I am still angry that it took Dana Priest, and people like me, and you, to make them do the right thing. Make no mistake - we, collectively, catalyzed by the work of Priest, forced them. I am still appalled at that. It is such a colossal failure of leadership. And putting the "bright shiny" on it allows the leadership to spin it positively and move on.

You realize, don't you, that Project Valour-IT was a band-aid on a symptom, if a very specialized one, correct? As I noted in an email exchange with Doug Matties, Representative Boyda's legislative lead, where Valour-IT was discussed, "It's a classic case of what makes America great - citizens organizing, and not waiting for the government to act, but rather for the government to catch up."

We do have to move on, true enough, and we must support the new leaders!

From the Press Release (edited for space considerations, original available here). It looks like they found the right guy to be the new Command Sergeant Major - CSM Hartless. Which he obviously is not. Heartless.

Subject: Wounded Warrior Brigade Top Enlisted Soldier Provides Hands-On Leadership

By Fred W. Baker III
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, April 25, 2007 - Army Command Sgt. Maj. Jeffery Hartless, an airborne ranger and master parachutist, served nearly his entire 24-year career jumping out of planes. He earned parachute badges from Italy, Jordan, Norway, Korea, Germany and Honduras. His airborne career ended, though, when he was crushed under a 10-ton front loader in Afghanistan in 2005. Once stable, Hartless was taken to Walter Reed Army Medical Center here.

He has since recovered, but in an ironic and unlikely career twist for an infantryman, Hartless' injuries have brought him back again to Walter Reed -- this time to apply his combat leadership skills to taking care of wounded warriors as the top noncommissioned officer in the Warrior Transition Brigade. The brigade stood up its headquarters and first company in a ceremony at the center today.

The two-time combat veteran now will lead a new group of NCOs, many hand-picked by the sergeant major of the army, tasked with improving soldier care at Walter Reed. In his leadership "rucksack," Hartless brings a hands-on approach that starts at the squad leader level.

"They will have a squad leader again," Hartless said of wounded warriors recovering here. "(Each squad leader) is going to know them. He's going to know their family. He's going to know what unit they are in. He's going to know the appointments they have. He's going to know whether his soldier needs help getting to his appointments."

Hartless said leadership at the squad leader level is critical because it allows for the face-to-face and hands-on communication needed to ensure proper soldier care. As an example, Hartless cited the practice of an infantry squad leader just after a combat encounter:

"An infantry squad leader -- once they've consolidated, they've pushed through the objective, ... that squad leader goes to every solder and puts his hands on him and feels him," Hartless said. "Why is he doing that? He's talking to him. How much ammo do you have left? How much water do you have left? He's getting a status report.

"But he's feeling him to see if he's bleeding. Because (the soldier's) adrenalin is running so high sometimes you have a wounded soldier and you don't know until you put your hands on him," he said.

Because squad leaders have that hands-on relationship, "that young private ... knows his squad leader cares for him personally," Hartless said.

"To me a soldier's mission is healing while they are here. That's their mission. Just like they get a task or a mission in a regular unit -- we want them to heal,"" he said.

Hartless was serving as the garrison command sergeant major at Fort Polk, La., when the sergeant major of the army tapped him for this post. The infantryman said he had no angst about putting on the medical patch to take this assignment. But, it has been an adjustment, he conceded

"It's a different feeling. Acronyms are different here. CLS is not combat lifesaver, its common levels of support. I have to learn a different language as I go. I learn something every day, so it's good," Hartless said.

"(I have) no angst about the patch. The patch is just the history. It's the people that make the units," he said.

Hartless said his injuries, his familiarity with the care at the center, and his ability to empathize with soldiers looking at the end of their careers make him a good fit for the job. But, for the soft-spoken sergeant major who has spent his career down in the dirt with his troops, the "honor" is all his.

"It's quite an honor ... to be selected for this, to help take care of our injured soldiers. It's just an honor," Hartless said.

Indeed. It is *always* an honor to lead America's fighting men and women. And the leaders who see it as a perk, a right, even, are the ones that just seriously chap me.

