This is a disaster with ruined hospitals, squandered millions and abandoned families, widows and orphans. New Orleans? Baghdad? No, this is military "family land". Hyperbole? Not at all. Remember, C.E. Kelly and Walter Reed are but two examples.
Nestled away in the hills of Western Pennsylvania is a small military installation called C.E. Kelly Military Support Facility. During the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) round this facility was identified to be closed with services to be relocated to nearby installations. Sounds fairly routine especially since the facility mainly served National Guard and Reserve personnel with somewhere around 28 support functions including ID services, gym, commissary, chapel, picnic areas etc. This facility serves over 168,000 members of the military family from retirees to infants of our Iraqi war dead.
So What is the problem? Where is the waste? Well the Bush Regime, led by the Department of Defense, starting closing and cutting facilities at the unit almost immediately after approval of the BRAC. And wait for it -- no plans were funded or, in many cases, even developed to move existing services as directed by the BRAC. In effect DOD began stealing off of our retired soldiers, widows and children. Commissary and other benefits given in lieu of pay provide significant financial savings. But the real purpose of bases and facilities like these are solidarity and combat effectiveness (soldiers fight more effectively when they know they and their families are protected and maintained.). The military community is like a large diverse family. We may fight among ourselves but we will also protect and watch out for each other. Now, in this time of war, the Rumsfeld legacy, implemented by Assistant Secretary of Defense, David Chu, is attacking the military family by removing services purportedly to save money.
The Kelly Army Support Facility in Oakdale, Pennsylvania serves military family members from five states: PA, OH, WVA, MD, NY. Pennsylvania has the third largest number of Iraq and Afghanistan war dead and thousands wounded. YET this regime insists on tearing services from the survivors and our soldiers' families. The excuse? National Guard and Reserve troop numbers don't count for developing access to services. Maybe once upon a time that rationale could have made sense, no longer. Our citizen soldiers have and are serving proudly and form a rock solid core of our fighting force. What is really happening? The military family is being stripped of benefits and services to help pay for the war in Iraq where they are already paying with so much blood and time. But it doesn't stop there...
Walter Reed Army Medical Center is the Army's flagship hospital and is only 30 years old. It is being shut down and services are already being transferred to other locations. You guessed it - plans were not funded and in many cases, not even developed to maintain the current level of medical care. The DoD's own budget documents state that the reported savings will come from a reduction of 1100 military and DoD civilian health care providers below the current levels. What are they doing? Let's keep it very simple. They are saying THIS is how much you can spend -- live with it. This is the same approach that caused the Walter Reed scandal in the first place. "Commander, do the best you can because this is ALL you can do it with." We saw the result there. Well now a similar disaster is in the making only much larger. Building and build out plans to accommodate the needed clinics are being shoe horned into inadequate spaces which will be unworkable and, in many cases, not located where needed. The Mologne House for ambulatory patients and their families has 199 spaces and Guest house has 40 beds. Neither of these seem scheduled to be replaced. Patients and their families literally to be thrown on the mercy of the high cost DC streets.
What should be done? To quote one man mired in the process:
... I have been working BRAC issues off-and-on for a number of years and this round is about as bad as it gets. The analysis which served as the foundation for the recommendations was so flawed that the exercise now lacks any credibility. We are not saving money, we are negatively impacting the lives of those who serve our Nation and are doing the taxpayers a great disservice.
The time is here to call at least a temporary halt to and immediately stop funding this phase of the BRAC process. The Bush Regime's record of incompetence in so many endeavors is justification enough but in reality the times and the needs of the troops and their families have changed so dramatically that a review is needed and adequate funding provided to execute the required changes.
Please call your Congressman and Senators and request that all BRAC actions be subjected to review in light of today's realities. DO MENTION Walter Reed and C.E. Kelly closures and how they are not providing the needed support to the weakest among us and insist that both closures be halted at least until adequate facilities and services are in place to replace them. On behalf of the entire military family thank you!