By Jeff Kraftchak, Womack Army Medical Center Public Affairs Office

With colorful state flags flying under a leaden sky, Womack Army Medical Center (WAMC) proudly activated the first Warrior Transition Battalion (WTB) on Fort Bragg Thursday, June 14. “The activation of this Battalion represents a keystep in the Army’s plan to improve the quality of life and facilitate the rehabilitation of Wounded Soldiers,”said WAMC Commander, COL Terry Walters. “This Battalion will concentrate previously unsynchronized agencies and streamline the maze of bureaucracy that Wounded Soldiers sometimes face.” The WTB was designed as part of the Army Medical Action Plan (AMAP) and, as such, Army Medicine, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and other support agencies have joined together to identify and implement changes designed to enhance accountability and continuity of care and assistance as Soldiers transition from inpatient to outpatient status. With its activation, the WTB assumed the responsibilities of both WAMC’s Charlie Company and the Garrison Military Readiness Processing Unit (MRPU), which were both simultaneously de-activated. Charlie Company had handled the needs of wounded Active Duty (AD) Soldiers, while the MRPU assisted wounded Reserve Component (RC) Soldiers.

“As a result of this transition,” Walters said, “the term for Soldiers undergoing extensive healthcare evaluation, treatment, rehabilitation and/or separation will change from Medical Hold (for AD Soldiers) and Medical Holdover (for

RC Soldiers), to Warriors In Transition (WIT) Soldiers.” The five-phase plan of the WTB began with the official activation and will end with a fully functional Warrior Transition and Family Transition System in early 2008. At this final state of the program, the WTB will consist of three Warrior Transition Units (WTU), each of which providing assistance to a mix of AC and RC Soldiers. As the WTB Commander, LTC Jay Thornton understands the need for this kind of change and vows to honor Soldiers “by treating them like

Soldiers.” “There is no Battalion-level command more important to our Soldiers and their Families than the Warrior Transition Battalions,” he said during

his remarks. “Together I know we will make a difference.”