Top Army Doc Cites Progress One Year After Walter Reed Revelations

By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

Feb. 15, 2008 - The Army has made huge improvements in the way it cares for combat-wounded troops during the year since news reports brought problems at Walter Reed Army Medical Center to light, the Army surgeon general told Congress today. Army Lt. Gen. (Dr.) Eric Schoomaker, who also commands U.S. Army Medical Command, told the House Armed Service Committee's Military Personnel Subcommittee the Army's medical action plan "is continuing to move forward" and making steady progress in improving care for wounded warriors.

"We as an Army are committed to getting this right and providing a level of care and support to our warriors and families that's equal to the quality of their service," he said.

Navy Vice Adm. (Dr.) Adam Robinson and Air Force Lt. Gen. (Dr.) James Roudebush, their services' surgeons general, joined Schoomaker at the table during today's hearing. However, one year after a Washington Post series outlined serious gaps in care at the Army's premier medical center, the bulk of the discussion focused on the Army's efforts through its medical action plan.

Schoomaker called the day the first of those articles appeared "a painful day" for Army medicine, but one he said has strengthened the Army's collective resolve to do better. Because of those revelations and the Army leadership's response, "we truly are a better Army today with respect to how we care for our soldiers," he told the panel.

Schoomaker called new warrior transition units the backbone of the Army medical action plan designed to address the problem.

More than 2,400 soldier-leaders -- up from fewer than 400 this time last year -- now are assigned as cadre to 35 of these units, he told the panel.

The warrior transition units, collocated Army-wide with medical treatment facilities, offer a "triad" that includes a soldier's primary-care physician, nurse case manager and squad leader, he explained. All work together to attend to the needs of wounded soldiers and their families.

The triad provides "a web of overlapping responsibility" to ensure no soldiers ever fall between bureaucratic cracks for the duration of their treatment, recovery, rehabilitation and transition back to military service or to civilian life, Schoomaker said.

A new Medical Command-wide ombudsman program is another improvement in the care provided to wounded, ill or injured troops, he said. Ombudsman at 26 installations work outside the chain of command but have direct access to the hospital, garrison and installation commanders "to get problems fixed," Schoomaker said.

The Army also has established a toll-free hotline for wounded soldiers and their families, he said. The Department of Veterans Affairs has expressed interest in setting up a similar hotline, which gives wounded soldiers and family members 24-hour access to assistance regarding their care or administrative concerns.

"We have fielded in excess of 7,000 calls to date, and we answer that call and find a solution for them and get the process going to get it ultimately fixed within 24 hours," Schoomaker said.

Schoomaker pointed to the hotline and ombudsman programs as examples of multiple feedback mechanisms now in place to ensure Army leaders are "seeing the full picture" in ways they didn't a year ago. The Army is now able to monitor and evaluate its performance through 18 internal and external means, including patient surveys. These "provide a very granular view of how our patients and families feel we're doing for them," Schoomaker said.

Despite these successes, he said, there's much still to be done. More research is needed into psychological health and traumatic brain injury, he said. The physical disability and evaluation system needs to be changed to make it less antagonistic, more understandable, more user-friendly and more equitable.

A good start, he said, is a pilot program under way in the Washington, D.C., area designed to bring the Defense Department's and VA's programs more in line. "I want to continue to pursue changes in the disability evaluation system as aggressively as possible and to get legislative relief for a single system of adjudication," he said.

Schoomaker thanked the panel for its support for these and other initiatives to help wounded warriors and their families, and he reiterated the Army's resolve in ensuring they're treated fairly.

"The Army's unwavering commitment and a key element of our warrior ethos is that we never leave a soldier behind on the battlefield or lost in a bureaucracy," he said. "We are doing a better job of honoring that commitment today than we were at this date last year. ... We have turned the corner."

Face of Defense: Real Estate Agent Chooses to Serve

By Sgt. Brandon Little, USA
Special to American Forces Press Service

Feb. 14, 2008 - A little more than two years ago, Juliana Rizzo was a real estate agent living in Long Island, N.Y., with her two children, Angelo and Amanda, when she decided it was time to fulfill her childhood dream. That dream was to join the United States Army.

"As a little girl, I always wanted to join the Army, because my father and grandfather spent several years in the military and served their country proudly," said Rizzo, a supply specialist in Company E, 3rd Battalion, 158th Aviation Regiment, Task Force 12, Multinational Division Baghdad.

"I don't know if my father ever deployed, but my grandfather served in the Korean War and Vietnam," she said. "They've both become very successful (in jobs outside the military), but they started their education in the Army."

