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Soldier Calls Special Fort Carson Unit a 'Dark Place'

Military Responds to Story

POSTED: 6:58 pm MDT April 26, 2010
UPDATED: 9:37 am MDT April 27, 2010
A soldier said his Fort Carson unit is not doing its job.

Specialist Michael Crawford told his story to the New York Times. In the interview, Crawford said a unit that is charged with helping soldiers deal with post-traumatic stress and war wounds is not doing its job. Monday, the military responded.

Leaders at Fort Carson and the Pentagon said the newspaper article doesn't tell the whole story, but they stopped short of denying all of the allegations. "With 9300 soldiers in the program, we don't always get it right,"said Lt. Gen. Eric Schoomaker, U.S. Army Medical Command.

In the article, Crawford told the New York Times the Warrior Transition Unit at Fort Carson is a "dark place" that "warehouses" and over-medicates soldiers.In response, Schoomaker said that is the most insulting part of the article, because the Warrior Transition Unit's goal is to bring soldiers back into the military or deliver them back into civilian life as productive citizens. Schoomaker did express concern over the amount of medication given to soldiers. "We are concerned about medication....so we are monitoring very closely."

The Pentagon was quick to point out that 81 percent of soldiers report they are satisfied with the transition program, and that percentage jumps to 91 percent when only referring to the Mountain Post.

Military officials said Monday there will be no additional investigations because of the News York Times article, but that the Military will continue to monitor the Warrior Transition as it has done in the past. In the coming days Fort Carson will evaluated as part of a previously scheduled plan.

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