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WASHINGTON Mar 2, 2007 (AP)— Army Secretary Francis J. Harvey resigned Friday as the Bush administration struggled to cope with the fallout from a scandal over substandard conditions for wounded Iraq soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
The surprise move came one day after Harvey fired the two-star general in charge of the medical center in response to disclosures of problems at the hospital compound.
Harvey has been the Army secretary since November 2004. His resignation was announced by Defense Secretary Robert Gates.
http://www.abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=2919412
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Secretary of Army Resigns Over Walter Reed Problems (Update5)
By Ken Fireman and Tony Capaccio
March 2 (Bloomberg) -- Secretary of the Army Francis Harvey resigned, the second official in as many days to lose his job over deficiencies in outpatient care for wounded service personnel at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced the departure of Harvey, 63, today and made clear it was directly connected to the problems at the facility in Washington.
``I am disappointed that some in the Army have not adequately appreciated the seriousness of the situation pertaining to outpatient care at Walter Reed,'' Gates said in a statement to reporters at the Pentagon. ``Some have shown too much defensiveness and have not shown enough focus on digging into and addressing the problems.''
Harvey said he wasn't asked to resign and did so on his own initiative, partly in hopes that it would ``stop all this bleeding'' and prevent medical personnel at Walter Reed from leaving.
``We let the soldiers down,'' Harvey said in an interview with a small group of reporters in his Pentagon office this evening. ``I'm the head of the Army. What can I say? I felt it necessary to do that.''
Harvey said he was called back from a trip to Fort Benning, Georgia, today to meet with Gates. The defense secretary ``wasn't happy about the way we handled'' the situation, he said.
The commanding general of Walter Reed, Major General George Weightman, was relieved of command yesterday. The Army said in a statement that the service's senior leadership ``lost trust and confidence'' in Weightman's leadership abilities to correct the problems at the facility.
Those problems were detailed by the Washington Post, which reported in a series of articles that dozens of recuperating soldiers and Marines live in dirty and pest-infested housing at the facility and that hundreds have faced daunting bureaucratic obstacles to obtaining follow-up care for their injuries.
New Commander
The Army named Major General Eric Schoomaker, 58, as the new commander for Walter Reed. Schoomaker, currently commanding general of the Army's Medical Research and Materiel Command at Fort Detrick, Maryland, is the brother of outgoing Army Chief of Staff Peter Schoomaker.
The Army yesterday named Lieutenant General Kevin Kiley to run the facility temporarily. Kiley headed Walter Reed from 2002 to 2004. The Post reported yesterday that he was informed as early as 2003 of the outpatient problems at the facility.
Gates praised the medical staff at Walter Reed as ``among the best and the most caring in the world'' and said the shortcomings at the facility ``appear to be problems of leadership.''
Harvey, in the interview, said the facility's medical personnel are ``very depressed'' by the controversy, and that influenced his decision to resign.
``We can't have them be so demoralized that they leave, so I said, `What the heck, if I offer my resignation that may stop all this bleeding,''' he said.
Harvey said that while he was ``disturbed'' by the Post stories, and the conditions described in them couldn't be defended, the stories lacked balance.
Earlier today, President George W. Bush announced plans to appoint a bipartisan commission to review the care given to wounded troops. Another independent panel established by the Defense Department is already investigating conditions at Walter Reed.
The latest moves came as congressional Democrats indicated they will seek to focus attention on the situation at Walter Reed. A House oversight subcommittee that is planning a hearing on the problems at the facility for March 5 announced it is issuing a subpoena to compel Weightman to testify.
A Senate panel plans a hearing on the issue March 6, and another House committee has one scheduled for March 8.
`Troops Need More'
One Democratic senator, Patty Murray of Washington, said the departures of Harvey and Weightman weren't sufficient to correct the problem.
``This action is a good step toward ridding the Bush administration of those who've failed our troops and veterans,'' Murray said in a statement. ``But our troops need more than rolling heads. They need a comprehensive plan and decisive action to fix the problems at Walter Reed and the scores more plaguing the administration's health-care system for our returning heroes.''
House Armed Services Committee chairman Ike Skelton, a Missouri Democrat, said the problems at Walter Reed ``are bureaucratic in nature and demand a leadership that is committed'' to treating wounded troops and their families with ``care and respect.''
McCaskill Comments
And Senator Claire McCaskill, a Missouri Democrat, called for Kiley to be fired, saying he ``knew of the problems and then diminished them when they became public.'' She said Kiley was ``responsible for the command culture that caused these problems.''
An Army spokesman, Colonel Dan Baggio, said he wasn't able to respond to McCaskill's statement because he hadn't seen it.
Senator Barack Obama, an Illinois Democrat who is contending for his party's 2008 presidential nomination, announced plans to introduce legislation ensuring that all wounded soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan receive proper care. Obama said he his proposal was motivated by the Post articles about Walter Reed.
Harvey's resignation marks the second time since 2003 that an Army secretary leaves under a cloud. Thomas White was fired in May 2003 by then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld over policy disagreements, including the Army's lobbying of Congress the previous year to restore funding for a weapons program the Defense Department had canceled.