Rizzo, the daughter of an airplane mechanic and granddaughter of a NASA radio communications transmitter, also has achieved plenty of her own success in the short time she's been in the military.

"When (Rizzo) arrived to unit, only three days after the unit was established, she was a private fresh out of advanced individual training and she had a hip problem that really bothered her," said Army 1st Sgt. Foy Dix, of Company E. "I had a talk with her and told her that being in the Army means sometimes you have to overcome pain. Within 60 days, she nearly scored (the maximum) 300 points on her physical fitness test."

In addition to overcoming physical adversity, the new private also had to learn her job quickly and with little supervision.

"Her supply sergeant went to the basic noncommissioned officer course while the unit was still being set up, so she had to set up the unit supply office by herself," said Dix, a native of Ventura, Calif. "She also helped run a company that had no commander -- just a first sergeant and three flight lieutenants."

Even though her leaders said they already were impressed by her work ethic and determination in keeping track of more than $3.5 million worth of unit equipment, Rizzo's most attention-grabbing performance was yet to come.

"When we were in (Hohenfels, Germany) going through 'Iron Warrior' training, she went up to the Iraqi role players and started talking to them in their own language," said Army Command Sgt. Maj. Chad Cuomo, 3rd Battalion, 158th Aviation Regiment, a native of Troy, N.Y. "Nobody knew that she spoke Arabic, and it especially shocked the role players; she was definitely the hero of the battle out there."

"I learned Arabic in my Long Island neighborhood, and I pretty much taught myself a lot of the (words and phrases) I didn't know," Rizzo said. "I'm not very fluent in Arabic, but I do know enough to communicate. I also speak Spanish, and I know some phrases in Hindu."

Rizzo does a lot more than just handle unit supplies; she operates the company arms room, does public affairs for Company E, and she takes time to listen to some of the issues her fellow soldiers are having, Dix said.

She made such a strong impression throughout the battalion that she was sent to the Warrior Leadership Course as a private first class, Cuomo said. Soldiers usually attend the course at the rank of specialist or sergeant.

"I went down and talked with the WLC sergeant major two days after the course started, and I asked him, 'If I had a high-speed private first class, would you take that person?'" he said. "The course was a little rough for her, because she was the only private first class there, but she made it through and graduated in the top 17 percent of her class."

Rizzo was promoted to specialist shortly after arriving in Iraq and went to the sergeant's promotion board four months later. She received 150 points in the promotion board, and was recently laterally promoted to corporal. She continues to set the standard and then to exceed that standard, Dix said.

"I just try to give 100 percent in everything I do," Rizzo said, "and I always try to do above what is expected of me."

The soon-to-be sergeant is taking online classes toward a bachelor's degree in criminal justice. She said she hopes to one day be an Army career counselor or an Arabic linguist.

Dix said he won't be surprised if Rizzo is selected to be a staff sergeant by the end of her deployment.

"If she continues to do what she's doing know, I see her being a sergeant promotable before we leave Iraq," Dix said. "I know I couldn't do as much she does and continue to smile. I have no doubt that if I had five of her, I could run an entire platoon."
(Army Sgt. Brandon Little serves with Task Force 12 Public Affairs in Multinational Division Baghdad.)

Reserve-Component Units Cited for Superb Family Support

By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service

Feb. 15, 2008 - Seven reserve-component units were recognized for their superlative support of families of deployed servicemembers during an award ceremony in the Pentagon's Hall of Heroes today. Thomas F. Hall, assistant secretary of defense for reserve affairs, hosted the annual Department of Defense Reserve Family Readiness Awards presentation, which highlighted the best National Guard and reserve unit family readiness support programs in 2007.

"You know, you recruit individuals and retain families," Hall said before presenting the awards. "It is so important that we emphasize families, and we're going to continue to do that."

The seven awardees are recognized as "the best of the best" in providing readiness and deployment-support programs for reserve-component servicemembers and their families, Hall said.

Each recognized unit received an engraved wood Defense Department plaque and a certificate signed by Hall. Award recipients also received a certificate and $1,000 from the Military Officers Association of America.

Sharon M. Semrow is a volunteer family-support coordinator for the award-winning Marine Corps Reserve 2nd Battalion, 24th Regiment, 4th Marine Division, based in Chicago. Semrow works with families of Marines assigned to the battalion's Fox Company, which is located in Milwaukee.

