Civilians can join Army-sponsored fitness program

DoD is in the middle of a civilian employee fitness campaign called "Leap into Fall" that challenges employees to log 1.5 million hours of physical activity. First lady Michelle Obama began "Let's Move" to help U.S. children become more fit and healthy. And the Army, by regulation, offers its civilians one-time administrative leave to help them get fit.

There's a message in all of this fitness-focused activity, and the message is, it's good for individuals, employers, and the nation to develop a fit and healthy population.

The Army Civilian Fitness Program, governed by Army Regulation 600-63, Army Health Promotion, Chapter 5-5c, provides guidance for the implementation of wellness programs for government civilians. Department of Defense and federal government policies also support fitness programs for government civilians. They are:

• DoD Directive 1010.10 Health Promotion and Disease/Injury Prevention, http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/pdf/101010p.pdf
• Federal Employee Health Program, http://www.opm.gov/Employment_and_Benefits/WorkLife/HealthWellness/wellnessresources/

The Army allows a government civilian to participate once. The program is time-limited to one six-month period. It includes up to three hours per week of administrative leave to be used for physical fitness activities. Participation requires supervisor approval, and should not impede accomplishment of the mission of the organization. A medical screening is highly recommended to be sure that anyone with an existing medical condition that would put them at risk has physician approval before participating.

The results of a study released in March 2010 at the American Heart Association's Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism Conference in San Francisco showed that workplace wellness programs help employees lose weight and reduce their risk of heart disease. Hospital workers took part in a voluntary 12-week, team-based wellness program that focused on diet and exercise.

The obese participants lost the most weight, but the overweight participants did almost as well. All participants had similar improvements in physical activity, along with lower cholesterol and blood pressure levels, and reduced waist circumferences at program end and after one year.

To help you make the most of your exercise experience, burn more calories and lose that extra weight, mix up your exercise routine. Doing the same workout all the time is tough on your body. Cross-training prevents burnout and injury, while ensuring a balanced training program that includes endurance, strength, and flexibility.

Here are some tips to get you started:

• To prevent imbalance in the thigh muscles and stretch the hamstrings and hips, substitute one of your run days with a yoga or Pilates class.
• To build muscle and bone with weight-bearing exercise, include weightlifting two to three times a week.
• To burn calories and build core strength, add swimming to your exercise plan.
• To give your joints a rest but still burn lots of calories, replace running with a day of biking or a spin class.
• To increase the intensity of your walk, do plyometrics by adding jumping or skipping moves to your walk.
• To increase your heart rate plus strengthen your lower body, walk in a hilly region.
• To ramp up your walk without tiring, alternate moderately-paced walking with short, fast-paced bursts of speed. Peppering a 30-minute walk with 10 one-minute speed bursts can nearly double your calorie burn.

Check with your organization's human resource department or fitness facility to see what is available at your location. Take advantage of this opportunity to make regular physical activity a habit that stays with you for a healthy lifetime.

Dreams, sleep important facets of resiliency issues for health care providers

FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas -- On a table in a brightly colored kitchen bathed with sunlight sits a big bug. "I heard it say hamburger, hamburger," a young man says.

A child describes seeing a highway with lots of cars rushing back and forth. But there are no people inside those cars.

"I was riding the subway and I noticed that I could suddenly see into things. There was a young woman and in her purse she had handcuffs," says another young lady, who continues to describe a second scenario.

"I was in a field and I could see what looked like hundreds of silver and purple flowers. As I approached I realized that were actually parasols and then they would make a sound like a gong."

"I'm holding a big glass of milk and there's a head of lettuce in it," says a third person.

A talking bug, x-ray vision and nonsensical scenes are several of the dreams researchers pursue in "What are dreams? Inside the Sleeping Brain," recently shown at Brooke Army Medical Center as an opportunity for staff to learn about the science behind sleeping and dreams.

The film was broadcast on television last year as part of Public Broadcasting Service's NOVA science series.

"Most people are really interested in what dreams mean and whether there is a purpose to them," explained Sandy Fitzgerald, who coordinated a series of presentations for BAMC staff as part of the Department of Nursing's Resiliency Program.

