colonel that runs the medical brigade (where the outpatient wounded are assigned and supposedly cared for), and a colonel that is responsible to run the garrison and installation. What people don't know is that he was making many changes as he became aware of them and had requested money to fix other places on the installation. The Army did not come through until four months after he asked for the money, remember that he was here only six months, which was only days before they relieved him. His leaders responsible for outpatient care did not tell him about conditions in building 18. He has been an incredible leader who really cares about the wounded, their families, and our staff. I cannot say the same about a former commander, who was my first commander here at Walter Reed, and definitely knew about many problems and is in the position to fix them and he did not. MG Weightman also should not be held responsible for the military's unjust and inefficient medical board system and the problems in the VA system. We lost a great leader and passionate man who showed he had the guts to make changes and was doing so when he was made the scapegoat for others.

What I am furious about is that the media is making it sound like all of Walter Reed is like building 18. Nothing could be further from the truth. No system is perfect but the medical staff provides great care in this hospital. What needs to be addressed, and finally will, is the bureaucratic garbage that all soldiers are put through going into medical boards and medical retirements. Congress is finally giving the money that people have asked for at Walter Reed for years to fix places on the installations and address shortcomings. What they don't want you to know is Congress caused many problems by the BRAC process saying they were closing Walter Reed. We cannot keep nor attract all the quality people we need at Walter Reed when they know this place will close in several years and they are not promised a job at the new hospital. Then they did this thing call A76 where they fired many of the workers here for a company of contractors, IAP, to get a contract to provide care outside the hospital proper. The company, which is responsible for maintenance, only hired half the number of people as there were originally assigned to maintenance areas to save money. Walter Reed leadership fought the A76 and BRAC process for years but lost. Congress instituted the BRAC and A76 process; not the leadership of Walter Reed.

What I wish everyone would also hear is that for every horror story we are now hearing about in the media that truly needs to be addressed, you are not hearing about the hundreds of other wounded and injured soldiers who tell a story of great care they received. You are not hearing about the incredibly high morale of our troops and the fact that most of them want to go back, be with their teammates, and finish the job properly. You should be very proud of the wounded troopers we have at Walter Reed. They make me so proud to be in the Army and I will fight to get their story out.

I want you to hear the whole story because our wounded, their families, our Army, and the nation need to know that many in the media and select politicians have an agenda. Forget agendas and make the changes that have been needed for years to fix problems in every military hospital and the VA system. The poor leaders will be identified and sent packing and good riddance to them. I wish the same could be said for the politicians and media personalities who are also responsible but now want it to look like they are very concerned. Where have they been for the last four years? I am ashamed of what they all did and the pain it has caused many to think that everyone is like that. Please know that you are not hearing the whole story. Please know that there are thousands of dedicated soldiers and civilian medical staff caring for your soldiers and their families. When I leave here I will end up deploying. When soldiers in my division have to go to Walter Reed from the battlefield, I know they will get great medical care. I pray that you know the same thing. God bless all our troops and their families wherever they may be. God bless you all,

+Chaplain John L. Kallerson Senior Chaplain Clinician Walter Reed Army Medical Center

" His leaders responsible for outpatient care did not tell him about conditions in building 18."

....well, SOMEbody was playing CYA and let the situation get out of hand.

Regardless of the fallout in the upper ranks of the Army, this is an EXCELLENT opportunity to get things noticed and FIXED at YOUR local military or VA hospitals. Strike while the iron is hot.

[or post here as if it were going to make ANY difference]

By way of example, here is my latest "guest opinion" for my local paper:

A recent Daily Inter Lake editorial wisely cautioned our politicians not to use the VA’s health care system as the latest political football for partisan gain. This of course fell on deaf ears. In order to make any kind of reasonable attempt to improve the status quo also requires a firm basis of knowledge of the internal workings of that system. This is not the time to skim the surface of the issues, deploy for photo ops, or spout platitudes for sound bites.

