Comments for Army Life - Ask the Secretary

Army Life - Ask the Secretary

2008-03-25T14:56:37Z

Got a question you'd like to ask the Secretary of the Army?

Wednesday morning I will be participating in a Blogger's Roundtable with Secretary of the Army Pete Geren (it's limited to seven participants). I was given the following outline of expected topics:

- Soldier Family Action Plan: the Army's commitment to providing a quality of life for Soldiers and their Families in recognition of their service and sacrifice in an era of persistent conflict
- Transforming Warrior Care: the Army has transformed the way it provides medical care to all of its Soldiers including members of the regular Army, Reserves or National Guard

Any suggestions for a particular question/subject you think should be raised (within those topic areas) are greatly appreciated.

Comment from Heartless Libertarian on 2008-03-26

2008-03-26T13:45:39Z

I know I'm late...and way out of lane. How about asking about TMAGs (Theater Military Assistance Groups) and building structure at the Geographic Combatant Command level to support Theater Security Cooperation operations. The intent being to to try to influence and set conditions so that we can avoid having to fight big wars. Succeed in Phase 0 so we don't end up in Phase IV.

Comment from Jason on 2008-03-26

2008-03-26T13:32:59Z

Okay, yes, I found my invite - in the spam folder also. Haven't had that problem for some time, damn Yahoo and its querky spam filter. I guess I missed my window, look forward to your take. Doubt that I would have any questions other than "so how have you fixed the medical system so that it's responsive and we don't have Walter Reed and Fort Drum cases again?" and I'm sure that would be answered in his opening remarks.

Comment from FbL on 2008-03-26

2008-03-26T05:02:32Z

Thanks, guys! Great questions/topics!

Comment from Justthisguy on 2008-03-25

2008-03-26T04:16:15Z

s. Dang truncation bug! .

Comment from Justthisguy on 2008-03-25

2008-03-26T04:09:45Z

I have read that people who've suffered blast (shockwave?) injuries to their brains have sometimes not gotten proper follow-up care. Maybe you could ask about that. There seem to have been lotsa folks very near to where large charges of HE have gone off who did not get hit by lots of big chunks, but had their brains messed with by the sudden acceleration etc. I mind the descriptions in "Cryptonomicon" about what the Nip soldiers were going through, toward the end, and how it messed with their minds to have high explosives going off near to their head

Comment from kat-missouri on 2008-03-25

2008-03-26T02:57:32Z

Questions: FRGs for National Guard and Reserve families. What is being done to bring support to the families of obviously important and critical element of our armed forces? I understand that many groups have formed their own support networks and used the internet more effectively. But, what is the DoD and these units done to help develop the kind of support these folks need? The dispersed nature of these forces families makes it difficult to support, but we need to try harder.

Comment from fdcol63 on 2008-03-25

2008-03-25T17:25:27Z

Helen Thomas .... Thanks again, John. There goes another lunch. LOL

Comment from kat-missouri on 2008-03-25

2008-03-25T16:46:18Z

I'll have some for you tonight.

Comment from FbL on 2008-03-25

2008-03-25T16:35:20Z

John and Jason, my version of the invitation ended up in my spam file somehow. The only reason I knew about it was John's email (I only scroll through my spam file every couple of days). fdcol, I think you're right about it being more a VA question. But if conversation heads that direction, maybe I can bring it up. And it DOES relate to National Guard guys who aren't near a major facility, so perhaps I can it in...

Comment from John of Argghhh! on 2008-03-25

2008-03-25T16:22:15Z

C'mon, Jason - did you not get the email blast Jack sent out yesterday morning? And just because they're nice safe topics doesn't mean you couldn't have done a Helen Thomas on the Secretary...

Comment from Jason on 2008-03-25

2008-03-25T16:18:07Z

Nice safe topics. I guess they lost my invitation...

Comment from fdcol63 on 2008-03-25

2008-03-25T15:35:53Z

FbL, Sorry .... does that really just fall under the Dept. of Veterans Affairs now? If so, never mind.

Comment from fdcol63 on 2008-03-25

2008-03-25T15:30:14Z

FbL, This question should really be separate from "Tranforming Warrior Care", as "medical care" is too often limited to "physical" and "primary" care: How is the Army and/or DoD going to provide mental and behavioral health care to returning veterans, especially those in very rural and isolated areas where access to a VAMC is limited?