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Senator: Army surgeon general should go

Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., called for the Army’s top medical officer, Lt. Gen. Kevin Kiley, to be relieved of duty Thursday afternoon. McCaskill’s remarks came after Maj. Gen. George Weightman, Walter Reed Army Medical Center’s commander, was relieved of duty earlier in the day.

“It’s clear that General Kiley, the surgeon general at the Army, knew about the conditions at Building 18,” McCaskill said. “The irony of this situation is General [George] Weightman stepped up. He’s only been there a year.”

Kiley is to temporarily replace Weightman, according to an Army press release.

McCaskill said Weightman took responsibility for the problems in the medical disability system while Kiley has been quoted as saying the problems weren’t serious or that there weren’t many of them.

McCaskill had “been considering this for a week,” said Adriane Marsh, McCaskill’s spokeswoman. “It’s beyond just Walter Reed,” she said, referring to problems in the disability evaluation system that have been documented as Army-wide.

Weightman, commanding general of the North Atlantic Regional Medical Command and Walter Reed Army Medical Center, was relieved of command at 10 a.m. today by Secretary of the Army Dr. Francis Harvey, according to an Army press release.

This action has been under consideration for the last several days, with the final decision being made yesterday, the release said.

Weightman was informed this morning that the senior Army leadership had lost trust and confidence in the commander’s leadership abilities to address needed solutions for soldier-outpatient care at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

Kiley, commanding general of U.S. Army Medical Command, will be acting temporarily as the Walter Reed commander until a general officer is selected to replace Weightman.

Gina Cavallaro contributed to this report.

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