"It is an honor to receive this award, and the whole battalion worked hard," Semrow said. Marines assigned to Fox Company are currently deployed to Iraq, she said.

"We pass information from the command to the family members," Semrow explained. Semrow's husband, Jeffrey, is a Marine gunnery sergeant in the reserve who served a duty tour in Iraq.

Family support is important, she said, "So the Marines can focus on the job that they're doing and not worry about us back at home."

Maintaining communications between deployed servicemembers and their families is important for morale, said Leslie B. Holland, a family-support coordinator for the award-winning Coast Guard Reserve Port Security Unit 308 based in Gulfport, Miss. PSU 308 personnel have deployed for duty at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, she said.

Holland maintains a list of phone numbers that can be used to quickly contact deployed servicemembers' commands in case of family emergencies or other contingencies back home.

"Within a matter of minutes, we can get a message out" to servicemembers at Guantanamo asking them to contact their families, Holland explained.

The Coast Guard members and spouses feel "relieved there is an extra group of people that are helping their families," Holland said.

Other units recognized at the ceremony include:

-- Air Force Reserve: 944th Mission Support Flight, Luke Air Force Base, Ariz.;

-- Air National Guard: 144th Fighter Wing, Fresno, Calif.;

-- Army National Guard: 1st Battalion, 121st Field Artillery, Milwaukee;

-- Army Reserve: 108th Training Command, Charlotte, N.C., and;

-- Navy Reserve: Naval Air Systems Command 6066, Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md.

The department's Reserve Family Readiness Awards program was established in 2000. Robust family support programs are important and vital to mission success, officials said, as significant numbers of servicemembers have deployed overseas in support of the global war on terrorism.

Missing WWII Airmen Are Identified

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of three U.S. servicemen, missing from World War II, have been identified and will be returned to their families for burial with full military honors.

They are 2nd Lt. John F. Lubben, of Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.; Sgt. Albert A. Forgue, of North Providence, R.I.; and Sgt. Charles L. Spiegel, of Chicago, Ill.; all U.S. Army Air Forces. They will be buried on April 18 in Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C.

Representatives from the Army met with the next-of-kin of these men in their hometowns to explain the recovery and identification process and to coordinate interment with military honors on behalf of the Secretary of the Army.

On Dec. 12, 1944, these men crewed an A-20J Havoc aircraft departing from Coullomiers, France, to bomb enemy targets near Wollseifen, Germany. The aircraft was last seen entering a steep dive near Cologne, Germany. Several searches and investigations of this area and reviews of wartime documents failed to provide information concerning the incident.

In 1975, a German company clearing wartime mines and unexploded ordnance near Simmerath, Germany, reported the discovery of a gravesite northeast of Simmerath where American servicemembers were buried. U.S. officials evaluated the remains and determined they represented three individuals, but they could not make identifications at that time. The remains were subsequently buried as unknowns in the Ardennes American Military Cemetery in Neupre, Belgium.

In 2003, the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) was notified that a group of German citizens had information correlating the three servicemembers who were buried as unknowns with the crew from the 1944 A-20J crash. Based on that information, JPAC exhumed the three unknown graves from the Ardennes American Military Cemetery in 2005.

Among dental records, other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from JPAC and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory also used mitochondrial DNA in the identification of the remains.

For additional information on the Defense Department's mission to account for missing Americans, visit the DPMO web site at http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo/ or call (703) 699-1169

Pentagon to Set Up Nationwide Troop, Family Support Network

By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service

Feb. 15, 2008 - The 2008 National Defense Authorization Act provides for the establishment of a nationwide center of excellence network that will assist servicemembers of all components in readjusting and reintegrating with their families when they return from overseas deployments, a senior Defense Department official said here today. Thomas F. Hall, assistant secretary of defense for reserve affairs, announced the new initiative today at the Department of Defense Reserve Family Readiness Awards ceremony that highlighted the best National Guard and reserve unit family readiness and support programs in 2007.

The new organization will be established quickly, Hall said, noting it will assist and coordinate efforts of more than 700 military family-support centers located across the country.

Efforts to obtain funding and staffing for the organization are under way, Hall said, adding it will have a central staff based in the Washington, D.C., area, and will have a board of directors.

The new support network will assist active duty, National Guard and reserve servicemembers, as well as their families, Hall pointed out.

"We've got to get that 'jointness' throughout (the system), and this is one of the things that this center for excellence is going to talk about," Hall said.

