I was very disturbed about two of the facilities on the
Base Realignment and Closure Commission. One was the Lt. Paul K. Allen Jr. Army Reserve Station. Obviously, the Pentagon doesn't understand how critical the Lt. Paul K. Allen Jr. Army Reserve Station is to our national security. The Lt. Paul K. Allen Jr. Army Reserve Station is important because...well...uh...well...it's where I took my ASVAB, that's why.
It is strange though, how many Guard and Reserve stations are being closed considering how dependent we are on them in Iraq.
One of the more disturbing items is the phasing out Walter Reed Medical Center. What the heck? Yeah, its not like we have any wounded. This and the intermitent plans to close VA hospitals just goes to show, these guys don't give a rats ass about the troops. But, we knew that.
Also, it it bugged me on a civic pride level.
Okay, historical notes that aren't directly related to politics are not the usual thing around here, but I'm going to do it anyway.
Walter Reed was a rather successful physician in Brooklyn but felt he needed to contribute a bit more to his country, so he applied for an appointment to the Army's Medical Department. After passing the exams, he was given his first assignment: Ft. Lowell, near Tucson.
As much as I love this place, a young man with a successful career would probably not be happy to be assigned to Tucson in the 1870s. However, Dr. Reed quickly became an important local figure. He took it upon himself to make housecalls to civilian families, even those in the ranches surrounding Tucson.
Back in those days, Tucson was in the "malaria belt". Although we think of it as a desert, it is a rather lush desert. Without the myriad golf courses and over watered lawns, the water table was higher. This made it just wet enough for standing water in various areas around town, which meant mosquitoes. Because of this, Malaria was prevalent at Ft. Lowell when Dr. Reed arrived.
Reed's first suggestion was to move the Fort further from town, for those familiar with Tucson, it used to be near I-10 and Congress streets. This wasn't so much for malaria, but because of the other hygene problems associated with young men far from home.
In addition to this though, he started doing his own research on the treatment and prevention of malaria. This research consumed his carreer, and led to his being able to save the lives of hundreds of soldiers in the Spanish American war two decades later. To this day, the hospital that bears his name still leads the world in research into dieseases like malaria.