[Vision2020] Fault at Walter reed

[lfalen]

I served at both Walter Reed and Brooke when I was in the Army. They were both good then. An ingestigation is warented.

Roger
-----Original message-----
From: "Tom Hansen" thansen at moscow.com
Date: Tue, 27 Mar 2007 11:44:45 -0700
To: "Vision 2020" vision2020 at moscow.com
Subject: [Vision2020] Fault at Walter reed

> >From the "Letters" section of the April 2, 2007 edition of the Army Times -
> 
> -----------------------------------------------------------
> 
> Fault at Walter Reed
> 
> Maj. Gen. George Weightman, former commander of Walter Reed Army Medical
> Center, was relieved from his command because of poor living conditions for
> outpatients ["Turmoil at the top: Walter Reed scandal claims Army secretary,
> leaves force reeling in time of abrupt change," March 12]. He has been
> sacrificed for the failures of others, including the commander in chief, the
> secretary of defense and Congress.
> 
> He had been on the job for six months. The deterioration of facilities
> didn't happen in six months; it was long-standing.
> 
> I feel it was the result of Congress failing to appropriate sufficient funds
> for maintenance of military facilities. This has been a continuing problem
> for years, made more critical by a war that has not required sacrifice from
> anyone other than our service members and their families.
> 
> The president has chosen to fight his war on the cheap with no new taxes to
> pay the costs involved. That means that within the military, "deferred
> maintenance" becomes a way of meeting funding shortfalls.
> 
> What is deferred maintenance? It means not doing maintenance when it is
> required.
> 
> Would you run your car without changing the oil regularly? That is
> effectively what the services are having to do with respect to routine
> maintenance of facilities.
> 
> Don't blame the commander who isn't given the tools to do the job. Blame the
> people who gave him a mission without the resources.
> 
> Lt. Col. Thomas E. Washington (Ret.)
> Honea Path, S.C.
> 
> -------------------------------
> 
> There must be millions of us military retirees who are furious, upset and
> disturbed by the reports on shabby post-medical treatment of our war-wounded
> service men at Walter Reed Army Medical Center ["The waiting wounded," Feb.
> 26].
> 
> Some of us old-timers think firing the top generals involved is not going to
> solve the problem. Somewhere in our government, someone should have known
> that to put such services out to bid to an already questionable civilian
> firm was inviting trouble.
> 
> Also, military managers should know that below the professional level in
> military installations are lower-paid workers who may lack professional
> supervision and skills. There are no excuses, and there is apparently no
> investigation into this area.
> 
> Command Sgt. Maj. Raymond L. Milz (Ret.)
> Roanoke, Va.
> 
> -----------------------------------------------------------
> 
> Seeya round town, Moscow.
> 
> Tom Hansen
> Moscow, Idaho
> 
> "Patriotism is not a short and frenzied outburst of emotion but the tranquil
> and steady dedication of a lifetime." 
> 
> --Adlai E. Stevenson, Jr.
> 
> 
> =======================================================
>  List services made available by First Step Internet, 
>  serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.   
>                http://www.fsr.net                       
>           mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
> =======================================================