Army's top doctor forced to resign

WASHINGTON — The Army's top medical officer has been forced out, military officials announced Monday, making him the third high-ranking Army official to lose his job over substandard treatment of wounded soldiers at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

Lt. Gen. Kevin Kiley, the Army's surgeon general and a former commander at Walter Reed, retired under pressure, officials said. Earlier this month, Army Secretary Francis Harvey and the commander of Walter Reed, Maj. Gen. George Weightman, were removed from their posts.

Kiley's departure was not unexpected, particularly after congressional criticism that he had allowed the deficiencies in Walter Reed's outpatient system to fester despite complaints from patients and their families about squalid conditions and a nightmarish bureaucracy.

At hearings last week, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., asked Kiley if he thought he should resign.

"Well, sir, that's a difficult question to answer," Kiley replied.

The Army characterized Kiley's departure as a "request to retire" that was made by Kiley on Sunday to acting Army Secretary Pete Geren.

But a senior Pentagon official said Geren directly requested Kiley's retirement, telling the general "now would be the right time" to leave. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity when discussing personnel matters, added that Defense Secretary Robert Gates, though not involved in the decision, was supportive of the way Geren handled the issue.

In a written statement, Kiley said he submitted his retirement to Geren "because I think it is in the best interest of the Army." He added that he thought the service could better deal with the problems in the medical system if he were to leave.

"We are an Army Medical Department at war, supporting an Army at war," Kiley said. "It shouldn't be and it isn't about one doctor."

Kiley became a lightning rod early on in the unfolding Walter Reed scandal. He criticized early revelations of problems at outpatient facilities as one-sided and denied problems were the result of leadership failures.

Earlier this month, Harvey — then the Army secretary — fired Weightman as commander of Walter Reed, installing Kiley as interim chief of the center. The move infuriated Gates and led to Harvey's dismissal. A former defense official close to the Army said Weightman was liked by low-level staff at Walter Reed and was seen as someone who was attempting to fix the problems left to him by previous commanders.

Army officials quickly named a temporary replacement for Kiley — his current deputy, Maj. Gen. Gale Pollock — who will serve until an advisory board recommends a new surgeon general.

Pollock, in an e-mail sent to colleagues and staff in the Army Medical Command on Friday, had also sought to minimize reports about conditions at Walter Reed and attacked the media's handling of the issue.

"I know everyone is extremely pained and angry about the media assaults on Walter Reed and our senior leaders," Pollock wrote in an e-mail obtained by The Washington Post.

She also wrote: "I know that your families and loved ones are affected by this event as well — please reassure them that the media makes money on negative stories not by articulating the positive in life — though that is something I will never understand."

Cynthia Vaughan, a spokeswoman for Pollock, said Monday night that the message, which also included words of encouragement for the Army medical community, was "intended to lift the spirits and reinforce confidence in her colleagues and her staff."

Geren, in his first public appearance as acting Army secretary, addressed Walter Reed staff members Monday, thanking them for their service but acknowledging that the "failures by some, failures in our system, have tarnished us all."

Material from The Washington Post is included in this report.