John R. Campbell, deputy under secretary of defense for wounded warrior care and transition policy, gains insights from Army Lt. Col. Tim Karcher, a warrior in transition at the Center for the Intrepid at Brooke Army Medical Center, Fort Sam Houston, Texas. Campbell toured the four-story, 65,000-square-foot facility after participating in Major League Baseball’s salute to returning veterans during Game 4 of the World Series. The Center for the Intrepid helps traumatic amputee and burn patients regain the ability to live and work productively. Campbell is overseeing efforts to streamline the Disability Evaluation System, which the Defense Department uses to determine if wounded, ill and injured service members are physically able to continue military service, and if not, to smoothly transition them to veteran status and determine disability compensation and benefits. (U.S. Army photo by Judy Bouley)
Army Capt. Kyle Marcum and Dr. Rebecca Hooper, program manager for the Center for the Intrepid tell Campbell about programs for wounded, ill and injured service members at the Center for the Intrepid, which was built with private donations through the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, and opened in 2007. Campbell also toured Brook Army Medical Center’s Warrior and Family Support Center and Fisher Houses. The Warrior and Family Support Center, built through donations from local citizens, provides a comfortable environment in which wounded warriors and their families can take a break from the hospital environment, as well as learning to cope with war-related disabilities as individuals, couples and families. There are two Fisher Houses at Brook Army Medical Center. They provide a
home away from home for military families to be close to a loved one during hospitalization for an illness, disease or injury and are built with private donations by the Fisher House Foundation. Campbell oversees the Recovery Coordination Program, which ensures non-medical case managers are assigned to severely wounded, ill and injured service members and their families to help them manage the non-clinical aspects of recovery, rehabilitation, and reintegration to either a military unit or the civilian community. (U.S. Army photo by Judy Bouley)