Nonetheless that’s precisely what Senator Jon Tester did in Helena recently in response to the Walter Reed fiasco. The loss to Montana Veterans of Senator Burns and his skilled staff is just beginning to rear its ugly head. Tester further underlined his woefully inadequate engagement in these critical issues by noting that three months into his rein he’s finally hired someone who may have a clue about how Veterans are treated. That’s handy. At this rate we can expect several years of lag time as Tester pretends to be concerned while exhibiting a near-perfect ignorance concerning the matters at hand. His Johnny come lately realization that he’s supposed to be serving the country via his seat on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee becomes doubly troubling in that light.

Montana’s Veterans need more than an occasional pat on the head, Mr. Tester. Some of us are very sick. The rest of us are tired of the bureaucratic runarounds we encounter almost without exception. According to Tester, “the VA hospital here is a Montana jewel and should be used as an example for similar health-care centers across the country.” Unfortunately, this proves that when he visited Fort Harrison, he inspected the wrong building.

Don’t get me wrong. The long-suffering VA Doctors and Nurses do the best they can with what our stingy congress allows them. I literally wouldn’t be alive had I not had a slew of medical procedures performed at VA facilities around the country over the last five years. It’s not the kind of medical care which is lacking, it’s the amount available for our veterans to share that’s compounded by an uncaring administrative “half” of the VA system where the problems arise. The red tape barricades may not be visible to the uninformed observer, but they are the real reason so many Veterans give up trying to get medical care through the VA. While the self-serving “deny, denigrate & delay” tactics probably make the outfit look good on paper, it’s the sad truth that it matters not what level of care you are provided if you can’t even get on the list. This impacts our most needy Veterans the hardest because they are the least able to outwait the bureaucratic mind games as their health declines. Ask anyone who has survived the hassles inherent in attempting to be adjudicated “service connected” for any illness. There is a diabolical unwritten rule that the administrative and medical “halves” of the VA shall avoid productive communication at any and all costs!

Here’s some hard data Jon Tester overlooked as he “spin cycled” Fort Harrison:

** There are currently more than 107,000 Montana Veterans. Our single VA Hospital in Helena has 50 beds. This generates long waiting lists and equally long travel for most Veterans. For instance, there are a grand total of two dentists at Fort Harrison for the entire state. If you are lucky enough to be shipped out of state for procedures not covered here, you will find the “travel agents” in Miles City to be consistently inefficient and rude. Be prepared for a lengthy bus ride if you can’t drive yourself to Denver or Salt Lake.

** Montana supplies a disproportionate percentage of Army Reservists and National Guard Troops in Afghanistan & Iraq, ranking fourth in the nation. In 2005, Montana was dead last in the percentage of VA visits provided for mental health care. Post-traumatic stress disorder [PTSD] is the most prevalent mental health malady emerging from the wars in Iraq & Afghanistan and one of the top illnesses overall. The gritty reality of urban warfare triggers older Veterans’ PTSD as well, resulting in an ugly sort of “competition” pitting young and old against each other over available slots in already overburdened facilities. In 2006, the VA’s own internal review stated, "We can't do both jobs at once within current resources."

There will be more illnesses and clinical visits in the foreseeable future generated by the 1.4 million people who have served in the Global War on Terror since 2001. Montana is the fourth largest state geographically and has one of the largest per capita veteran populations. Immediate action is in order, not lip service, if we are to keep pace.

Max Baucus appears to be oblivious to the entire situation. Mr. Tester has obviously never seen a top notch military facility such as the San Diego Naval Hospital if he thinks they should all follow suit after Fort Harrison. Denny Rehberg and his staff have helped me and other Veterans immensely with some very sticky problems regarding the VA Health System. While one out of three is better than none, ALL Montanans need to bear in mind that our Veterans produce much more than hot air when called to duty. Some gave all. Is this really the best we can do in return?

[USN 1967-70, 100% Service Connected Disabled]

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