Email   Print   Share By Lt. Col. Sophie Gainey, Army News Services

Facebook Digg Delicious July 26, 2012 | Across DoD

Gen. Lloyd Austin III, while serving as the commanding general for United States Forces-Iraq in 2011, coined Sgt. Tara De la Fuente of the 4th Sustainment Brigade, 310th Expeditionary Sustainment Command. Now serving as vice chief of staff of the Army, Austin will tour six Army installations, July 23-27, to assess the health of the force. The installations include Fort Bragg, N.C.; Fort Hood; Fort Riley, Kan.; Fort Benning, Ga.; Fort Stewart, Ga.; and Fort Gordon, Ga. Spc. Sean Mcguire, 4th Sust. Bde.

WASHINGTON - Army senior leaders, led by Vice Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. Lloyd Austin III, will tour several Army installations this week to assess the health of the force.

During the weeklong tour, Austin, along with Sgt. Maj. of the Army Raymond Chandler III, Surgeon General of the Army Lt. Gen. Patricia Horoho and Lt. Gen. Michael Ferriter, commander, U.S. Army Installation Management Command, and assistant chief of staff for installation

management, will look at programs, services, resources and best practices pertaining to the health of the force.

"The health of the force remains our top priority," Austin said. "We are continuing to make progress in many areas, and that is largely a reflection of leader involvement. That said, we recognize that we still have a lot of work to do and we must keep getting better."

The weeklong trip, Austin said, is an effort to see firsthand the impact of Army best practices and to also see where the Army may need to apply more resources or affect policy changes.

During the trip, the group will take a look at the Integrated Disability Evaluation System

process, installation-level programs and services specific to suicide prevention, Wounded Warrior care efforts, sexual assault and harassment programs, and additional health and discipline-related

issues.

The tour of Army installations includes Fort Bragg, N.C.; Fort Hood; Fort Riley, Kan.; Fort Benning, Ga.; Fort Stewart, Ga. and Fort Gordon, Ga.

"We're visiting these six installations because they represent a good mix of reserve component, corps, division and TRADOC units, and they are home to large populations of Soldiers," Austin said. "As such, we believe we can have the greatest impact in the shortest amount of time at these locations. Ultimately, the goal is to make our Army better and to ensure we're providing quality care and support to our troops and Families."