Buyer delegation visits troops,
inspects U.S. military health care in Middle East theater
Washington, DC — Leading a congressional delegation to
U.S. military facilities in Kuwait, Iraq and Germany, House
Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Chairman Steve Buyer (R-Ind.) and
delegation members found the morale of troops and commanders high.
The delegation also saw profound strengths and troubling weaknesses
in the military’s provision of seamless medical and dental care for
servicemembers returning from combat.
“We are here to show appreciation for your service to our nation,”
Buyer, a veteran of Operation Desert Storm, said to U.S. troops at
Camp Arifjan, Kuwait. “What you are doing here is important and we
in Congress must give you the resources to finish the job.”
Accompanying Buyer on the five-day trip were committee members John
Boozman (R-Ark.) and Rep. John Salazar (D-Colo.), as well as
Secretary of Veterans Affairs R. James Nicholson. The delegation met
with Multi-National Forces-Iraq commander, General George Casey; Lt.
Gen. Steven Whitcomb, commander of 3rd U.S. Army, headquartered in
Kuwait; as well as Iraq’s president and members of his cabinet; and
the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Dr. Zalmay M. Khalilzad.
The delegation observed the full continuum of medical care, from
“level 1” care provided by a combat medic and “dustoff” air
ambulances, through the second and third levels of care in combat
support hospitals -- such as those in Kuwait and Iraq -- to level 4
care at the military’s Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany.
Buyer called this continuum of health care, which culminates for
many at VA, “the unbreakable link in the medical chain of mercy.”
“These individuals are all heroes and I am in awe at their
selflessness and dedication,” Buyer said of the medical personnel he
had encountered. Every facility showed evidence of inter-service
cooperation. The U.S. Military Hospital Kuwait for example is run by
the Navy and with mixed Navy, Army and Air Force staff, treats
mostly Army soldiers.
The delegation arrived at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in
Germany minutes before casualties, some in critical condition,
arrived from the combat support hospital at Balad, Iraq, where the
delegation had been the day before. Seeing first-hand the quality of
care and seamless transfer from battlefield to level-4 hospital was
a powerful experience.
“The military has done an exceptional job of integrating the
services and the reserves and National Guard into a total-force team
of amazing skill, caring and efficiency,” Buyer said. “It is
absolutely extraordinary and America has every reason to be proud of
the commitment and the investment of these people the care of our
injured and wounded.”
Buyer has questioned the frequency with which the military refers
separating servicemembers with dental problems to the Department of
Veterans Affairs (VA) for eventual treatment, rather than correcting
problems earlier. Troops undergo pre-deployment physicals and
corrective care before they go overseas. Buyer however suspects that
troops experience deterioration during the deployment and are
sometimes released and encouraged to get treatment from VA.
Referring treatment to VA is less efficient and more costly than
treating problems or performing routine dental maintenance before
separation, sends troops and families the wrong message. Military
dentists in Kuwait said that while troops must pass rigorous
pre-deployment physicals and arrive in good health, some may indeed
depart needing care. They acknowledged that VA has been used for
this purpose, especially for reservists and members of the National
Guard, not all of whom ultimately seek that treatment, creating
long-term dental problems.
“The earlier we get treatment done, by the Army, by the service, the
better,” Buyer, an officer in the Army Reserve, told hospital
commanders and staff. “The military must take care of its own.”
Pointing up the need for the Pentagon to transition to electronic
health records, at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, wounded
soldiers arrived with their medical records in files on their
chests. Buyer has long demanded that DoD and VA, which has an
excellent electronic medical records system, develop an
interoperable system that can share records, reducing delays and
risks.
“The types of serious trauma we are seeing, such as traumatic brain
injuries caused by roadside bombs, demand the best in health care.
Our military doctors and nurses are superb, but DoD must move
decisively to give them a comprehensive electronic records system
that enables their work,” Buyer said, noting that the Joint Patient
Tracking Application DoD uses is not enough.
Buyer has worked with the Marines to develop an improved helmet,
which vents out some of the blast that travels up the torso from IED
detonations and contributes to brain and other cranial injuries. At
Camp Fallujah, the delegation was shown equipment used by the
Marines to reduce their vulnerability to IEDs; V-bottom vehicles
that deflect and survive blasts, and experimental armored suits are
two promising innovations.
In Baghdad, Iraq’s president, Jalal Talabani, took advantage of the
delegation, with its representation of both the U.S. executive and
legislative branches, to gather his newly formed cabinet for a
meeting at his home. Talabani expressed the appreciation of the
Iraqi people for the role of America in their liberation. He urged
his guests to convey to Congress the importance of continued support
of his unity government and Iraq’s struggle for democracy.
“Fifteen years ago, I was an Army captain, serving in the United
States Army and Coalition forces in the first gulf war. Little did I
ever dream, Mr. President, that 15 years later I would stand here as
a guest in a free Iraq,” Buyer told the president. “I believe the
United States needs to have the resolve to stand behind this unity
government. There are challenges in front of them, but Iraq has a
very proud people and they have a country of vast and great
resources, and they can be a leader in this region.”
The delegation was encouraged at the growth of Iraqi security
forces, which now number about 275,000, including police and border
guards. In Fallujah, Maj. Gen. Richard Zilmer, commander of the I
Marine Expeditionary Force in Iraq, had briefed the delegation on
the successes experienced by Marine training teams embedded in Iraqi
units. Commending the Marines, Buyer called this effort the key to
the Coalition’s ultimate withdrawal.
“There is a resolve for victory in this war against radical Islam, a
will to see this through. Americans also recognize that in addition
to defeating the enemy, victory means training Iraqis and Afghans to
stand on their own, with capable, well-equipped combat units and the
logistics to sustain them,” Buyer said.
While Buyer was in Iraq, staff from the committee’s Subcommittee on
Economic Opportunity assessed the Transition Assistance Program
(TAP) run by the Department of Labor and VA to help separating and
retiring service members find work. Staff members visited TAP
classes at Ramstein and Spangdahlem air bases in Germany. The
committee remains concerned that program staffing limits the impact
of TAP and that people separating from remote sites with high
operations tempo, such as Afghanistan, have the opportunity to
participate in TAP.
Concluding the trip, the delegation visited the American Military
Cemetery in Luxembourg, the resting place for 5,076 American dead,
most of whom lost their lives in the Battle of the Bulge and the
advance to the Rhine River the following spring. “If we permit the
eyes of our mind to see, we see them. If we permit the ears of our
heart to listen, we can hear them; and we celebrate their lives.
What these men and women lived for and fought for, their heritage is
carried on by those we visited in Kuwait and Iraq and in the wards
at Landstuhl. They have earned our best efforts and strongest
support,” Buyer said.
“I will encourage my colleagues in the Congress to travel with
representatives of the Executive Branch,” Buyer said, referring to
the presence on this trip of VA Secretary Nicholson. “It is very
meaningful and sends a great signal of cooperation to our visited
countries.”
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