Department of Defense Recovering Warrior Task Force

Abstract : This is the fourth and final Annual Report of the Department of Defense (DoD) Recovering Warrior Task Force (RWTF), which was established at Congress behest to examine the effectiveness of military Recovering Warrior (henceforth Recovering Warriors, or RWs) policies and programs and to recommend improvements.1 Congress specified more than a dozen RW matters that RWTF was to study each year; although these matters focused primarily on RW needs and resources prior to signing a Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty form (known as the DD2142), Congress also charged RWTF to address RWs transition to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and civilian status. Drawing upon a comprehensive research plan encompassing a wide variety of data sources and collection methods (see Appendix D, Methodology), RWTF produced a total of 77 recommendations in its first three years of effort. These recommendations can be found in RWTF s Fiscal Year (FY) 2011, FY2012, and FY2013 Annual Reports, which are available at http://rwtf.defense.gov/. The present FY2014 Annual Report makes 10 recommendations, for a total of 87 RWTF recommendations over four years of operation. Two factors differentiate the tenor and content of this RWTF Annual Report from the three that preceded it: the anticipated sunset of RWTF and the shifting geopolitical landscape. RWTF, a timelimited Federal Advisory Committee (FAC), will sunset November 20, 2014. RWTF is thus mindful that this volume represents a final opportunity to potentially influence the future effectiveness and course of RW care. Secondly, RWTF recognizes that the drawing down of U.S. military operations in Southwest/Central Asia after more than a decade of war poses both risk and opportunity for the enduring RW mission. The decline in combat injuries may jeopardize continued attention and resources for RW matters.