To contact the reporter on this story: Ken Fireman in Washington at [email protected]
Last Updated: March 2, 2007 19:43 EST
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=algmG4tgUeXA&refer=home
The surprise move came one day after Harvey fired the two-star general in charge of the medical center in response to disclosures of problems at the hospital compound.
Harvey has been the Army secretary since November 2004. His resignation was announced by Defense Secretary Robert Gates.
http://www.abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=2919412
=========================================
Secretary of Army Resigns Over Walter Reed Problems (Update5)
By Ken Fireman and Tony Capaccio
March 2 (Bloomberg) -- Secretary of the Army Francis Harvey resigned, the second official in as many days to lose his job over deficiencies in outpatient care for wounded service personnel at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced the departure of Harvey, 63, today and made clear it was directly connected to the problems at the facility in Washington.
``I am disappointed that some in the Army have not adequately appreciated the seriousness of the situation pertaining to outpatient care at Walter Reed,'' Gates said in a statement to reporters at the Pentagon. ``Some have shown too much defensiveness and have not shown enough focus on digging into and addressing the problems.''
Harvey said he wasn't asked to resign and did so on his own initiative, partly in hopes that it would ``stop all this bleeding'' and prevent medical personnel at Walter Reed from leaving.
``We let the soldiers down,'' Harvey said in an interview with a small group of reporters in his Pentagon office this evening. ``I'm the head of the Army. What can I say? I felt it necessary to do that.''
Harvey said he was called back from a trip to Fort Benning, Georgia, today to meet with Gates. The defense secretary ``wasn't happy about the way we handled'' the situation, he said.
The commanding general of Walter Reed, Major General George Weightman, was relieved of command yesterday. The Army said in a statement that the service's senior leadership ``lost trust and confidence'' in Weightman's leadership abilities to correct the problems at the facility.
Those problems were detailed by the Washington Post, which reported in a series of articles that dozens of recuperating soldiers and Marines live in dirty and pest-infested housing at the facility and that hundreds have faced daunting bureaucratic obstacles to obtaining follow-up care for their injuries.
New Commander
The Army named Major General Eric Schoomaker, 58, as the new commander for Walter Reed. Schoomaker, currently commanding general of the Army's Medical Research and Materiel Command at Fort Detrick, Maryland, is the brother of outgoing Army Chief of Staff Peter Schoomaker.
The Army yesterday named Lieutenant General Kevin Kiley to run the facility temporarily. Kiley headed Walter Reed from 2002 to 2004. The Post reported yesterday that he was informed as early as 2003 of the outpatient problems at the facility.
Gates praised the medical staff at Walter Reed as ``among the best and the most caring in the world'' and said the shortcomings at the facility ``appear to be problems of leadership.''
Harvey, in the interview, said the facility's medical personnel are ``very depressed'' by the controversy, and that influenced his decision to resign.
``We can't have them be so demoralized that they leave, so I said, `What the heck, if I offer my resignation that may stop all this bleeding,''' he said.
Harvey said that while he was ``disturbed'' by the Post stories, and the conditions described in them couldn't be defended, the stories lacked balance.
Earlier today, President George W. Bush announced plans to appoint a bipartisan commission to review the care given to wounded troops. Another independent panel established by the Defense Department is already investigating conditions at Walter Reed.
The latest moves came as congressional Democrats indicated they will seek to focus attention on the situation at Walter Reed. A House oversight subcommittee that is planning a hearing on the problems at the facility for March 5 announced it is issuing a subpoena to compel Weightman to testify.
A Senate panel plans a hearing on the issue March 6, and another House committee has one scheduled for March 8.
`Troops Need More'
One Democratic senator, Patty Murray of Washington, said the departures of Harvey and Weightman weren't sufficient to correct the problem.
``This action is a good step toward ridding the Bush administration of those who've failed our troops and veterans,'' Murray said in a statement. ``But our troops need more than rolling heads. They need a comprehensive plan and decisive action to fix the problems at Walter Reed and the scores more plaguing the administration's health-care system for our returning heroes.''
House Armed Services Committee chairman Ike Skelton, a Missouri Democrat, said the problems at Walter Reed ``are bureaucratic in nature and demand a leadership that is committed'' to treating wounded troops and their families with ``care and respect.''
McCaskill Comments
And Senator Claire McCaskill, a Missouri Democrat, called for Kiley to be fired, saying he ``knew of the problems and then diminished them when they became public.'' She said Kiley was ``responsible for the command culture that caused these problems.''
An Army spokesman, Colonel Dan Baggio, said he wasn't able to respond to McCaskill's statement because he hadn't seen it.
Senator Barack Obama, an Illinois Democrat who is contending for his party's 2008 presidential nomination, announced plans to introduce legislation ensuring that all wounded soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan receive proper care. Obama said he his proposal was motivated by the Post articles about Walter Reed.
Harvey's resignation marks the second time since 2003 that an Army secretary leaves under a cloud. Thomas White was fired in May 2003 by then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld over policy disagreements, including the Army's lobbying of Congress the previous year to restore funding for a weapons program the Defense Department had canceled.
To contact the reporter on this story: Ken Fireman in Washington at [email protected]
Last Updated: March 2, 2007 19:43 EST
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=algmG4tgUeXA&refer=home