There's more to this post, but I stuck it down below the fold, in the Flash Traffic/Extended Entry.

Officials called the activation historic and precedent-setting, as it signals a fundamental shift in the way the Army manages those thrust into its sometimes confusing and bureaucratic medical system.

The unit is called the Warrior Transition Brigade, because the soldiers assigned there are "in a very difficult transitional period in their lives and in the lives of their families," said Army Maj. Gen. Eric B. Schoomaker, commanding general of North Atlantic Regional Medical Command and Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Richard A. Cody and Sgt. Maj. of the Army Kenneth O. Preston both attended the event, flanked by a host of other VIPs and congressional representatives.

I know I'm a broken record - but where were you guys before Dana Priest? Many of these problems were touched on in the milblog world, actually. But lets face it - the MSM has their place, because they've got the ability to garner the one-stop attention shop.

Just how sad is it that Congress has a bill pending that directs DoD to:

SEC. 1313. INSPECTION OF MILITARY MEDICAL TREATMENT FACILITIES , MILITARY QUARTERS HOUSING MEDICAL HOLD PERSONNEL, AND MILITARY QUARTERS HOUSING MEDICAL HOLDOVER PERSONNEL. (A) Periodic Inspection Required-

(1) IN GENERAL- Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary of Defense shall inspect each facility of the Department of Defense as follows:

(A) Each military medical treatment facility.

(B) Each military quarters housing medical hold personnel.

(C) Each military quarters housing medical holdover personnel.

(2) PURPOSE- The purpose of an inspection under this subsection is to ensure that the facility or quarters concerned meets acceptable standards for the maintenance and operation of medical facilities , quarters housing medical hold personnel, or quarters housing medical holdover personnel, as applicable.

(b) Acceptable Standards- For purposes of this section, acceptable standards for the operation and maintenance of military medical treatment facilities , military quarters housing medical hold personnel, or military quarters housing medical holdover personnel are each of the following:

(1) Generally accepted standards for the accreditation of non-military medical facilities , or for facilities used to quarter individuals with medical conditions that may require medical supervision, as applicable, in the United States.

(2) Standards under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.).

(c) Additional Inspections on Identified Deficiencies-

(1) IN GENERAL- In the event a deficiency is identified pursuant to subsection (a) at a facility or quarters described in paragraph (1) of that subsection--

(A) the commander of such facility or quarters, as applicable, shall submit to the Secretary a detailed plan to correct the deficiency; and

(B) the Secretary shall reinspect such facility or quarters, as applicable, not less often than once every 180 days until the deficiency is corrected.

(2) CONSTRUCTION WITH OTHER INSPECTIONS- An inspection of a facility or quarters under this subsection is in addition to any inspection of such facility or quarters under subsection (a).

(d) Reports on Inspections- A complete copy of the report on each inspection conducted under subsections (a) and (c) shall be submitted in unclassified form to the applicable military medical command and to the congressional defense committees.

(e) Report on Standards- In the event no standards for the maintenance and operation of military medical treatment facilities , military quarters housing medical hold personnel, or military quarters housing medical holdover personnel exist as of the date of the enactment of this Act, or such standards as do exist do not meet acceptable standards for the maintenance and operation of such facilities or quarters, as the case may be, the Secretary shall, not later than 30 days after that date, submit to Congress a report setting forth the plan of the Secretary to ensure--

(1) the adoption by the Department of standards for the maintenance and operation of military medical facilities , military quarters housing medical hold personnel, or military quarters housing medical holdover personnel, as applicable, that meet--

(A) acceptable standards for the maintenance and operation of such facilities or quarters, as the case may be; and

(B) standards under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990; and

(2) the comprehensive implementation of the standards adopted under paragraph (1) at the earliest date practicable.

It shouldn't be needful to tell DoD to do this. One would think one could simply send the DoD Congressional Liaison a note asking for a report, and that they'd be able to answer that based on existing data. And it probably could have - except no one in authority was looking.