Wounded Warrior Complex Symbolizes Covenant, Stanley Says

BETHESDA — The Wound­ed War­rior Bar­racks and Wound­ed War­rior Com­plex at the Nation­al Naval Med­ical Cen­ter here is a sym­bol of the mil­i­tary covenant of car­ing for troops whether they are at home or deployed, and after hos­pi­tal dis­charges, the under­sec­re­tary of defense for per­son­nel and readi­ness said today.

“Our covenant is for life, and [this cen­ter] is sym­bol­ic of that,” Clif­ford L. Stan­ley said. 

The new bar­racks and com­plex for wound­ed war­rior care is a pro­vi­sion of the Base Clo­sure and Realign­ment Com­mis­sion, which con­sol­i­dates NNMC and Wal­ter Reed Army Med­ical Cen­ter, the two mil­i­tary flag­ship hospitals. 

“It will offer world-class care under one roof,” on the grounds of NNMC, said Navy Vice Adm. John M. Mate­czun, Joint Task Force com­man­der of the Nation­al Cap­i­tal Region Medical. 

The wound­ed war­rior care offered at the cen­ter is anoth­er chap­ter in mil­i­tary med­ical achieve­ments since the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan began near­ly 10 years ago, Mate­czun said. Crit­i­cal “care in the air” and get­ting the wound­ed back to the Unit­ed States in 72 hours are among the many accom­plish­ments, he said. 

“The word ‘bar­racks’ does­n’t do the facil­i­ty jus­tice,” he said. 

“Every part of the Wound­ed War­rior Bar­racks and com­plex has wound­ed war­riors in mind — the fur­ni­ture, acces­si­bil­i­ty, Inter­net, com­put­ers and flat-screen TVs,” Mate­czun said. ? 

Fam­i­lies will have accom­mo­da­tions “just steps away,” he said, with child care on the premis­es so wound­ed war­riors won’t have to wor­ry about how their fam­i­lies are far­ing while they receive care. 

The bar­racks and adjoin­ing com­plex, which is the ren­o­vat­ed his­toric Naval Med­ical Research Insti­tute, offer near­ly 300,000 square feet of 153 two-per­son suites, a din­ing hall that will pre­pare 1,500 meals a day, an Olympic-sized swim­ming pool, gym and the lat­est in med­ical tech­nol­o­gy to care for the wounded. 

Patients are sched­uled to move into the new bar­racks and com­plex at the end of August, just pri­or to Wal­ter Reed and NNMC join­ing forces at Bethes­da under the new name, Wal­ter Reed Nation­al Mil­i­tary Med­ical Center. 

Source:
U.S. Depart­ment of Defense
Office of the Assis­tant Sec­re­tary of Defense (Pub­lic Affairs)