The conditions facing the soldiers, sailors and airmen undergoing treatment at Walter Reed, Bethesda and any other military hospital is the fault of the military and the military mentality, not necessarily the remainder of the Executive Branch nor the Congress.
The members of our military have been asked to do so much for so little for so many years that it has become part of the fabric of military mentality to shut up and endure...sad but true. Consider the young corporal who spends the best part of a year living in the 110 deg heat of the desert, eating nothing but MRE's, and sleeping under an armored personnel carrier until the day he loses his leg to an IED. He spends the next three months in numerous medical facilities until he's ready for out-patient treatment at Walter Reed.
He's assigned a room at building 18 where he'll stay during the therapy he requires. When he complains to the sergeant about the hole in the wall, the leaky radiator or the cockroach parade, he's reminded of how good he has it compared to the rest of his unit that is still in the desert. The corporal sucks it in and gets on with his life, however miserable that may be. The Sgt makes a note of the conditions in the room, and adds the required repairs to his discrepancy list. The next morning the Sgt reports to the 1st Lieutenant that he has everything under control and the needed repairs are coming along nicely and within budget. The shavetail Lt is now eager to report to the Captain during the weekly barracks inspection that all the observed discrepancies are on the list and are being taken care of. The Captain, of course, tells the Colonel that the troops are as happy as can be expected 'cause they each have their own room and get three squares a day at the hospital cafeteria.
Everyone in the chain-of-command is pleased because the Sergeant, Lt, Capt and Col are taking care of the troops. The LGen that was just fired never asked for a budget increase to raze and rebuild the transient quarters of bldg 18 because he trusted in the judgement of his Colonels who has received assurances from his subordinates, etc...
Eventually, I suspect one of those wounded soldiers, or a member of his family went to the press and thus ended the career of a couple of Generals. The remainder of the Chain-of Command eventually got their share of blame, maybe.
The bottom line is each of our five branches of the military have endured sub-standard pay, housing and working conditions since the beginning of time. Our future military will continue to endure because that is the mentality instilled upon them from the day the enter their first day of training, enlisted or commisioned.
The President, Rep or Dem; the Congress, Rep or Dem will continue to propose and enact, respectively, the military budget and the military will continue to stand tall and do more with less, because all through the chain-of-command they assure their leadership that they can, and will, do more for less.