Fitzgerald said that sleep is a huge issue for BAMC staff.

"Sleep is critical to resilience. It's one of the biggest issues for Soldiers when they're deployed and redeployed," she said. "Many have difficulty sleeping when they return - experiencing nightmares."

Fitzgerald said her resiliency series is a way of giving respite to the doctors, nurses and staff needing a little "doctoring" as well.

Working with critically ill and wounded warriors Xantrex 1500 returning from war zones is very stressful for staff she said, adding that many have been deployed, then hit the ground in a fully-functioning capacity caring for others on their return.

"By and large health care providers are very resilient people used to a high tempo. But they need nurturing as well because they don't always think to take care of themselves," Fitzgerald said.

She is also trying to sow seeds for others to think about in terms of overall health, resilience and alternative therapies are related.

"Knowledge can never hurt but specifically with dreams, if it raises questions and inspires dialogue about these things then maybe there would be some positive changes individually and systematically."

Fitzgerald said staff found the dream research fascinating.

"Dreams have been responsible for two Nobel Prizes, the invention of a couple of major drugs, other scientific discoveries, several important political events and innumerable novels, films and works of visual art," said Deirdre Barrett, a dreams researcher at Harvard Medical School.

Barrett related that the periodic table of the elements was said to have come to the Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev during a dream. She said Elias Howe's solution to creating a needle for his new invention, the sewing machine, was revealed in a nightmare.

"One night he dreamed of being attacked by cannibals with spears. And as he woke up in terror, the last thing he saw was that all of their spears had the hole at the pointed tip of the spear, and he realized that's where you put the hole in a sewing machine needle," Barrett said.

Researchers describe two types of dreaming during the sleep studies chronicled on the DVD and theorize that each has different roles.

"Sleep studies have revealed that not only do we dream in REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, we also dream in non-REM sleep and they are different," explained Erica Harris, a sleep researcher at Boston University.

Scientists found after non-REM dreaming, self-concept and self-regard was positive, but more negative after subjects were waked from REM sleep. This suggests the proportion of REM and non-REM sleep may be a factor in depression.

Dreams also help with learning and memory.

Robert Stickgold, a sleep researcher from Harvard University, has subjects play video games they are unfamiliar with; then instructs them to think about their performance before sleeping.

"This is all about the function of sleep and the role of dreaming and processing memory," Stickgold said. "It makes the memory more useful for the future. We know they're getting better when they play again."

Fitzgerald said she plans to continue showing the "Dreams" DVD and is willing to lend it to other departments.

She has also started a massage therapy program for staff. "We offer chair massages from five to eight minutes. There is data out there that even a brief massage has benefits for staff resilience."

But the massage therapy is not offered to patients at this time.

"Hopefully there will be enough evidence related to healing to demonstrate that massage would be beneficial to patients as well. We're not there yet," Fitzgerald said. "When staff starts seeing the benefits for themselves, that thinking will translate."

Master Resilience Training course catches on in Army

FORT BENNING, Ga. -- Master resilience trainers are a growing presence on Sand Hill.

In the past year, more than 1,300 Soldiers, including about 20 drill sergeants from Fort Benning, have taken the Master Resilience Training course, part of the Army's Comprehensive Soldier Fitness program.

Modeled after the University of Pennsylvania's "Penn Resilience Program," the 10-day course is designed to equip Soldiers with the skills needed to better manage traumatic events - from money and relationship problems to major accidents and combat horrors - and teach others in their units to do the same.

Staff Sgt. Marcus Gurule of C Company, 2nd Battalion, 54th Infantry Regiment, was among the first drill sergeants from the 192nd Infantry Brigade to attend an MRT session at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. He completed the course last November.

"I was picked because I am the fitness subject matter expert for my company," he said. "I learned about basic problem solving to get through tough times, and how to teach young Soldiers to see past the 'suck' factor in the present. Kids get too wrapped around how bad it is 'right now.'"

The Comprehensive Soldier Fitness program focuses on the five dimensions of strength: emotional, social, spiritual, family and physical. MRT is aimed at building mental toughness.

