of Foxes and chicken coops...

I saw this little ditty in the In Box today... and my immediate impression: uh, washington... we have a problem here...

Independent Medical Review Group Holds First Meeting

The Independent Review Group (IRG) established by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to conduct an assessment of outpatient treatment at Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC) and the National Naval Medical Center (NNMC) held their first meeting at the Pentagon today.

The group was established as a subcommittee of the Defense Health Board to review, report upon and provide recommendations regarding any critical shortcomings and opportunities to improve rehabilitative care, administrative processes and the quality of lifeof patients. The review group is composed of the following individuals:

Togo West, former secretary of Veterans Affairs and secretary of the Army under President Bill Clinton
Jack Marsh, former secretary of the Army under President Ronald Reagan
Dr. Joe Schwartz, former Republican congressman from Michigan
Jim Bacchus, former Democratic congressman from Florida
Arnold Fisher, senior partner Fisher Brothers New York and chairman of the Board for the Intrepid Museum Foundation
Retired Air Force Gen. John Jumper, former chief of staff of the Air Force
Retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Chip Roadman, former Air Force surgeon general.
Retired Navy Rear Adm. Kathy Martin, former deputy surgeon general for the Navy
Retired Army Command Sgt. Maj. Larry Holland, formerly with the assistant secretary of defense for reserve affairs

The group will have special advisors in the areas of social work, rehabilitation, psychological counseling and family support issues. They will be given free and unrestricted access to facilities and personnel.

"Our overarching goal is to identify any critical shortcomings and opportunities to improve the rehabilitative care, administrative processes, and quality of life for injured and sick members of the armed forces at WRAMC and NNMC, and make recommendations for corrective actions," said Dr. William Winkenwerder, assistant secretary of defense for health affairs.

The group will report their findings and recommendations within 45 days to the secretaries of the Army and Navy and the assistant secretary of defense for health affairs.

With the exception of Arnold Fisher (and the Fisher family is one group that knows how to get things done) -- the entire panel is all retired military, secretaries of military services and politicians!!! Not that I have a problem with retired military, but not one parent of a wounded soldier or Marine?? Not one spouse who had to go through the labrynth?? NOT EVEN A WOUNDED SOLDIER OR MARINE THAT ACTUALLY KNOWS WHAT THEY"RE TALKING ABOUT?? And why is the investigation being limited to "outpatient treatment"?

but come on Gates -- put someone else on the panel besides the foxes who BUILT the dang chicken coop... gggrrrr.

So if Gates wants a nomination of someone who fills both the "fox" and the "chicken" roles, how about Chuck Z (be sure to read at least his last 10 posts -- at least 8 of which are on the topic of Walter Reed -- a place with which he is intimately involved. I'd volunteer as an interested party -- having no previous experience with Walter Reed (my son didn't go through WRMC... ) and maybe someone could have nominated a civilian administrator from say a profit-making trauma center to see what worked elsewhere that the military might be able to use??? oh, right -- that would make sense...

x-posted at Some Soldier's Mom

As Andi notes - I got a scalp.

Remember that scalp I asked for?

I got it.

Pretty nice one, too.

Major General George Weightman, formerly Commanding General, Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

Good.

No, I don't think that me griping about it affected things one iota, in case you're wondering about a burgeoning megalomania around here.

Read about it here, at Fox News, as Andi already noted.

There's probably a few others that need to dry in the sun with this one, however.

I'm thinking there should be at least one field grade and one company grade scalp left to take. Minimum. I've got my whetstone all oiled and ready.

H/t, Leavenworth Centurion

Change of Command

Yesterday, Donovan called for some officer scalps over the Walter Reed debacle. Today, he got a big one.

The Army said Thursday that the two-star general in charge of Walter Reed Army Medical Center has been relieved of command following disclosures about inadequate treatment of wounded soldiers.

Maj. Gen. George W. Weightman, who was commanding general of the North Atlantic Regional Medical Command as well as Walter Reed hospital, was relieved of command by Army Secretary Francis J. Harvey.

In a brief announcement, the Army said service leaders had "lost trust and confidence" in Weightman's leadership abilities "to address needed solutions for soldier outpatient care" at Walter Reed.

Juggling Chainsaws on a Unicycle

I knew the state of the Euro armies was bad, but I had no idea it was THIS bad.

Yet even as Britain has continued to play a leading role in world affairs, it has allowed its defenses to molder. The total size of its armed forces has shrunk from 305,800 in 1990 to 195,900 today, leaving it No. 28 in the world, behind Eritrea and Burma. This downsizing has reduced the entire British army (107,000 soldiers) to almost half the size of the U.S. Marine Corps (175,000)...Even worse hit is the Royal Navy, which is at its smallest size since the 1500s.

For once, speechless.

The Global War on Terror...

...really is, well, global.

Basketball is the Philippine national sport and Phil soldiers often play at the national level. I have seen them play some very competitive ball. So, when the Marines and Seabees saw some Phil soldiers playing basketball on the court in the middle of town (literally the very heart of the town) they quickly challenged them to a game. When the first five Americans began to be educated on the basketball court, a call went out to the best ball players in the American camp. The second American team managed to match the tired Phil team basket for basket, after they found their style of play, and there was a large crowd watching the game cheering for the players and not the teams. But, the game came to an abrupt and early finish.

First, it was just a distant boom. Explosions are not daily occurrences here but they are heard frequently and do not cause much alarm. Then, we could hear the distinct sounds of small arms fire. The sounds of artillery can echo off the mountains and be heard over long distances but small arms fire has to be pretty close to be heard. It also makes the battle much more personal.

Read the whole story.