Army heads roll

last updated 8 January 2015

Washington, D.C.

The fallout from the scandal at Walter Reed Army Medical Center claimed another high-ranking officer this week, with the forced resignation of Lt. Gen. Kevin Kiley, the Army surgeon general. Kiley was in charge of Walter Reed from 2002 to 2004, then briefly reassumed command following the recent ouster of Maj. Gen. George Weightman. Army Secretary Francis Harvey, who last week had named Kiley as Weightman’s temporary replacement, also resigned. Kiley told Congress that he had heard about poor conditions at Walter Reed, but was unaware of specific problems. Congressional hearings that followed a Washington Post exposé last month revealed that wounded war vets at Walter Reed have often been left to languish in filthy rooms, while outpatients were lost or ignored by an out-of-control bureaucracy.