DOES THE "TOTAL FORCE" ADD UP? THE IMPACT OF GUARD AND RESERVE UNITS HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON NATIONAL SECURITY, OF THE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT REFORM HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED EIGHTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION MARCH 30, 2004 Serial No. 108-181 · Printed for the use of the Committee on Government Reform Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.gpo.gov/congress/house 95-289 PDF U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON: 2004 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT REFORM DAN BURTON, Indiana TOM DAVIS, Virginia, Chairman CHRISTOPHER SHAYS, Connecticut DOUG OSE, California RON LEWIS, Kentucky JO ANN DAVIS, Virginia TODD RUSSELL PLATTS, Pennsylvania JOHN J. DUNCAN, JR., Tennessee CANDICE S. MILLER, Michigan MARSHA BLACKBURN, Tennessee KATHERINE HARRIS, Florida HENRY A. WAXMAN, California JOHN F. TIERNEY, Massachusetts DIANE E. WATSON, California STEPHEN F. LYNCH, Massachusetts CHRIS VAN HOLLEN, Maryland LINDA T. SANCHEZ, California C.A. "DUTCH" RUPPERSBERGER, Maryland ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON, District of Columbia JIM COOPER, Tennessee BERNARD SANDERS, Vermont (Independent) MELISSA WOJCIAK, Staff Director DAVID MARIN, Deputy Staff Director/Communications Director KF27 Сорув LL CONTENTS Mosley, First Sergeant Gerry L., 296th Transportation Co., Brookhaven, MS, U.S. Army Reserves; Specialist John A. Ramsey, 32nd Army Air Missile Defense Command, Florida National Guard; Laura Ramsey; Sergeant First Class Scott Emde, 20th Special Forces Group, B Co., 3rd Battalion, Virginia National Guard; Lisa Emde; and Specialist Timothi McMichael, U.S. Army Reserves, A Co., Medical Hold Unit, Winkenwerder, William, Jr., M.D., Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, Department of Defense, accompanied by Lieutenant General George P. Taylor, Jr., the Surgeon General, U.S. Air Force; Rear Admiral Brian C. Brannman, Deputy Chief, Fleet Operations Support, Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, U.S. Navy, and Wayne Spruell, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, Reserve Af- fairs, Manpower and Personnel; and Lieutenant General James B. Peake, Surgeon General, U.S. Army Letters, statements, etc., submitted for the record by: Emde, Lisa, prepared statement of Emde, Sergeant First Class Scott, 20th Special Forces Group, B Co., McMichael, Specialist Timothi, U.S. Army Reserves, A Co., Medical Hold Page 94 89 136 98 Mosley, First Sergeant Gerry L., 296th Transportation Co., Brookhaven, 7 Ramsey, Laura, prepared statement of 80 Ramsey, Specialist John A., 32nd Army Air Missile Defense Command, 26 Winkenwerder, William, Jr., M.D., Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, Department of Defense, prepared statement of (III) DOES THE "TOTAL FORCE” ADD UP? THE IMPACT OF HEALTH PROTECTION PROGRAMS ON GUARD AND RESERVE UNITS TUESDAY, MARCH 30, 2004 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON NATIONAL SECURITY, EMERGING COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT REFORM, Washington, DC. The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 10 a.m., in room 2154, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Christopher Shays (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. Present: Representatives Shays, Schrock, Kucinich, Turner, Maloney, Ruppersberger, Tierney, and Jo Ann Davis of Virginia. Staff present: Lawrence Halloran, staff director and counsel; Kristine McElroy, professional staff member; Robert Briggs, clerk; Jean Gosa, minority assistant clerk; and Andrew Su, minority professional staff member. Mr. SHAYS. A quorum being present, the Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats and International Relations hearing entitled, "Does the "Total Force' Add Up: The Impact of Health Protection Programs on Guard and Reserve Units," is called to order. When Reservists and National Guard members join their active duty counterparts to form what is called the total force, they bring unique health needs to the battlefield. Long deployments and separation from family can have an especially negative impact on Guard and Reserve morale and performance. Cursory pre-deployment physical and mental health assessments might miss ailments and conditions that would be diagnosed and treated in the more closely monitored regular forces. Accessing care during and after mobilization is too often a dispiriting struggle against a bureaucracy prone to minimize or disparage their wounds, literally adding insult to injury. So today we ask, do current deployment health programs meet the specific health care needs of the citizen soldiers who make up a vital and growing part of the force structure? In the course of our oversight of 1991 Gulf war veterans' illnesses, we learned that weaknesses in force health protections exposed U.S. forces to avoidable risks. Pesticides were widely dispersed without adequate warning or safeguards. Use of experimental drugs was not properly monitored. Poor medical recordkeeping shifted the burden of proof to the service members to prove (1) |