Wounded Soldiers Languished 540 Days In Fort Riley Transition System

Soldiers in the Warrior Transition Battalion at Fort Riley, Kan., spent an average of a year and half -- 540 days -- working their way through a system that is supposed to determine their fitness for duty within a year, the Defense Department Inspector General reported yesterday.

The Army set up 35 transition units in 2007 to manage the care and evaluation of combat wounded, disabled or sick soldiers. Between June 1, 2007, and Dec. 31, 2012, 1,735 soldiers transitioned through the Fort Riley unit.

The service is required to process soldiers through the joint Defense-Veterans Affairs Integrated Disability Evaluation system, but there weren’t enough behavioral health specialists on staff at the installation or in the local community to meet the Army’s needs.