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New brigade to help soldiers at Walter Reed

The Army’s vice chief of staff announced a new brigade and a new general officer position to help solve problems at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

All of the new positions, including 122 new platoon sergeants in the medical hold units, who will form the backbone of a new Wounded Warrior Transition Brigade, have been filled by combat arms soldiers.

“We’re an Army at war and we demand an awful lot of our medical professionals,” Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Richard Cody said during a media roundtable at Walter Reed. “We need to let them concentrate on the medical thing.”

Combat arms soldiers, Cody said, have the right level of leadership to take charge of the new brigade.

Cody also announced a new position: deputy commanding general of Walter Reed. That officer will be specifically assigned to help soldiers make it through the outpatient process at Walter Reed. Brig. Gen. Michael Tucker, who most recently served as deputy commander of the U.S. Army Armor Center at Fort Knox, Ky., will be the first to fill that position.

The Wounded Warrior Transition Brigade will replace the medical command overseeing the medical hold and holdover units at Walter Reed. Col. Terrence McKenrick will head the new brigade, with Command Sgt. Major Jeffrey Hartless serving as McKenrick’s senior enlisted soldier.