U.S. Army slow to transition medical cases

WASHINGTON, July 22 (UPI) -- Soldiers receiving medical treatment and awaiting disposition of their cases can wait up to a year before the U.S. Army acts, a congressional probe indicated.

Instead of taking one to four months to treat and prepare soldiers to return to their units or be discharged, a U.S. House of Representatives Armed Services subcommittee investigation found the process takes two months to a year, USA Today reported Tuesday.

The Army pledged in 2007 to cut transition time following revelations of poor treatment and a bloated bureaucracy at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington.

"The Army failed to properly forecast the growth in the number of warriors in transition," says the investigation report by the House Armed Services military personnel subcommittee.

"I'm disappointed and troubled," House Armed Services Committee Chairman Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo., told USA Today. "These soldiers deserve high-quality care. The staff members charged with providing their care are doing yeoman's work but the current staffing levels can't handle the load."

Army officials said they moved support workers into the 35 transitional Warrior Transition Units to help address problems the investigation cited. The number of soldiers assigned to the units has doubled to 12,000 in the past year, USA Today said.