Reports of abuse of wounded warriors have prompted a House subcommittee to request a report on Warrior Transition Units from Congress' accountability arm.

The House Armed Services Committee's Subcommittee on Military Personnel included the directive in the broader 2016 National Defense Authorization ActBill.

The investigation by the Government Accountability Office would examine whether the how systematic abuse was systemic and if so, how muchhas been, and whether the Army has effective policies and management systems in place at its WTUs.

The Army says refutes the notion that allegations of abuse are not representative of the program. But the committee's leadership said it needs to look closer given the allegations of seriousness of the alleged mistreatment.

"The request for a GAO report examining Warrior Transition Units is part of the Subcommittee's continued responsibility to conduct proper oversight of the WTUs and ensure they are providing the type of care and services returning soldiers deserve," subcommittee leader Rep. Joe Heck, R-Nev., told the Army Times in a statement.

Heck, a doctor, serves as a brigadier general in Army Reserves Medical Command.

The Army initiated WTUs in 2007 as a ways to provide personalized support to ill and injured soldiers who require at least six months of rehabilitative care and complex medical management, including psychological problems from traumatic stress or brain injuries.

The Army designed the regimented program to provide comprehensive outpatient management that allows soldiers — through treatment, rehab, therapy/fitness, education and training — to smoothly transition to civilian life, or back to duty.

Army Medical Command has repeatedly characterized the scandals emerging at multiple bases as non-representative of the WTU system as a whole.

Col. Chris Toner, head of Warrior Transition Command, and Army Surgeon General Lt. Gen. Patricia Horoho have denied that the problem is systemic. Specific allegations of abuse, they say, have been relatively few in number. And tThey also said that news reports such as the one by Dallas Morning News relied on Army documents, and that the Army is was aware of the problem and dealing with it accordingly.

The new NDAA proposal requires the GAO to submit a report to the HASC and its Senate counterpart by March 1, 2016. The committee expressed concern "about allegations of mistreatment over the last year in some" WTUs.

The committee also wants to know how the Army plans to maintain capabilities as the number of soldiers needing WTU care – and its resources – decline.

The areas topics the committee wants GAO to evaluate:

  • The current system's effectiveness and fairness in addressing complaints by wounded warriors in WTUs.
  • The process of selecting leaders for WTUs, including the level of involvement of the Surgeon General.
  • The effectiveness of the Triad of Care (a soldier's squad leader, nurse case manager and primary care manager).
  • The Army's plan to consolidate WTUs based on the projected decline in need.
  • ​Any proposed changes to criteria for assigning a wounded warrior to a WTU, including any distinction between active and reserve component.

Last month, Col. Toner laid out plans to reduce the number of WTUs from 25 to 15 by the summer of 2016.

At the peak of the wars, 45 WTUs had treated more than 12,500 soldiers as of June 2008, many in newly constructed facilities. Now WTUs treat slightly more than a bit over 3,600 soldiers with an effective "enduring requirement" of 2,800 to 3,000, Toner said.

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