Hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee - State of the United States Army

Interview

Hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee - State of the United States Army

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SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R-ME): Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Secretary, in your testimony, you referred briefly to improvements in treatment for traumatic brain injury, which many people have called the signature wound of this war. I first became very concerned about the lack of accurate and timely diagnoses of TBI when a neurologist from Maine came to see me many months ago, and told me about a soldier whom he diagnosed as having TBI who had not been caught in any of the screening. And that obviously is very serious.

You talk in your testimony about having a program for every soldier to educate and assist them in recognizing and preventing TBI. But what the medical experts tell me would be most effective is if there were both pre- and post-deployment screening specifically for TBI.

So there would be a baseline test that could be used upon a soldier's return to compare to see if in fact there is an incident of TBI that has not been picked up. Are you doing that kind of screening now?

SEC. GEREN: We just started this past summer -- you're exactly right -- in order to properly diagnose and analyze the information we have, it's important to have baseline information. For all the combat brigades that are going over now, we do a baseline test before they go. And by early next year, we will have that test for everybody that deploys. But we do need that information before they leave so we have something to compare to when they get back.

When they get back, we have an immediate post-deployment health assessment which includes the TBI test. Six months later, we have a second. But we started this summer at Fort Campbell with a pilot program on doing the pre-deployment screening, and it's something we're going to extend to the entire force. It's very important, I agree with you, Senator.

SEN. LEVIN: I want to thank Senator Collins, by the way. One of the reasons we have in our bill that requirement for pre-deployment and post-deployment screening is because of her efforts. And other members of this committee made a real point of putting that into our wounded warriors legislation. There's a number of us who have been involved in that, and she's one of them.

SEC. GEREN: Thank you. I appreciate that. That's a very important initiative.

SEN. COLLINS: Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I'm also concerned about reports that post traumatic stress disorder is showing up particularly in our Guard and Reserve members many months after they've returned and have resumed their civilian jobs. You mentioned just now a six-month reassessment. Is that happening for Guard and Reserve members? And General Casey, if this should be directed to you instead, don't hesitate to intervene.

SEC. GEREN: It's for all forces that have been deployed. And one other -- this is an issue I know you're aware of, but I want to mention. Starting last summer, we started a (chain teach ?) program with the goal of reaching all of our soldiers, active, Guard and Reserve, on how to spot the symptoms for both PTSD and TBI. It's a (chain teach ?) program. So far, we've now taught it to over 750,000 of our 1 million soldiers. We're going to complete the rest over the coming months. But it's a primer on what kind of symptoms to look for, what do you do for treatment. And I think most importantly, we believe that this (chain teach ?) program is going to help remove the stigma so people that are experiencing problems in this area will come forward and try to deal with them and not be something they're ashamed of. We're also providing this (chain teaching ?) to families as well so they'd be in a position to spot these symptoms in their loved ones.

So it's an area where we've got a lot to learn. The Congress has provided us considerable additional resources. As you know, you all gave us $900 million last year in a supplemental, 300 (million dollars) for research and 600 (million dollars) for clinical. And we are working to apply those resources effectively.

Another area -- you know, Senator Warner asked things that the Congress could help us with. Both for mental health and other types of health care services, there's a shortage of trained providers. We have an effort out to hire 300 new mental health workers. We've been able to fill less than one-third of those up until now. It's a real challenge for us. We also hear from around the country that the Tricare programs, we aren't getting the kind of participation in the Tricare system to provide services to our soldiers and their families outside of off post.

So the health care area is an area that, as a country, we face shortages, and it impacts our ability to deliver those services. But it's an area where, as an Army, we recognize the challenge, and we're doing better. But it's an area, working with the Congress, I'm hopeful we'll continue to improve.

SEN. COLLINS: Thank you.

General Casey, I assume you're familiar with a relatively new GAO report -- it came out in September -- that talks about the readiness challenges of the Army National Guard. And it points out that equipment shortages and personnel challenges have increased as a result of the onerous demands that are being put on the Guard and Reserve components and as they're being deployed more and more often overseas. And it raises concerns about whether our Guard units have sufficient resources in terms of equipment and personnel to cope with natural disasters when they're called up by the state's governors and also their homeland security responsibilities which are of particular concern to me given my responsibilities on the Homeland Security Committee. What is being done -- you described resetting -- what is being done specifically to ensure that we have adequate resources at home to cope with homeland security challenges and natural disasters?

GEN. CASEY: Thank you very much, Senator. We are working very closely with the Guard to ensure exactly that, that they have sufficient equipment on hand to deal with state missions as well as to prepare themselves for future missions. And we are absolutely committed to ensuring when they do deploy, they deploy with the latest and best possible equipment.

We've made great strides in this area, but we have a few more years to go. With your help, we've got about $35 billion over the last few years to put against National Guard equipment. About half of that, $14 billion, will be fielded in the next two years. So let me give you some examples of what that means. In 2001, there were about 5,800 heavy trucks in the Guard. By next year or by '09, that will be up to 32,000. Radios in '01, 13,000 -- by '09, 66,000. So it's coming. It's not there yet.

We do specific work on hurricane seasons to make sure that the states that are hurricane prone have the equipment they need for those. We understand the needs, and we're committed to providing the Guard the equipment that they need for both state and for real missions.

SEN. COLLINS: Thank you.

Mr. Chairman, I know my time has expired. I would suggest that the September GAO report paints a far worse picture than what General Casey has just described. And I think it would be helpful to the committee if the general would respond more specifically to the findings in the GAO report.

GEN. CASEY: I don't want to try to paint a rosy picture. We are where we are now. What I tried to give you was where we'd be in two years.

SEN. COLLINS: Thank you.

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