As the unit master resilience trainer, Gurule uses different exercises at the beginning of each cycle to introduce the concepts to basic training Soldiers, he said. Since the MRT program is still relatively new, the Army hasn't created a program of instruction yet, but two hours of resilience coaching is required in the "Red Phase" of training.

"I personally try to point out the simplicity in each training event. It's action-thought-consequence," he said. "I explain that if they really think about it - whatever the event is - it's nothing too hard or complicated. It's not that bad. People do this job every day and are successful, and they can be, too."

Gurule said drill sergeants and NCOs should always highlight the techniques Soldiers need to overcome whatever adversity they might face - throughout a cycle, he often discusses other examples where resilience can apply in a practical manner. That guidance must continue even after basic, he said.

"Operational units need to have as many NCOs as possible trained in this," he said.

Gurule said he believes MRT will produce long-term benefits for the Army and could ultimately lower cases of post-traumatic stress disorder stemming from deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq.

"If you accept the things you can't change, then you won't suffer mentally from them later," he said. "Maybe we can make a more mentally aware Soldier, aware of his or her capabilities. Soldiers may be able to improve how they deal with the hardships and realities of combat because they can think through it."

Gen George W. Casey Jr., the Army chief of staff, has set a goal of having one MRT-qualified Soldier per battalion and another for each brigade headquarters. That would yield more than 5,000 Soldiers Army-wide.

Along with the Philadelphia venue, the MRT course also is taught to drill sergeants at "Victory University" on Fort Jackson, S.C. In July, the Army debuted a nine-member mobile training team that will bring the curriculum to Soldiers at posts around the world.

Brig. Gen. Rhonda Cornum, the Comprehensive Soldier Fitness program director, said MRT course feedback has been positive.

"By about day four, you have almost universally seen the turnaround from skeptical to responses like, 'Why didn't the Army do this 10 years ago?' or 'If I had had this training 10 years ago, I'd still be married,'" she said. "There is no question, there is education and confidence that is built as the course goes on."

(Editor's note: Information from the Army News Service contributed to this report.)

Master Resilience Training course catches on in Army

FORT BENNING, Ga. -- Master resilience trainers are a growing presence on Sand Hill.

In the past year, more than 1,300 Soldiers, including about 20 drill sergeants from Fort Benning, have taken the Master Resilience Training course, part of the Army's Comprehensive Soldier Fitness program.

Modeled after the University of Pennsylvania's "Penn Resilience Program," the 10-day course is designed to equip Soldiers with the skills needed to better manage traumatic events - from money and relationship problems to major accidents and combat horrors - and teach others in their units to do the same.

Staff Sgt. Marcus Gurule of C Company, 2nd Battalion, 54th Infantry Regiment, was among the first drill sergeants from the 192nd Infantry Brigade to attend an MRT session at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. He completed the course last November.

"I was picked because I am the fitness subject matter expert for my company," he said. "I learned about basic problem solving to get through tough times, and how to teach young Soldiers to see past the 'suck' factor in the present. Kids get too wrapped around how bad it is 'right now.'"

The Comprehensive Soldier Fitness program focuses on the five dimensions of strength: emotional, social, spiritual, family and physical. MRT is aimed at building mental toughness.

As the unit master resilience trainer, Gurule uses different exercises at the beginning of each cycle to introduce the concepts to basic training Soldiers, he said. Since the MRT program is still relatively new, the Army hasn't created a program of instruction yet, but two hours of resilience coaching is required in the "Red Phase" of training.

"I personally try to point out the simplicity in each training event. It's action-thought-consequence," he said. "I explain that if they really think about it - whatever the event is - it's nothing too hard or complicated. It's not that bad. People do this job every day and are successful, and they can be, too."

Gurule said drill sergeants and NCOs should always highlight the techniques Soldiers need to overcome whatever adversity they might face - throughout a cycle, he often discusses other examples where resilience can apply in a practical manner. That guidance must continue even after basic, he said.

"Operational units need to have as many NCOs as possible trained in this," he said.