Defense Agency Makes Big Advances in Prosthetics Research

By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

Feb. 15, 2008 - A Defense Department program is tapping into the realm of science fiction to develop life-like, functional prosthetic devices for wounded combat troops so they can go on to live normal lives. Army Col. Geoff Ling, manager of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's Revolutionizing Prosthetics programs, said the agency is making tremendous headway in advancing technology considered unimaginable just a few years ago.

DARPA's initial prosthetics program, Revolutionizing Prosthetics 2007, "has done remarkably well" and is generating excitement among other federal agency heads that could someday lead to full-scale production, Ling said.

Researchers at DEKA Research and Development Corp. in Manchester, N.H., have developed what Ling calls a "strap-and-go-arm" that users activate with the flick of a switch.

"All you have to do is strap it on, and you're ready to go," he said. "It requires no surgery or any of that stuff. All you do is literally wake up in the morning and put it on like you could a jacket, and you just go."

Three volunteers in the test program reported strong acceptance for the device that comes in three models: one for amputees who have lost a complete arm and others for those with amputations above and below the elbow.

"These arms are working just beyond anyone's wildest imagination," Ling said, barely able to contain his enthusiasm.

Embedded electronics enable users to activate a switch, either with a foot or their chin, to activate it. By flicking the switch, they can cycle through five different gripping actions to match the task at hand, whether it's using a pen, picking up a key, lifting a coffee cup or using a power drill.

"It's very easy to master," Ling said. "Guys who have it will tell you they can master the use of the arm in an hour or two."

All were able to "perform remarkably" with the device, he said. One tester who lost his arm at the shoulder was able to field strip and reassemble an M-16 rifle using the prosthesis. An above-the-elbow amputee was able to grab a root beer bottle off a shelf, open it with a bottle opener and drink it. Another, who lost both hands in combat, reported he now feels able to take on a civilian job.

"When you watch it, you realize that what we have provided is not so much an arm, but really a functionality and a return to life," Ling said. "This is exactly what we had hoped for. It's tremendously gratifying."

The Department of Veterans Affairs, National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration have all shown interest in the program and are expected to join forces with the Defense Department in the months ahead to move it forward. "This is the government coming together, making things right for the right people," Ling said.

Getting a governmental agreement in place will be a big step forward to getting the devices mass-produced so they're available for wounded troops, veterans and ultimately, anyone else who might need them, he said.

As this effort advances, DARPA is pushing forward its even more ambitious Revolutionizing Prosthetics 2009 program that will enable a user to control the prosthesis through thought. The limb, as envisioned, would enable users to move as they normally do, without having to think about the actual process to make it happen.

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore are exploring this technology, and Ling said he hopes to see a contract moving the project into its second phase finalized in the coming months.

The device connects directly into the peripheral and central nervous system so users can operate it naturally, just as they move their biological arm. "It will look as natural and smooth as you possibly can imagine, because it will be controlled directly by your nervous system," Ling said. "When you think about moving your arm to reach out and grab a coffee cup, that's exactly what you will do."

The prosthetic will provide capabilities even beyond what the DEKA prosthesis delivers, even enabling people to play the piano, he said. "I don't necessarily expect users to play at the level of Tchaikovsky, but it will be a clear improvement, even over the DEKA arm," he said. "And the DEKA arm is clearly a dramatic improvement over what's available today.

"DARPA is pushing the future," he said.

DARPA's prosthetics programs represents the largest pool of funding for prosthetics in at least a decade in a field that advanced at a snail's pace for centuries. "If you look at the history of prosthetics, especially in the upper arm, it's been incredibly slow," Ling said.

The metal hook, introduced in the 1600s, didn't get its first major upgrade until the 1900s, when new technology enabled the hook to open and close, he said. "Today, you can go to the finest hospitals in the land, and what they will give you is a rubber arm with a hook at the end that opens and closes," he said.

Ling said the technology being developed through DARPA will have a broad impact, improving the lives of wounded warriors and all other amputees as well.

"Amputees everywhere in the country and possibly the world are going to benefit from this," he said. "This is not a secret government program. We have been as transparent as you can possibly be. We plan on sharing this with the world. Out of the tragedy of war comes an opportunity for a lot of people."

Ling said it's exciting to be a part of developing such cutting-edge technology.

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime thing to see. It will blow your socks off," he said. "We are really shooting for the stars, and actually achieving it is amazing."

Adding to that excitement, he said, is knowing that the effort is helping wounded warfighters return to a normal life.

"I don't think any of us could have a better way of spending our time than being able to provide care and comfort to the most deserving Americans anyone could find," he said. "For me, it's a tremendous honor."

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