Assessment of DoD Wounded Warrior Matters - Form Drum

According to the Army's Warrior Transition Command (WTC), there are approximately 10,000 Warriors in Transition in the Army WTUs. Close to 1,000 were wounded in combat, approximately 2,100 were injured or became sick and were treated while deployed in Southwest Asia, approximately 2,000 recently returned from a deployment prior to entry into a WTU but were not treated during the deployment, and approximately 4,900 had never been deployed. The broad objective of this ongoing assessment is to determine whether the DoD programs for the care, management, and transition of recovering Service members wounded during deployment in Operation Iraqi Freedom or Operation Enduring Freedom were managed effectively and efficiently. Our specific objectives were to evaluate the missions, the policies, and processes of: Military units, beginning with the Army and Marine Corps, established to support the recovery of Service members and their transition to duty status (Active or Reserve Components) or to civilian life; and DoD programs for Service members affected with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). This is the second of multiple assessments that will be conducted at Army and Marine Corps Warrior transition units. To obtain unbiased data, not unduly reflecting the views of either the supporters or detractors of the program, we used a two-pronged approach to select our respondents. First, we determined how many Service members were required to be interviewed, then we applied a simple random sample approach to determine the Service members we should interview, as described in Appendix A. We subsequently performed interviews with Army wounded, ill, and injured personnel, to include 96 individual interviews with Soldiers and 26 additional Soldiers in 5 group interviews. Second, we interviewed all available members of the key groups at each site responsible for the Warriors' care. Specifically, we conducted meetings and interviews during our 2-week visit at Fort Drum that included unit commanders, staff officers, and Warrior Transition Battalion (WTB) military staff, as well as civilian staff and contractors. A list of the meetings conducted at the Fort Drum Medical Department Activity (MEDDAC)3and the 3rd Battalion, 85th Mountain Infantry Regiment, which is the Fort Drum WTB, is shown in Appendix A, along with the scope, methodology, and acronyms of this assessment. The prior coverage of this subject area is discussed in Appendix B. The observations and corresponding recommendations in this report focus on what we learned at Fort Drum. In addition, noteworthy practices that may have application at other Warrior Transition Units (WTUs) are also described. Additional reports and/or assessments may be subsequently performed by the DoD Office of the Inspector General on DoD Wounded Warrior matters or other related issues as they are identified. Any specific issues, concerns, and challenges that we identified at Fort Drum that may have to be addressed in future assessments and/or reports are discussed in Appendix C.