COMMENTARY
Wounded, ill, and injured Soldiers participate in the annual Wounded Warrior Project Soldier Ride at Hambachtal,
Germany. (Photo by Linda Steil)
Dignity and Respect: The Mission of the
Warrior Transition Battalion–Europe
Lt. Col. Douglas H. Galuszka, Maj. David K. Spencer, and Command Sgt. Maj. Eugene B. Chance
By
T
he debt owed to service members who have risked their
lives, bodies, and minds in
defense of our country truly can never be paid in full. This is especially
true for service members who were
wounded, became ill, or were injured
while serving. The obligation to help
them heal and rehabilitate is one that
the Army has embraced.
The 2014 Quadrennial Defense
Review states that part of the nation’s “sacred contract” is to care for
our service members and that “for
those returning from combat ill or
wounded, and for those who require
hospitalization or rehabilitation, we
will continue to provide the best
possible care.”
In 2007, reports of substandard
living conditions, poor leadership,
and an unresponsive and inflexible
bureaucracy at Walter Reed Army
Medical Center in the District of
Columbia led the Army to overhaul
its wounded warrior care programs.
The problem was not the actu-
SEPTEMBER–OCTOBER 2014
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