June 2007

Taking Care of Our Own:
Wounded Warrior Regiment Stands Up

LCpl Joshua Bleill, 3/24, was injured in Iraq in October 2006. While learning to walk with prosthetic legs at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., Bleill said, “I still have my brain and my heart, and I have my family, friends and faith—everything I need to get through this.”.
Photo by Cpl Megan Angel

Gen James T. Conway (left) and SgtMaj John L. Estrada (right) visited injured Marines, including PFC Jeffrey Huben (center), during a trip to the West Coast in February. While convalescing, Huben has been working as a training clerk and combat readiness trainer for H&S Bn, MCRD San Diego.
USMC photo

By Mary D. Karcher

Marines take care of Marines.

It’s a simple fact, whether on the battlefield, in garrison or even in civilian life long past active service. Wherever a Marine is, any outward symbol of Marine Corps affiliation attracts handshakes and conversation about service in the Corps, an instant bond between strangers.

This bond is forged through teamwork, leadership and unit cohesiveness at every level, beginning at boot camp or Officer Candidates School. As Marines face challenges on the battlefield, it is this bond, this unquestionable devotion to fellow leathernecks that inspires great acts of courage and selfless sacrifice.

Marines have always rallied to care for their injured, and now the Marine Corps has created the Wounded Warrior Regiment (WWR) to officially track and support those who are injured or seriously ill.

Shortly after assuming his duties as Commandant of the Marine Corps in November 2006, General James T. Conway announced his intention to create the regiment in his planning guidance, saying, “Just as we engage enemies on the battlefield, we must be equally aggressive in our support for Marines and warriors who bear the scars of battle. To all our injured warriors—those Marines who suffer visible wounds and those who bear the less visible wounds of post-traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injury—our commitment to you will not falter.”

In warfighting, the Marine Corps adapts when it is necessary to accomplish the mission. The Corps’ approach to taking care of wounded warriors is no different. Dedicating the manpower, facilities and funds to sustain a regiment to provide support to injured or ill Marines emphasizes the Corps’ unwavering commitment to taking care of its own and proactively attacking the difficulties that arise from tragic injuries or illness for the Marine or sailor and his or her family, according to the new regiment’s commander.

“The Marine Corps is an adaptive organization that is constantly evolving to meet current mission requirements and the needs of its people. The Wounded Warrior Regiment is part of that process,” said Colonel Gregory A. D. Boyle, the commander of the Wounded Warrior Regiment.

The Birth of a Regiment

The Wounded Warrior Regiment stood up at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va., on April 1 and is commanded by Boyle, formerly the commander of Third Marine Regiment, Third Marine Division, headquartered at MCB Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii. The Commandant personally selected post-command officers who had the desire to support injured Marines to lead the regiment and its two battalions.

The regiment’s mission is “to provide and facilitate assistance to ill/injured Marines, sailors attached to or in direct support of Marine units and their family members throughout the phases of recovery in order to assist in rehabilitation and transition.” The “transition” refers to a return to active duty or separation from active duty with all possible benefits. The WWR executive officer, Lieutenant Colonel David J. Lofgren, was seriously wounded in Iraq and spent 90 days recovering at the National Naval Medical Center (NNMC) in Bethesda, Md. His personal experience as a wounded warrior will lend insight and perspective to the decision-making process in the unit.

The regiment has two battalions, the Wounded Warrior Battalion-East (WWBN-E), located at MCB Camp Lejeune, N.C., commanded by LtCol Thomas S. Siebenthal, and the Wounded Warrior Battalion-West (WWBN-W), at MCB Camp Pendleton, Calif., commanded by LtCol Charles H. Johnson III. These units are presently forming and will officially stand up on July 1 for WWBN-E and Aug. 1 for WWBN-W. Previously these units were the II Marine Expeditionary Force Injured Support Unit and the I MEF Injured Support Unit, respectively.

These battalions are home to the Wounded Warrior Barracks where Marines recuperate from their injuries with the support of fellow wounded Marines in a cohesive unit that assembles for morning formations, requires tasks appropriate to capabilities and offers transportation to medical appointments. The majority of injured Marines return to full duty, Boyle said.

Since 2002, the Marine Corps has supported leathernecks who are transitioning out of the Corps through the Marine for Life (M4L) program, which was manned mostly by leathernecks of the Corps’ Reserve component. This program utilizes a network of “hometown links” throughout the United States to assist Marines who were honorably discharged from active or Reserve service to transition back to civilian life, providing them opportunities to network with mentors and potential employers.

In 2005, an injured support section was added to M4L to provide outreach and support for injured Marines and their families. These M4L reservists are able to provide the geographical reach the regiment needs to assist injured or ill leathernecks in civilian or veterans hospitals throughout the country. The WWR now oversees the entire M4L program, expanding the support for injured or ill Marines.

Unity of Command

At a Pentagon briefing, Boyle defined the regiment’s main functions: to support Marines as they navigate the medical and physical evaluation boards; to help Marines with Traumatic Servicemembers Group Life Insurance claims (T-SGLI); to refer Marines to charitable organizations for assistance; and to ensure accountability and nonmedical case management.

The Marine Corps had been providing this kind of support prior to the establishment of the regiment; however, Boyle said, while there was a “unity of effort,” there was not a “unity of command.” Now one command will be accountable for tracking and meeting the needs of those wounded, injured or severely ill Marines and their families. Those identified as seriously ill will most likely be defined as being in a limited-duty status in excess of 30 days, who require extensive treatment and therapy prior to returning to duty or processing through the disability evaluation system (medical evaluation boards—MEB or physical evaluation boards—PEB).

Under the regiment’s unity of command and the unity of effort, procedures will be standardized; resources will be common to all; transitions from Department of Defense care to VA care will be seamless; and the WWR will be able to aggressively reach out to Marines to ensure that their needs are being met.

Continuity of Care

To carry out its mission, the regiment will oversee the two wounded warrior battalions, District Injured Support Centers, the Marine for Life program, VA hospital liaisons and the patient administrative teams (PATs). Although the unit is still being formed and will continue to evolve as needs arise, Boyle expects the WWR to have 100 active duty and active Reserve, some civilian personnel and 150 Individual Mobilization Augmentees (IMAs). Currently the Corps has more than 400 injured or ill Marines and sailors on the regiment’s rolls, with more expected as parent units transfer wounded personnel. To Boyle, this is just a starting point.

Boyle’s vision is that the size of the command will ideally allow enough personnel to reach back to severely wounded Marines who already have left the service, probably as far back as 2001. While Marines who have transitioned to civilian life may contact the M4L program for assistance any time, the Corps wants severely wounded, ill and injured Marines to know that they can tap the resources of this new regiment, which will help them navigate the bureaucracy of insurance claims, physical or medical evaluation boards and VA paperwork.

To meet this initiative, the WWR has what is being called, in the planning stages, district injured support units. These are 10 teams of two Marines, one officer and one staff noncommissioned officer, whose job it will be to make monthly phone calls to offer assistance to Marines injured since 2001.

For example, if the caller learns that an amputee is having difficulty getting through an airport due to injuries, then he can connect the Marine to a representative of the TSA (Transportation Security Administration) through the Department of Defense’s Military Severely Injured Center (MSIC). This relatively new resource ties together military and governmental programs and provides advocates for injured service personnel. The regiment has the expertise to circumnavigate any number of roadblocks the Marines may encounter.

The WWR also will oversee the PATs located at major military hospitals. These teams, largely reservists, input patients’ treatment information and travel plans into a Web-based tracking system, provide assistance to families, and serve as a liaison between Marines and charitable organizations.

Previously a Marine might be medevacked from Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, where he or she was tracked through the Marine Corps Central Command PAT to a military treatment facility in the United States, like the NNMC whose PAT team is supported administratively by the Marine battalion headquarters staff at Henderson Hall, Va. Then the Marine may need to be transferred to one of the VA polytrauma rehabilitation centers, such as in Tampa, Fla., where a different PAT team will provide support.

Under the command and control of the WWR, there will be a continuity of care from medical facility to medical facility. Boyle emphasizes that having one command overseeing these steps will eliminate possible seams or cracks where Marines may fall through the system.

When wounded warriors return to the United States, they are sent to the facility that best meets their medical needs. The commanding officer of WWBN-E, LtCol Siebenthal, stated, “Depending on the injured/wounded medical programs and parent unit location, the Marine or sailor will be slated to one of the wounded warrior battalions for his follow-on recovery and rehabilitation. If his medical condition dictates that he remain at a major medical treatment facility, then the local PATs, under the direct guidance and support of the regiment, will provide the required assistance for the Marine and his family.” Marines at local Marine Corps Reserve centers, operating in support of the WWR, will provide day-to-day support to Marines sent to civilian facilities.

Wounded warrior battalions are responsible for their respective geographical area, with WWBN-E being responsible for the area east of the Mississippi River and WWBN-W responsible for the area west of the Mississippi. Marines at Brooke Army Medical Center in Fort Sam Houston, Texas, will be tracked by WWBN-W.

The regiment also will monitor Marines at the VA’s four polytrauma rehabilitation centers (PRCs) that are located in Richmond, Va.; Tampa, Fla.; Minneapolis; and Palo Alto, Calif. These facilities are designed to help patients who suffer traumatic brain injury in addition to other severe injuries and require specialized intensive rehabilitation. There are many Marine casualties involving traumatic brain injury resulting from improvised explosive devices (IEDs). Currently the regiment has M4L representatives in the Tampa and Palo Alto locations, with plans to expand to the other two PRCs.

When a Marine is transferred to a PRC or to any VA facility, the Marine Corps will facilitate that transfer via the Office of Seamless Transition. Part of the VA system, this office includes a Marine colonel, who monitors the Marines leaving the care of the DOD system and entering the VA system. Through connections with both systems, the colonel can alert the VA of the patient’s movement timeline. The WWR can request the Marine’s orders be adjusted if the VA is not ready to accept that Marine. Having a liaison and the oversight of the regiment will facilitate the process for the Marine.

Taking Care of Our Own

Whereas many resources are available to help servicemen and women, the Marine Corps has decided to provide direct assistance to them from experts within the regiment who have been trained to understand their requirements, overcome the bureaucracy, provide assistance to families and monitor the progress of Marines as they move through the medical system.

Boyle emphasizes that “this regiment is going to live every day the motto ‘Taking Care of our Own.’ I think it’s ingrained upon the soul of our Marines. Accomplish the mission. Take care of your Marines.” Marines do this through caring and concerned leadership, Boyle said, which starts with the Commandant and extends all the way down to each Marine.

As in previous battles, leathernecks stay in the fight until the battle is won. They take care of each other before, during and after the battle is over. Today’s Marine Corps will win this current fight both on the battlefield and through its unwavering support for its wounded, injured and ill Marines.

Editor’s note: Leatherneck appreciates the cooperation of Col Gregory Boyle and LtCol Francis Piccoli, who spoke to us just two days before the unit stood up; LtCol John Shafer, who helped us as the outgoing Deputy Director, M4L, just hours before moving to Camp Lejeune to assume command of 2d Reconnaissance Bn; and LtCol Thomas Siebenthal and LtCol Paul Swanson who ran the Injured Support units on each coast. Until the regiment creates a new Web site, visit https://www.m4l.usmc.mil to read about the Marine for Life program.

SIDEBAR #1

One Wounded Marine’s Story

During an October 2006 interview with Leatherneck, Private First Class Jeffrey Huben, an infantry Marine, described his injury and recuperation from the Medical Hold Platoon, Headquarters and Service Battalion, Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, where he is working until he recovers. Huben’s story reflects the often lengthy and painful recovery many Marines face after injury and the support he receives from the Corps.

“I was right outside Fallujah [Iraq] and took an IED [improvised explosive device] underneath the truck and got pretty banged up, sir. I took shrapnel in all four extremities, as well as my right eye. Matter of fact, next week they’re going to try to give me some sight back in my right eye. I’m blind [in right eye] right now. Both my eardrums are blown out, grade three concussion. Pretty bad stuff, sir.

“I was ground evacked from the site of the attack to Fallujah surgical, the Bravo surgical unit there, just to get me stabilized; then I was air evacked down to Balad (north of Baghdad). I was only there for a couple more stabilizations, surgeries, just enough to get me up to Landstuhl, Germany. I made it to Landstuhl, but I was not able to turn around and go right away back to the States because they weren’t sure that my eye would make it through the flight, so they did one emergency operation in Germany, as well as a closure surgery to try and close as many of the wounds as possible. Some of them had to stay open because they were pretty large.

“[I] was then transported by C-130 back to Bethesda. I was there as an inpatient in the surgery ward for about a month, at which time they told me they were going to put me in the warrior barracks [outpatient] there at Bethesda. … It was then decided that because of the nature of the injury to my eye, it was going to require extensive follow-on treatment, and since the doctors at Bethesda were already very well tasked out with other injuries coming back, they decided to move me out here. They actually moved me to one of the top 10 cornea surgeons in the world, who is in the process of retiring right now, Captain [Steven] Schallhorne [USN].

“I moved into the outpatient Medical Holding Platoon, part of H&S Battalion, and was there for about seven to eight months. Just constantly every day you get up, do whatever needs to be done medical-wise, go to physical therapy, go to your appointments, and then we hung around and did what we could do. … I got a lot of MCIs [Marine Corps Institute courses] done, got a lot of reading done. We were there because we can’t come out to a unit and work and operate quite yet, but we’re still not severe enough to be inpatients.

“As soon as I was able and ready and I got off walking on the cane, the colonel [Col Matthew D. Redfern, Commanding Officer, H&S Bn, MCRD San Diego] was kind enough to have me come over here and work for his battalion S-3. We train Marines and have also been cross-training onto computers a good bit, learning a good bit about database utilities and some of the Marine Corps-wide networking programs that are in place. So, somewhat cross-training into other MOSs, but at the same time I still get to maintain the mentality of my MOS [infantry assaultman or 0351] where our focus is training Marines to be ready at all times.

“I can remember sitting in the hospital thinking this is just absolutely miserable. I can’t believe I’m still getting paid for this. It’s tough being there because you’re constantly surrounded by not only the horrors of war, but every day we get a motorcycle accident or a cancer patient in there. I can remember a good 300 guys that have been through that hospital in the eight months that I was there. When I got to come over here, I got to come back to the mentality of we have a purpose, we have a mission and even if you’re limited in some kind of way, that mission needs to be executed, that mission has got to get done, and we’ll adapt and overcome and work to that mission.”

—Isaac D. Pacheco

SIDEBAR #2

Timeline for the Evolution of the WWR

1
2002: Marine for Life established to assist Marines who were honorably discharged from active or Reserve service to transition back to civilian life, providing network opportunities with mentors and employers.

2
January 2005: Gen Michael W. Hagee, 33rd Commandant of the Marine Corps, established a section in Marine for Life to support ill and injured; used hometown links to provide outreach and transition support back to the local community.

3
November 2005: II MEF established the Wounded Warrior Barracks at MCB Camp Lejeune, N.C., to care for Marines injured in theater.

4
August 2006:
MCB Camp Pendleton, Calif., established a Wounded Warrior Barracks.

5
November 2006: Gen James T. Conway, 34th CMC, announced his intent to stand up Wounded Warrior Regiment with battalions on both coasts.

6
March 23, 2007: The Marine Corps directed the Wounded Warrior Regiment be stood up at MCB Quantico, Va., by April 1, 2007.

7
April 1, 2007: Official start of
Wounded Warrior Regiment

8
May 2007: Initial operating capability

9
August 2007: Expected full operating capability.