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02.05.14 - MHS News, Arlington, VA
Task Force Hears from Military Health Leaders
Arlington, VA. – Three military medical Centers of Excellence that produce cutting-edge research and innovations on vision, traumatic brain injury and mental health recently presented their latest achievements and findings to a Recovering Warrior Task Force in Arlington, Va. The Department of Defense Task Force on the Care, Management, and Transition of Recovering Wounded, Ill, and Injured Members of the Armed Forces provides the Defense Department with advice and recommendations on policies and programs relating to the care, management, and transition of recovering service members and their families. (read more)
Alexandria, VA. – The RWTF is pleased to announce the release of their 2012-2013 Annual Report, which marks the RWTF’s third report since its establishment in 2010. Each report provides the Department of Defense (DoD) with advice and recommendations on the care, management, and transition of recovering Service members and their families. (read more)
Official updates status of PTSD, TBI treatments
Arlington, VA. – A top Defense Department health official told a Pentagon task force yesterday that determining the impact of mental health programs across the military will be a key project this year for the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury. DCoE Director Navy Capt. Paul S. Hammer listed accomplishments over the past year as well as areas where improvement is needed, including "streamlining functions that effectively accomplish the stated DCoE mission and vision." (read more)
12.17.12 - RWTF Press Release, Alexandria, VA
Secretary of Defense Appoints New DoD Membership to the Recovering Warrior Task Force
Washington, D.C. – The RWTF is pleased to announce the appointment of its new DoD Co-Chair, Vice Admiral Matthew L. Nathan, Surgeon General of the Navy. Vice Admiral Nathan joins the Task Force with 31 years of active military service where he has served in various leadership positions in the Navy's Medical Corps including the Commander of Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and Navy Medicine, National Capital Area. He is the 37th surgeon general of the Navy and Chief of the Navy's Bureau of Medicine and Surgery. (read more)
01.27.12 - RWTF Press Release, Alexandria, VA
Recovering Warrior Task Force Welcome New Members
Washington, D.C. – The Recovering Warrior Task Force is pleased to announce the appointment of its newest members, Ms. Karen Malebranche, RN, MSN, CNS (VA) and CAPT Constance J. Evans (USN). Ms. Malebranche is a retired Army Colonel and currently serves as the Acting Chief Officer for Intergovernmental Affairs in the Veterans Health Administration at the VA. She is responsible for VHA/DoD collaboration, sharing agreements, outreach and numerous coordination activities with other national and international agencies on Veteran issues, and policy guidance. (read more)
07.28.11 - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Alexandria, VA
Ways to better treat injured vets devised
Alexandria, VA. -- With more controversial and sweeping changes in military medical care put off until next year, the Recovering Warrior Task Force moved steadily Wednesday to shore up problems dogging wounded, sick and injured military personnel and their families. "I was very happy with the progress we made today, and I'm very hopeful," task force co-chair Suzanne Crockett-Jones, the wife of a severely wounded soldier, told the Tribune-Review. (read more)
07.27.11 - Carl Prine's Line of Departure, Alexandria, VA
How Our Better Half Lives
OK, so I'm stuck in Alexandria, Va., attending the Recovering Warrior Task Force conference as the panel preps its September report to Congress. That doesn't mean that I can't talk to interesting and important people. Yesterday I mentioned in passing the commission's co-chairperson, Suzanne Crockett-Jones. Her husband, U.S. Army Maj. William Jones, is recovering at the Warrior Transition Unit at Fort Meade. He was ambushed just outside Fallujah in 2004 and his wife has helped to care for him since." (read more)
Letter from Virginia
For the past two days, I've been stuck in Alexandria, Va., attending the Recovering Warrior Task Force's latest conference. Beyond the cockroach the size of a cellphone twitching and curled outside the panel's meeting hall yesterday, it's not exactly scintillating stuff. Because they were under the gun to draft a report to Congress (the final copy due in September), the group – mostly composed of high-ranking active duty personnel and veterans – couldn't agree on the amount or meaning of the evidence collected, which pushed off advising lawmakers on substantive reforms until next year. (read more)
07.27.11 - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Alexandria, VA
Big changes in treating wounded troops delayed
ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- A special task force charged by Congress with proposing widespread changes in the way the United States treats its sick and wounded military members on Tuesday delayed discussing the most substantive reforms until next year. The Recovering Warrior Task Force began voting on 37 findings and recommendations that could impact special treatment wards for military patients, the majority of whom are nearly 10,000 Army soldiers in 38 Warrior Transition Units nationwide and in Europe. (read more)
07.17.11 - Ledger-Enquirer.com, Columbus, GA
Fort Benning soldier, his wife discuss experiences of war today at Unitarian Universalist Fellowship
The wife of a former Fort Benning soldier is serving on the Recovering Warrior Task Force, a committee approved by Congress to look into programs for wounded soldiers. "When I talk to individual service members, I tell them to be their own best advocate and be as informed as possible," said Suzanne Crockett-Jones, the wife of Army Maj. William Jones. "I try to point them to the place to get good information." (read more)
07.04.11 - CNN, Boston, MA
"Wounded warrior" stays in the fight
Justin Constantine, Task Force Member, speaks on wounded warrior issues on CNN. (read more)
06.15.11 - Warrior Care Blog, Washington, DC
Have A Wounded Warrior or Veteran Website or Blog? Want a Resource Directory? If You Don't Build Another Website, I Will Give You Ours for Free!
