November 29 - December 2,... VIEW ORIGINAL
As the keynote speaker of the Leaders Training Summit held at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, the Surgeon General of the U.S. Army and Commanding General, U.S. Army Medical Command, Lt. Gen. Nadja West, discussed the importance of leadership in warrior care. West said, "Our fundamental tasks are in promoting, improving, conserving, or restoring the behavioral and physical well-being of those entrusted with our care." According to West, "If we do not get this right, it does not matter what else we get right." West also cautioned against complacency, citing the "enduring capability" of the DCS, WCT mission, and the importance of continuing top-level care.
The four-day Summit, which coincided with the conclusion of Warrior Care Month, included senior leadership from the 14 U.S. Army Warrior Transition Units (WTU), Military Treatment Facilities (MTF) and Warrior Transition Offices (WTO) , responsible for ensuring that wounded, ill and injured Soldiers receive world class care and services. Col. Thomas Sutton, Synchronization Director for the Deputy Chief of Staff, Warrior Care and Transition (DCS, WCT) believes the Summit provided an excellent opportunity to bring together a lot of different perspectives regarding warrior care.
West spoke of warrior care as possessing a "great purpose," saying "we will continue with this great purpose and evolve." Central to this effort, says West, is making certain that Army Medical Command, DCS WCT, in concert with the leadership of the WTUs "do not make it up as we go along." West explained, "We need to be giving the right advice and work through [the delivery of warrior care] together," said West.
Another topic that was front and center throughout the Summit was that of branding, especially the importance of communicating and articulating the mission of DCS, WCT. During the question and answer portion of West's address it was pointed out that a high percentage of WTU Soldiers will transition to Veteran status. As a result of this many Army leaders have become hesitant about sending their Soldiers to WTUs.
This was brought out in a strategic communications workshop in which participants were separated into groups and asked to identify misperceptions and miscommunications about the WTU. Among the common themes is the misperception that once assigned to a WTU a Soldier's military career is over.
The Deputy Chief of Staff, Warrior Care and Transition, Col. Matthew St. Laurent, underscored this in pondering, from a re-branding perspective, if the misconceptions associated with the word "transition" needs addressing. St. Laurent suggests framing the WCT mission in terms of maintaining force readiness.
When asked of these issues West said, "I'm all for that. A communications campaign… we can definitely do this. This is a capability that we possess that can improve readiness. If we can show that we improve readiness, then other Army leaders will be for it. If we rebrand… it's simply an evolution. It's not a correction. Nothing is broken."
"Words are important," said St. Laurent. "My definition of a word might be different from that of someone else. That's the struggle we continue to have. Today, we might have an opportunity to fine tune what it is that we call ourselves. It's important that leaders communicate effectively with other leaders."
"We have to be better leaders of health," said MEDCOM Command Sergeant Major Gerald Ecker, who accompanied West to Fort Belvoir.
It's a concept that West understands completely. During her opening remarks she quoted retired Gen. and former Secretary of State Colin Powell saying, "Leadership is about solving problems. The day that Soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you stop leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help, or concluded that you don't care. Either case is a failure of leadership."
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