Gurule said he believes MRT will produce long-term benefits for the Army and could ultimately lower cases of post-traumatic stress disorder stemming from deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq.

"If you accept the things you can't change, then you won't suffer mentally from them later," he said. "Maybe we can make a more mentally aware Soldier, aware of his or her capabilities. Soldiers may be able to improve how they deal with the hardships and realities of combat because they can think through it."

Gen George W. Casey Jr., the Army chief of staff, has set a goal of having one MRT-qualified Soldier per battalion and another for each brigade headquarters. That would yield more than 5,000 Soldiers Army-wide.

Along with the Philadelphia venue, the MRT course also is taught to drill sergeants at "Victory University" on Fort Jackson, S.C. In July, the Army debuted a nine-member mobile training team that will bring the curriculum to Soldiers at posts around the world.

Brig. Gen. Rhonda Cornum, the Comprehensive Soldier Fitness program director, said MRT course feedback has been positive.

"By about day four, you have almost universally seen the turnaround from skeptical to responses like, 'Why didn't the Army do this 10 years ago?' or 'If I had had this training 10 years ago, I'd still be married,'" she said. "There is no question, there is education and confidence that is built as the course goes on."

(Editor's note: Information from the Army News Service contributed to this report.)

Preventive medicine keeps Soldiers in the fight

NANGARHAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan - "Mosquitoes, ants, and wasps, oh my!"

The unforgiving terrain of the Nangarhar, Nuristan, Konar and Laghman provinces in eastern Afghanistan hosts hoards of insects and wildlife that create quite a hairy situation when it comes to co-habitating with troops; however, the Soldiers of the preventive medicine section of Charlie Company, 426th Brigade Support Battalion, Task Force Bastogne, see "combat" with these creatures on a daily basis.

What is the worst vector problem pestering Soldiers in a deployed environment?

"Flies! We have tons of flies and mosquitoes ... and mosquitoes are so much worse because it's harder to see them," said Capt. Susan Gosine of Fort Campbell, Ky., officer in charge of preventive medicine at Forward Operating Base Fenty in Jalalabad.

Mosquitoes and sand flies present a particular challenge because they can be carriers of vector-borne diseases such as Malaria. Soldiers deployed overseas are directed to take medication to prevent them from contracting the disease, though many Soldiers forget to take their pills. There were 29 cases of Malaria reported in 2009, mostly due to Soldiers forgetting to take their prescribed antibiotics.

"I specifically want to emphasize Malaria awareness," said Lt. Col. Joseph Llanos of Saginaw, Mich., a preventive medicine doctor for the 101st Airborne Division based out of Bagram Airfield. The highest risk for servicemembers is get rid of man boobs during the months of August and September.

Although vector control accounts for a large portion of the issues that PM handles, it is not the only concern of Gosine. She is, overall, responsible for the environmental safety of the FOB's residents, including living conditions, food preparation and water.

"The overall mission of preventive medicine is to prevent disease and non-battle injuries while deployed," said Gosine, who has a team of Soldiers and techs working with her at FOB Fenty.

PM is extremely important to troops in a field situation. If war fighters are not kept fit to fight, then their ability to accomplish the mission is greatly degraded. That is why Gosine and her team regularly visit outlying combat outposts and forward operating bases in the TF Bastogne area of operations.

"Well, if you consider past wars, preventive medicine is very important because you can lose troops to something as simple as diarrhea," said Gosine.

Even the common cold can be a combat degrader, but signs in the dining facility and the latrines remind Soldiers to practice good personal hygiene techniques.

"Our goal is to preserve the force, because once you get sick, it is a showstopper," said Llanos. "But if you prevent it, Soldiers will be overall healthier."

One thing Soldiers can do to prevent illness is wash their hands regularly. "I can't say it enough," warns Gosine.

As for those pesky insects, PM will continue their mission to keep Soldiers and civilians alike safe from the environment and anything else non-combat related that might cause them harm.

'The Warrior Pose': Army considers yoga to treat Soldiers' pain

FORT MEADE, Md. -- Sgt. 1st Class Felicie Spencer takes medication for the pain she experiences from an injury.

