What the Franks Report Will Do for You | Health

What the Franks Report Will Do For You

In July of 2008, Army chief of staff Gen. George W. Casey Jr. asked Gen. Frederick Franks Jr. (Ret.) to review the current Physical Evaluation Board (PEB)/Medical Evaluation Board (MEB) process and recommend improvements to supporting the Army's wounded, ill and injured Soldiers and their Families.

More Trust-Worthy, Efficient Process

Gen. Franks sought guidance from numerous experts within the Army, across the services and from several allied nations. Franks produced three strategic and 43 tactical recommendations designed to create a PEB/MEB process with greater trust and transparency.

Senior leadership from both the U.S. Army Physical Disability Agency and Warrior Care and Transition are implementing the recommendations from the Franks' report.

Communities of Practice

One of the major improvements already implemented was to apply the Warrior Transition Command's organization inspection findings across the Army. These findings drive standardization and improve its procedures with the Disability Evaluation System (DES) through centralized "Communities of Practice". These communities of practice allow physicians and case managers tocollaborate and share best practices.

Three Ways the Army is Moving Forward

The entire Army family will do all it can to provide wounded, ill and injured Soldiers with resiliency, self-reliance, and employment opportunities. The Army will refocus on the process of rehabilitation and transition without loss of entitlements. With the help of Congress, Veterans Service Organizations, and other government agencies, we can execute another one of Gen. (Ret.) Franks' recommendations - to continue a national dialogue about what our nation should do for our wounded, ill and injured Soldiers.

The Army will take part in the Disability Evaluation System Pilot program with the Departments of Defense (DOD) and Veterans Affairs (DVA) to streamline disability evaluations and eliminate duplicative processes.
The Army will engage with the DOD and DVA to shift the emphasis of the PEB/MEB from disability and compensation to ability and supporting servicemembers in their effort to realize their full potential through rehabilitation, training and appropriate compensation.
Gen. Franks is conducting a strategic review of the reserve-component's medically not ready Soldiers and their access to the Disability System to provide recommendations for improving reserve-component unit medical readiness and board processes.