FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. - Fort Campbell downsized its Warrior Transition Unit after the demand for its extensive services to wounded Soldiers and their families dropped nearly 50 percent.
In a related change, nurse case managers formerly assigned to the WTU are now helping injured Soldiers heal in their original units.
WTU Commander Lt. Col. Natalie Lonkard recently decided to collapse one of the post's four WTU companies. From last summer to the present, the force of Soldiers who focus primarily on healing has decreased from 800 to about 430.
"It didn't make sense for four companies when you had only a little over two companies [worth of Soldiers]," Lonkard explained.
The dramatic decrease is partly the result of many Soldiers accomplishing the objectives of their WTU program. WTU alumni can either heal enough to return to their original unit, find a new MOS within the Army or transition to civilian life.
But most of the shrinking of Fort Campbell's WTU can be attributed to an Armywide trend of stricter screening. The original criteria for WTU admission allowed any Soldier with a prognosis of at least six months recovery from illness or injury to enter the program.
But the WTU rolls quickly filled up with Soldiers who had straightforward, correctable injuries such as a torn knee ligament. Recovery was attainable with simple physical therapy or routine surgery.
But these cases were lumped in with Soldiers suffering from multiple combat wounds or life-threatening conditions such as cancer.
To ensure resources were devoted to those most in need, the Army issued a policy change announcing Soldiers also needed to have a complex medical case to qualify for the WTU.
Lonkard explained "complex" this way:
"For instance, a bad elbow [alone] wouldn't meet the criteria," Lonkard said. "But let's say I have a bad elbow, bad knee, some post traumatic stress disorder symptoms and some kind of internal damage."
When a Soldier's treatment involves a variety of major services, then special assistance is essential. Each WTU Soldier is evaluated by a professional social worker called a nurse case manager.
The assessment, which usually happens while the Soldier is still in the hospital, gives the case manager a full picture. Medical, behavioral and relational health are all taken into account and form the basis for recommendations. The nurse case manager helps to form a plan for healing and arrange needed appointments.
The WTU downsizing enabled Lonkard to divert nurse case managers to other groups of Soldiers.
There are about 100 Soldiers in the 101st Airborne Division who do not meet criteria for WTU but are being reviewed by the medical board. Lonkard assigned an experienced nurse case manager to them to guide them through the process.
Two other nurse case managers were moved to Carentan Clinic and near the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade to work with Soldiers while they remain in their units.
It makes sense for some Soldiers to continue with their duties while they heal, Lonkard said.
"If a Soldier's medical condition does not require them to come in four days per week to the physician or physical therapist, then it behooves them to stay at their duties so their skills don't get rusty," Lonkard said.
The downsizing is not expected to alter plans for the $43 million WTU complex starting construction later this year. The facility to be located near the corner of Indiana Avenue and 20th Street will include barracks, a Soldiers and Family Assistance Center and a headquarters building.
The complex is designed to accommodate two companies, Lonkard said. If the WTU's numbers climb back to three or four company- size elements, they will find overflow space elsewhere on post.
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