Photos by Sgt. 1st Class Roger J. Mommaerts, Jr., WTB
1st Sgt. Jacque Keeslar cuts the ribbon as Maj. Gen. Eric B. Schoomaker and dignitaries look on.
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Dignitaries, guests, Walter Reed patients, staff and local community members attended a grand opening for the new Military Advanced Training Center (MATC) on the Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC) parade grounds yesterday.
The $10-million MATC is designed to return Warriors in Transition with limb loss or functional loss to the highest possible levels of activity using state-of-the-art technology and advanced prosthetics.
Dignitaries in attendance included Gen. David Patreus, commander of the Multi-national Force in Iraq, and guest speakers R. James ìJimî Nicholson, secretary of Veterans Affairs, Rep. Jack Murtha, chairman of the House Appropriations Defense Subcommit-tee, Gen. Richard A. Cody, Army vice chief of staff, retired Gen. Frederick M. Franks, Jr., commander of the U.S. 7th Corps during Operation Desert Storm and a military amputee, and Dr. S. Ward Casscells, assistant secretary of defense for health affairs.
Nicholson said injuries sustained in combat today may be overcome thanks to military health-care professionals and facilities like MATC. ìIn one brief instant, the concussion, the flame and the shrapnel can forever change lives,î Nichol-son said. ìBut that does not mean that lives are over, or that they must settle for less than fulfilling careers, or that they must shelve their personal dreams. Today, with the opening of this training center, the lives of our Soldiers wounded in defense of freedom, will have the opportunity for new avenues of hope and reality ó new hope for a brighter future, including, for many, that of staying on active duty.î
Maj. Gen. Eric B. Schoomaker, commanding general of the North Atlantic Regional Medical Command and Walter Reed Army Medical Center, asked those who toured MATC after the ceremony to remember the servicemembers for whom it was built.
ì[They] have lost something ó a limb, an eye, hearing, balance, orientation or motor skills ó but they never have lost their Warrior Ethos,î Schoomaker said. ìThey are committed to restoring their capacity to serve this nation as warriors, or as productive citizens and we are pledged to do all we can to help them achieve that ambition.î
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