Have you heard? The White House says there are too many government websites. Redundant websites are a particular problem, says the President. A recent observation of the Recovering Warrior Task Force found that wounded warriors were not getting the information that they needed, were confused by all of the information out there, and that the government needed to do a better job of connecting them to the information in the National Resource Directory. A potential solution? Simple, and one all of government could use. Stop building websites, and free the data. (read more)
06.15.11 - Clinton Herald, Clinton, IA
American Legion Post 190 honors Sgt. Sal Giunta
CLINTON — American Legion, Post 190 of Clinton honored Medal of Honor Recipient Salvatore A. Giunta, formerly of Clinton, at the Wild Rose Casino on Tuesday. More than 300 people attended an hour-long program and luncheon held in honor of Clinton's second Medal of Honor winner. A brick in his honor will be placed in the casino's garden of bricks for veterans, which they sponsor along with the local post. (read more)
06.04.11 - Carl Prine's Line of Departure, Washington, DC
Survey says?
Some critics of the military's Warrior Transition Units have little faith in the Recovering Warrior Task Force, the panel created to study how best to fix the programs devoted to mending our sick, injured and wounded personnel. They point to the large number of current or retired career officers on the board, some of whom come from the very medical branches being scrutinized. But I guess I'm losing my cynicism. (read more)
06.01.11 - RWTF Press Release, Alexandria, VA
Recovering Warrior Task Force Welcome New Member and Elects New Co-Chair
Washington, D.C. – The Recovering Warrior Task Force is pleased to announce the appointment of its newest member, Command Sergeant Major Steven D. DeJong of the Indiana National Guard. CSM DeJong has served for over 17 years and has had tours in both Afghanistan and Iraq. He is a recipient of the Purple Heart and Bronze Star Medal. CSM DeJong will fill the National Guard seat previously occupied by Master Sergeant Brett Hightower, who retired earlier this year. (read more)
05.23.11 - Carl Prine's Line of Departure, Washington, DC
Unspoken words
It goes by the unwieldy name of the "Department of Defense Task Force on the Care, Management and Transition of Recovering Wounded, Ill and Injured Members of the Armed Forces." The few people who do know about it (all of 15 souls have "liked" it on Facebook) thankfully shorten it to the "Recovering Warrior Task Force. " It was created in the wake of the scandal at Walter Reed and last week met in Washington, D.C., following ongoing visits to Warrior Transition Units nationwide. (read more)
05.23.11 - The American Legion, Washington, DC
Bringing a veteran's perspective to the table
"Frankly, I don't see how that is going to work," was how one member of the Recovering Warrior Task Force (RWTF) reacted as he viewed a presentation at the group's recent meeting in Washington. The PowerPoint presentation he viewed was narrated by a deputy director of the Department of Defense/Department of Veterans Affairs Interagency Program Office (DoD/VA IPO). It concerned the two agencies' work in tandem to develop and implement the Lifetime Virtual Electronic Record (LVER) system. (read more)
05.18.11 - Stars and Stripes, Washington, DC
Information overload, online chaos hurt wounded warrior care
WASHINGTON – Internet information chaos is hampering America's wounded and sick servicemembers in their attempts to get proper care, members of a task force set up in the wake of Walter Reed scandal said Wednesday. Visits to Warrior Transition Units nationwide revealed that troops stationed in the units frequently didn't understand their transition plans – designed to either return them to the fighting force or move them to veteran status – or know where to look for information. (read more)
03.23.11 - News 4 WOIA, San Antonio, TX
Recovering Warrior Task Force Visits Hospital In Texas
WOAI-TV San Antonio, TX (3/23, 5:06PM CT) broadcast that on Wednesday, the "Recovering Warrior Task Force visited the Wilford Hall Medical Center." The task force, which goes "around the country looking for ways to improve care of…injured, sick, and wounded soldiers," is a "five-year program." The task force is "going to report back to the secretary of defense once a year with any common trends or any big problems they find." (read more)
03.10.11 - The Leaf-Chronicle, Clarksville, TN
Recovering Warrior Task Force assesses support programs at Fort Campbell
The Recovering Warrior Task Force, established by Congress in 2010, began the legwork part of its existence by sending teams to several military installations. The purpose of the task force is to find out what is working in regard to the treatment of wounded military personnel and to gather input and ideas from personnel of all ranks and grades as to how the programs can be improved or expanded... (read more)
03.09.11 - NKY, Cincinnati, OH
Task force on wounded soldiers visits Fort Campbell
FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. — A military task force directed by Congress to evaluate care for wounded soldiers has begun its research with a visit to Fort Campbell, where thousands of soldiers are returning this year from Afghanistan. The visit this week to the installation on the Tennessee-Kentucky line is one of 10 visits the 14-member Recovering Warrior Task Force will make this year to look at the effectiveness of military programs for soldiers recovering from injury or illness... (read more)
03.09.11 - Channel 4 MSMV TV, Nashville, TN
Wounded Warrior Task Force Goes To Fort Campbell
The Wounded Warrior Task Force was at Fort Campbell on Wednesday, asking questions and taking notes to get wounded warriors to their best possible health. "I've been a soldier almost 10 years now," said Spc. Rockey Rushing. "I've had two deployments. I got injured coming back from deploying. That's why I'm in a Warrior Transition Unit now." Score boards were up, pins were falling and bowling balls were ready to roll. It wasn't just a friendly game... (read more)
03.07.11 - RWTF Press Release, Alexandria, VA
DoD Recovering Warrior Task Force Visits Fort Campbell
Fort Campbell, KY – Task Force Co-Chair Dr. Karen Guice, Lt Col Sean Keane (USMC), CDR Timothy Coakley (USN), MSgt Christian MacKenzie, and Dr. Steven Phillips of the Department of Defense Task Force on the Care, Management, and Transition of Recovering Wounded, Ill, and Injured Members of the Armed Forces, commonly known as the Recovering Warrior Task Force (RWTF), will be visiting Fort Campbell on March 8th and 9th... (read more)