Ceremony held to mark closing of Walter Reed Army Medical Center

Army Secretary John M. McHugh recently spoke at a ceremony featuring the casing of Walter Reed Army Medical Center’s colors, symbolizing the next step in the closing of the 102-year-old hospital.

A flag casing ceremony is a formal event where the colors, or flag, of the unit are taken down and put into a protective covering. The casing of the Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC) colors marks the next step in WRAMC’s transition to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., and Fort Belvoir Community Hospital in Virginia.

“For more than a century, this place, this grand campus has symbolized the army’s unyielding commitment to the care and treatment of our wounded warriors,” McHugh said at the ceremony.

The history of WRAMC spans both world wars, the Korean conflict, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“The leaders and workers of WRAMC have always looked for new ways to aid in the recovery of our wounded from groundbreaking prosthetics to irreplaceable emotional support,” McHugh said. “And that is truly what Walter Reed has always been about.”

Most of Walter Reed’s staff will be relocating to Bethesda, while others will move to the new Fort Belvoir Community Hospital, which replaces the former DeWitt Army Hospital on the Virginia post. The consolidation in Bethesda was announced in 2005 and was mandated by the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Act. The consolidation is expected to be completed by the end of September. