Following up on the posts from both Donnie and I on Sunday, I want to make sure our readers caught the second part of how the Bush administration supports the troops on the WaPo: The Hotel Aftermath. This investigative series on “The Other Walter Reed” from Dana Priest and Anne Hull has caused quite a stir. They report in tomorrow’s edition that “Walter Reed Army Medical Center began repairs yesterday on Building 18, a former hotel that is used to house outpatients recuperating from injuries suffered in Iraq and Afghanistan and that has been plagued with mold, leaky plumbing and a broken elevator.”

Evidently it took a little investigative reporting to kick the “facility’s commander, Maj. Gen. George W. Weightman” in the rear and get his ass over there to inspect the stuff they reported.

The facility’s commander, Maj. Gen. George W. Weightman, said Army staff members inspected each of the 54 rooms at the building and discovered that outstanding repair orders for half the rooms had not been completed. He said that mold removal had begun on several rooms and that holes in ceilings, stained carpets and leaking faucets were being fixed.

Good on the WaPo, Dana Priest and Anne Hull for shining the light on this horrific mistreatment of our wounded service men and women. Shame on Weightman, the staff at Walter Reed and the Bush administration for letting this happen. Our men and women who serve this country deserve far better than they get from BushCo.

Building 18, in particular, symbolizes the indifference and neglect that many of the wounded say they experience at Walter Reed.

Yesterday, Weightman said a broken elevator in the building had been repaired and soldiers were working to improve the outside of the building, including removing ice and snow. The slippery conditions have kept some soldiers in their rooms. A garage door that has been broken for months will soon be repaired as well.

Spec. Jeremy Duncan, whose room has a moldy wall that was featured in one photograph in the Post series, has been moved to another room while workers make repairs. Duncan will be able to return to his room when the work is completed, Weightman said.

Walter Reed and Army officials have been “meeting continuously for three days” since the articles began appearing, Weightman said. A large roundtable meeting with Army and Defense Department officials will take place at the Pentagon early this morning to continue talks about improvements in the outpatient system, he added.

Weightman said the medical center has received an outpouring of concern about conditions and procedures since the articles appeared and has taken steps to improve what soldiers and their families describe as a messy battlefield of bureaucratic problems and mistreatment.

“We’re starting to attack how we’ll fix and mitigate” some of the problems, he said.

Social workers will now be stationed around the clock at Mologne House, the 200-room hotel on the post where many of the outpatients live. Plans are being developed to better train other staff members who deal with outpatient needs.

The Army will also consider moving some outpatients to its other medical centers throughout the United States and will determine over the next weeks whether more workers are needed at Walter Reed.

In another piece in the series from Priest and Hull they outline the details of a former aid chief to Walter Reed who is under investigation for directing their charity while running his own on the side. Chalk up another tale of corruption under BushCo’s watch.

Last week, Walter Reed launched a criminal investigation of Wagner after The Washington Post sought a response to his activities while he ran the Army’s Medical Family Assistance Center, a position he left several weeks ago. Maj. Gen. George W. Weightman, the commander at Walter Reed, said the probe by the Criminal Investigation Command (CID) “reflects the seriousness with which we take these allegations.”

Weightman’s legal adviser, Col. Samuel Smith, said that “it would clearly be a conflict of interest” prohibited by federal law, Army regulations and Defense Department ethics rules if Wagner used his position to solicit funds for his own organization.

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