But for a few months this spring, Spencer attended yoga classes at Gaffney Fitness Center. A member of Fort Meade's Warrior Transition Unit at Kimbrough Ambulatory Care Center, Spencer said the practice soothed her discomfort.

"It eases the joints where there is pain," she said. "It's excellent. Sometimes I don't want to leave, I'm so comfortable."

If Army Surgeon General Lt. Gen. Eric B. Schoomaker has his way, yoga and other alternative therapies would be integrated into Army medicine to treat the pain of wounded Soldiers.

In May, the Army Surgeon General's Office released the Army Pain Management Task Force's final report. The task force, initiated by Schoomaker, made recommendations for a comprehensive pain-management strategy that is holistic, multidisciplinary and multimodal in its approach to treating Soldiers and other patients with acute and chronic pain.

According to an Army website, Schoomaker said at a June press conference that the increasing numbers of Soldiers returning from combat with severe wounds, and reports of medication abuse and suicides with pain as an aggravating factor, are troubling.

To improve the quality of life for wounded Soldiers, the general said he is supportive of alternative therapies. "Programs such as biofeeback and yoga have been subjected to scientific randomized trials and have been proven to be effective," Schoomaker said.

The task force report states that the military health system's care for wounded warriors is "rooted in a military culture that praises selflessness, toughness and willingness to accept pain." As a result, a "no pain, no gain" philosophy has been embraced by the military and "often causes delays in treatment" as servicemembers "attempt to work through their pain and 'tough it out.'"

A major problem discovered by the task force is an "over-reliance on medications to treat pain" and the "increased prevalence of prescription abuse" among Americans in general.

To tackle these obstacles, the report recommends the use of integrative and alternative therapeutic modalities such as yoga, acupuncture, meditation and biofeedback in a patient-centered plan of care.

Dr. William Swann, chief primary care manager at Fort Meade's WTU, said he applauds the Army's consideration of alternative therapies for Soldiers.

"I think it's a good idea," said Swann, an osteopath who is a certified Tai Chi instructor and has been trained in Qigong, mindfulness meditation and HeartMath, a stress-reduction management program.

Swann said he often recommends alternative therapies such as yoga and biofeedback for WTU Soldiers.

The goal of combining alternative therapies with traditional medicine should be to allow Soldiers "to take ownership of and be involved in their own healing from this mind-body perspective," Swann said.

Kimbrough is already using biofeedback for stress management and physical ailments, said Swann.

Dr. Stacey Ketchman, a supervisory psychologist in the behavioral health department at the Womack Army Medical Center at Fort Bragg, N.C., said the department has successfully used biofeedback to treat pain in Soldiers for two years.

"We wanted to provide another way of treating pain that did not involve medication or invasive procedures," Ketchman said, noting that the over-reliance on pain medication is often not a solution to chronic pain, but only treats its symptoms.

The department's newly expanded Complementary Alternative Medicine Clinic offers biofeedback and hypnosis to treat a wide range of ailments, including chronic pain, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety disorders, insomnia and migraines.

"I was extremely excited when the report came out," Ketchman said.

According to the clinic's satisfaction surveys, results from Soldiers have been "extremely high."

Ketchman said she hopes the Army's embrace of alternative therapies will increase funding for the Fort Bragg clinic to hire additional staff such as an acupuncturist, occupational therapist and chiropractor.

Lt. Col. Michele Spencer, S-3 operations and training officer for the 48th Combat Support Hospital, and Pamela Phillips, the Financial Readiness Program manager at Army Community Service, both teach yoga at Gaffney.

"To make [alternative therapy] mainstream, that's the exciting part," said Spencer, who also has taught power Vinyasa yoga to Soldiers when she was stationed in the international zone in central Baghdad in 2006.

"We were being bombed every day," she said. "The energy [there] was very dark, but what great light it was to have such a peaceful practice."

Spencer said that by the end of every class, she observed less stress in students' faces and bodies. Each was "a different person," she said. "Their breath was even more focused and soft."

Results are similar for participants at Gaffney's free yoga classes.

"The poses and the breathing," Phillips said, "do wonders for the psyche."

