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WASHINGTON - US Army surgeon general Lt. Gen. Kevin Kiley, who had been heavily criticised over substandard care for wounded troops, has been replaced, the Army said today.
Kiley, the Army's top medical officer, submitted a "request to retire" on Sunday and was immediately replaced by his deputy, Maj. Gen. Gale Pollock, an Army statement said.
"I submitted my retirement because I think it is in the best interest of the Army," Kiley said. "We are an Army Medical Department at war, supporting an Army at war -- it shouldn't be and it isn't about one doctor."
Kiley was criticized by the media and politicians after the Washington Post reported last month that troops wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan were living in shoddy conditions and battling complex bureaucracy to receive treatment and benefits.
Kiley is a former commander of Walter Reed Army Medical Center, which was the focus of the Post's reports. He was accused of playing down the newspaper's findings and having ignored earlier warnings about poor outpatient care.
The hospital's commander was fired because of the Post's reports and Army Secretary Francis Harvey resigned -- a move defence officials said had been requested by Defence Secretary Robert Gates.
- REUTERS
