Secretary of the Army John McHugh Addresses Concerns at Fort Bragg

Secretary John McHugh visited Fort Bragg and addressed two concerns: the status of PTSD diagnoses and two more base closures that will occur over the next two years.

While McHugh could not speculate on the status of Fort Bragg, he reiterated that the force was expected to shrink down through the normal progression of attrition and that Fort Bragg was resilient to the Base Realignment and Closure Act in 2005.

In light of the recent scrutiny of Fort Lewis' Madigan Army Medical Center surrounding the reversal of PTSD diagnosed cases, McHugh commented on the Army Inspector General's Office having oversight on the cases not only at Fort Bragg, but throughout the rest of the Army as well.

"The preliminary data analysis we are receiving indicates that the problems at Madigan do not appear to be systemic through the entire United States Army," McHugh said during a news conference at Fort Bragg on Tuesday.

The Armywide review is separate from an inspection Lt. Gen. Frank Helmick, commander of Fort Bragg and the 18th Airborne Corps, ordered in February for the post's Warrior Transition Battalion. The inspection is supposed to be completed by Sunday, but Helmick said it could take weeks before it becomes public.