TRICARE Retired Reserve launches

FALLS CHURCH, Va. - For the first time, members of the Retired Reserve who are not yet age 60, the so-called "gray area" retirees, can purchase TRICARE health coverage for themselves and their eligible family members with the Sept. 1, 2010 launch of TRICARE Retired Reserve, or TRR.

"This new program offers a health coverage opportunity for "gray area" Guardsmen and Reservists who served America honorably, setting a proud example for today's forces," said Navy Rear Adm. Christine Hunter, deputy director of the TRICARE Management Activity. "TRICARE Retired Reserve will provide an outstanding health benefit."

Retired Reservists may qualify to purchase TRR coverage if they are under the age of 60 and are not eligible for, or enrolled in, the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) program.

They must also be members of the Pink Car Mats Retired Reserve of a Reserve component and qualified for non-regular retirement. For instructions on how to qualify for and purchase TRR go to www.tricare.mil/trr.

For calendar year 2010, the TRR member-only monthly premium is $388.31 ($4,659.72 yearly), and the member and family monthly premium is $976.41 ($11,716.92 yearly).

Premiums will be adjusted annually.

The comprehensive health care coverage provided by the premium-based TRR is similar to TRICARE Standard. After purchasing TRR, members will receive the TRICARE Retired Reserve Handbook, which includes details about covered services, how to get care and who to contact for assistance. For more information, visit www.tricare.mil/trr.

The TRICARE Management Activity administers the worldwide health care plan for 9.6 million eligible beneficiaries of the uniformed services, retirees and their families.

Veterans Affairs works to reduce claims backlog

WASHINGTON (Aug. 31, 2010) -- The Veterans Affairs Department is making great strides in its efforts to reduce the backlog of veterans' claims, VA Secretary Eric K. Shinseki today told thousands of veterans attending the 92nd Annual American Legion National Convention in Milwaukee.

"We intend to break the back of the backlog this year," Shinseki said.

The average time taken to process claims in VA is about 160 days. But by the end of the year no claim will take longer than 125 days, Shinseki said. VA doesn't plan to stop once the claims are processed by that mark, he added.

"Our goal is not an average," Shinseki said. "It's not just going to be faster; also better and more accurate. There's nothing magical about 125 days, especially because when we get there, we'll be looking at another target."

VA received more than 1 million claims in 2009 for the first time in the department's 80-year history. Disability claims for VA increased 75 percent between 2000 and 2010. That's an average of nearly 100,000 new claims each month, with no signs of slowing down, the secretary said.

VA health care professionals expect to treat and provide care for more than 6.1 million veterans in 2011, Shinseki said, including nearly half-a-million Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans.

In order to meet those veterans' needs, he said, VA hired more than 3,500 claims workers this year in the Veterans Benefits Administration. VA also invested more than $130 million toward establishing a paperless claims process, which, Shinseki said, will be ready in 2012.

More than $110 million this year, he added, was invested in tele-health technology, which includes technology for the virtual lifetime electronic records system. VA expects to spend $163 million on these programs next year, Shinseki said.

"We see this as the way to link [the Defense Department] and VA in a seamless transition as youngsters take off the uniform," he said.

Among VA's accomplishments this year, Shinseki noted improved care for veterans who suffer from Agent Orange- and Gulf War-related illnesses. Three new diseases were determined to be connected to Agent Orange, while nineJaponesque Go Curl Eyelash Curler new diseases were included in the Gulf War illness group, he said.

Congress last year appropriated $13.4 billion to begin benefits payments for some 2,000 veterans expected to claim Agent Orange-related diseases.

"It was the right decision," Shinseki said, "and the president and I are proud to finally provide this group of veterans, our Vietnam [War] veterans, the care and benefits they've long deserved."

Also, the claims process is now easier for those affected by post-traumatic stress, Shinseki added. Veterans no longer have to provide documentation of the event that may have caused their stress, he said.

"This decision ends decades of focusing on documenting the stressor event," Shinseki said. "Instead, we're streamlining the delivery of medical care and benefits for veterans suffering from verifiable PTS from combat.

