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Gates: Leaders must be accountable

Military leaders at all levels will be held accountable for the treatment of their subordinates, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said in an open “message to the troops” that underlined his commitment to resolve issues with the care and administration of outpatients, particularly at problem-plagued Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

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“We empower leaders with the responsibility, authority and resources necessary to carry out their mission,” Gates wrote in the message, released March 9. “With that responsibility comes accountability. As we learn more about these issues, let me be clear: Any individual, regardless of rank — officer or enlisted, military or civilian — will be held accountable when servicemen and women are not treated as they should be.”

Gates has already put that conviction into action. On March 2, he fired Army Secretary Francis Harvey; the previous week, Harvey fired Walter Reed’s commanding general, a move sources said was prompted by Gates.

Gates foreshadowed the Harvey dismissal — formally, Gates accepted Harvey’s offer to resign — when he told reporters March 1 on Capitol Hill: “I don’t have very much patience for people that don’t step up to the plate in terms of addressing problems that are under their responsibility.”

The next day, after Harvey was dismissed, Gates used much the same language, saying that he was “disappointed that some in the Army have not adequately appreciated the seriousness of the situation pertaining to outpatient care at Walter Reed. Some have shown too much defensiveness and have not shown enough focus on digging into and addressing the problems.”

Gates, in the job just over three months, wrote that he was “dismayed” to hear of the problems with “substandard outpatient care and facilities” at Walter Reed, which officials learned of through reports in the Military Times newspapers and The Washington Post.

“When you join the military, you become part of a family, and it is unacceptable for any member of our family to be treated this way,” Gates wrote. “You deserve no less, as do your families who also serve. It is the family that takes on extra duties at home while servicemen and women are away. The family also suffers when their loved one is injured in battle. And it is the family who is there every step of the way as their wounded soldier, sailor, airman or Marine undertakes what can be long and painful recovery.”

Gates noted the probes into military health care already under way: President Bush’s bipartisan panel, the Commission on Care for America’s Returning Wounded Warriors, which is comprehensively reviewing government care of wounded troops; the Pentagon’s departmentwide review of military health care programs, facilities and procedures; and Gates’ own Independent Review Group’s analysis of the same issues. The latter’s report is expected next month.

Gates also said he’s been briefed on the Army’s action plan for Walter Reed and expects updates every two weeks. On March 8, the Army announced it was forming a new brigade and general officer position at Walter Reed that will oversee the medical hold and holdover units and, separately, the overall outpatient process at the hospital.

“The injured troops at Walter Reed and in other military hospitals have paid a high price for putting their lives on the line for America,” Gates wrote. “Like you, they volunteered to serve knowing full well the risks and dangers involved. They deserve our respect and gratitude and the very best that our great country can provide. We owe this to them, and we must deliver. I am totally committed to doing so.”