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Fired Walter Reed head takes over at Detrick
By David Dishneau - The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Nov 13, 2007 21:47:33 EST
HAGERSTOWN, Md. - The two-star general who was fired as the head of Walter
Reed Army Medical Center amid reports of shoddy treatment of wounded
soldiers has regained favor and will oversee U.S. biological weapons defense
research as commander of Fort Detrick in Frederick, the Army said Tuesday.
Maj. Gen. George W. Weightman, a physician currently assigned to the Army
surgeon general's office in Falls Church, Va., will command both Fort
Detrick and the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command
headquartered there, Department of the Army spokesman Paul Boyce said.
Cynthia Vaughan, spokeswoman for the army surgeon general's office, said the
change of command would probably occur later this month. Col. Jonathan
Jaffin has been Fort Detrick's acting commander since March 3.
When Weightman was fired from the Army's flagship hospital March 1, the Army
said senior officials "had lost trust and confidence" in his leadership
abilities to solve the problems at Walter Reed. Boyce said Army leaders
reached a different conclusion about his suitability for Fort Detrick after
reviewing Weightman's efforts at Walter Reed and in the surgeon general's
office to improve care of soldiers, veterans and their families.
For instance, during Weightman's brief tenure at Walter Reed, the ratio of
staff to soldiers improved from one-to-125 to one-to-25 or 30, Boyce said.
"The U.S. Army leadership has reviewed senior leadership responsibility and
accountability surrounding the care of soldiers and family at Walter Reed
.... and they have confidence in Gen. Weightman's ability to command the U.S.
Medical Research and Materiel Command at Fort Detrick," Boyce said.
He added that Weightman, 56, "has been held in high esteem all along by the
military medical community."
Paul Rieckhoff, executive director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of
America, said he was troubled by the announcement because Weightman's firing
was assumed to have ruined his chances for another prominent command post.
"The way Walter Reed turned out should be a career killer," Rieckhoff said.
"If Weightman's getting a second chance here, I think the Army needs to
explain why the turnaround happened."
Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., said she was "puzzled that someone associated
with the management fiasco at Walter Reed would be given this new
assignment."
Mikulski said she plans to discuss Weightman's new assignment with both him
and Maj. Gen. Eric B. Schoomaker, whose appointment as Army surgeon general
was confirmed by the Senate Thursday.
Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin, D-Md., said he also plans to meet with Weightman
"to discuss his vision for the future" of Fort Detrick.
Weightman was replaced at Walter Reed by Schoomaker, who until then had held
the Fort Detrick leadership posts.
The Pentagon has recently softened its tone in public remarks about the
Walter Reed scandal. In September, the top Pentagon health officer, Dr. S.
Ward Casscells, said the military's medical community "got a black eye that
we didn't completely deserve."
Weightman had been at Walter Reed six months when Army Times and The
Washington Post began publishing stories in February about recovering
soldiers languishing in dilapidated housing and their families complaining
of inattentive administrators. The disclosures also forced the resignations
of then Army Secretary Francis Harvey and then Army Surgeon General Lt. Gen.
Kevin Kiley.
In April, an independent review group co-chaired by former Army secretaries
John O. "Jack" Marsh and Togo D. West found that money problems and Pentagon
neglect were to blame for many of the problems at Walter Reed.
In an interview with reporters two days before the first Post story was
published, Weightman acknowledged shortcomings at Walter Reed but also said
the problems were magnified because of the hospital's location in the nation's
capital. He said being in Washington made it easier for complaining patients
and their families to draw the interest of members of Congress.
Weightman was the highest-ranking Army general to be sacked since Gen. Kevin
Byrnes was dismissed as commander of Army Training and Doctrine Command in
2005 for an alleged adulterous affair.
Weightman visited Fort Detrick Nov. 3 to sign the Army Family Covenant, a
document acknowledging a $1.4 billion increase on spending for family
programs.
By David Dishneau - The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Nov 13, 2007 21:47:33 EST
HAGERSTOWN, Md. - The two-star general who was fired as the head of Walter
Reed Army Medical Center amid reports of shoddy treatment of wounded
soldiers has regained favor and will oversee U.S. biological weapons defense
research as commander of Fort Detrick in Frederick, the Army said Tuesday.
Maj. Gen. George W. Weightman, a physician currently assigned to the Army
surgeon general's office in Falls Church, Va., will command both Fort
Detrick and the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command
headquartered there, Department of the Army spokesman Paul Boyce said.
Cynthia Vaughan, spokeswoman for the army surgeon general's office, said the
change of command would probably occur later this month. Col. Jonathan
Jaffin has been Fort Detrick's acting commander since March 3.
When Weightman was fired from the Army's flagship hospital March 1, the Army
said senior officials "had lost trust and confidence" in his leadership
abilities to solve the problems at Walter Reed. Boyce said Army leaders
reached a different conclusion about his suitability for Fort Detrick after
reviewing Weightman's efforts at Walter Reed and in the surgeon general's
office to improve care of soldiers, veterans and their families.
For instance, during Weightman's brief tenure at Walter Reed, the ratio of
staff to soldiers improved from one-to-125 to one-to-25 or 30, Boyce said.
"The U.S. Army leadership has reviewed senior leadership responsibility and
accountability surrounding the care of soldiers and family at Walter Reed
.... and they have confidence in Gen. Weightman's ability to command the U.S.
Medical Research and Materiel Command at Fort Detrick," Boyce said.
He added that Weightman, 56, "has been held in high esteem all along by the
military medical community."
Paul Rieckhoff, executive director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of
America, said he was troubled by the announcement because Weightman's firing
was assumed to have ruined his chances for another prominent command post.
"The way Walter Reed turned out should be a career killer," Rieckhoff said.
"If Weightman's getting a second chance here, I think the Army needs to
explain why the turnaround happened."
Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., said she was "puzzled that someone associated
with the management fiasco at Walter Reed would be given this new
assignment."
Mikulski said she plans to discuss Weightman's new assignment with both him
and Maj. Gen. Eric B. Schoomaker, whose appointment as Army surgeon general
was confirmed by the Senate Thursday.
Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin, D-Md., said he also plans to meet with Weightman
"to discuss his vision for the future" of Fort Detrick.
Weightman was replaced at Walter Reed by Schoomaker, who until then had held
the Fort Detrick leadership posts.
The Pentagon has recently softened its tone in public remarks about the
Walter Reed scandal. In September, the top Pentagon health officer, Dr. S.
Ward Casscells, said the military's medical community "got a black eye that
we didn't completely deserve."
Weightman had been at Walter Reed six months when Army Times and The
Washington Post began publishing stories in February about recovering
soldiers languishing in dilapidated housing and their families complaining
of inattentive administrators. The disclosures also forced the resignations
of then Army Secretary Francis Harvey and then Army Surgeon General Lt. Gen.
Kevin Kiley.
In April, an independent review group co-chaired by former Army secretaries
John O. "Jack" Marsh and Togo D. West found that money problems and Pentagon
neglect were to blame for many of the problems at Walter Reed.
In an interview with reporters two days before the first Post story was
published, Weightman acknowledged shortcomings at Walter Reed but also said
the problems were magnified because of the hospital's location in the nation's
capital. He said being in Washington made it easier for complaining patients
and their families to draw the interest of members of Congress.
Weightman was the highest-ranking Army general to be sacked since Gen. Kevin
Byrnes was dismissed as commander of Army Training and Doctrine Command in
2005 for an alleged adulterous affair.
Weightman visited Fort Detrick Nov. 3 to sign the Army Family Covenant, a
document acknowledging a $1.4 billion increase on spending for family
programs.