"This is not a generational issue," he continued. "This is not Iraq or Afghanistan; it is all who have served in combat."

VA boosted its staff of mental health providers by 20,000 since Obama took office, Shinseki said.

"Our priority here is to diagnose, treat and cure," he continued. "If cure is not possible, then diagnose, treat and care will be the standard."

During his address, Shinseki also noted VA's work to end homelessness among veterans by 2015. Since 2004, VA has reduced the number of homeless veterans by 90,000. At least 107,000 veterans remain on the streets today.

Shinseki also emphasized the importance of good fiscal stewardship. He highlighted VA's successes and improvements under President Barack Obama's administration.

Obama proposed $25 billion in budget increases for the VA since 2009. Such support "underscores the president's commitment to transforming VA and fixing persistent problems that have plagued this department for decades," Shinseki said.

The president proposed $125 billion for VA's fiscal 2011 budget, Shinseki said, which will focus primarily on the ending the claims backlog and homelessness.

"VA must be without hesitation an advocate for veterans," Shinseki said. "This is part of a culture change that's under way. We need to make permanent the gains of the past 19 months.

"There will always be unfinished work," he added. "That's the nature of the mission, but for all of us, it is to continue to establish priorities, fight for resources and take care of veterans. That's what we intend to do."

Warrior Transition Command welcomes new commander

WASHINGTON (Army News Service, Sept. 1, 2010) -- The Army's Warrior Transition Command celebrated its first change of command since its inception nearly 17 months ago in the Pentagon courtyard Aug. 26.

Incoming commanding officer Col. Darryl A. Williams took the helm from Brig. Gen. Gary H. Cheek who was the first commander of the WTC when it stood up April 9, 2009. The WTC provides guidance and policy for 29 Warrior Transition Units and nine Community Based Warrior Training Units.

Since its beginning the WTUs and CBWTUs have provided care for nearly 10,000 wounded, ill and injured Soldiers and their families -- helping them make the transition from the Army into civilian life or back into the active Army.

Guest speaker Lt. Gen. Eric B. Schoomaker, Army Surgeon General and commander of Army Medical Command praised Cheek -- a life-long artillery officer -- for his most recent re-engineering of remote warrior care in the heartland by teaming with civilian partners.

Schoomaker said the model Cheek and his staff put into action allows Soldiers to keep close to their families and units in the National Guard and Reserve, their communities and potential employers or current employers.

"That model we hope will be applied for other Soldiers not within the warrior transition community who are medically not ready and to this day are struggling to receive the kind of ... prompt timely care they so much deserve," he said.

Prior to the changing of the colors, Schoomaker awarded Cheek the Distinguished Service Medal and the Order of the Military Medical Merit. He also inducted Cheek as an honorary member of the Army Medical Department Regiment -- a rarity for an artillery officer. Cheek's wife, Leslie, was also recognized by Schoomaker as a friend of the regiment.

In Cheek's farewell, he said his perspective on the WTC was to help the warriors in the program reach their goals and desires: "We've got to make them see the future, because it's not about what's wrong; it's about what's right ... it's not about disabilities; it's about abilities.

Cheek's new assignment will be as director of Military Personnel Management.

Col. Darryl A. Williams also spent his career as an artillery officer, though he said his transition from artillery won't be as big a jump as it was for Cheek, because his previous position had been as the deputy director for Comprehensive Soldier Fitness.

"What a noble mission it is to take care of our Soldiers who have served their nation, (or) given their lives or their limbs," he said.

"It's a surreal kind of thing for me to be here right now quite frankly," Williams said. "I don't know a whole lot about the job right now, but the WTC is a weigh station on to another career or a return to the Army and it's here we start the healing process."

Williams said he knows what Soldiering is about. He's had combat experience and 27 years of active duty experience. He's never been wounded though, and said he doesn't professes to know what that's like. He has served in and lost Soldiers in Iraq and feels the first thing he needs to do is "walk-a-mile in these Soldiers' shoes."

"I really want to touch these Soldiers and hear their stories," he said. "I want to jump down and visit them, and hear what they have to say."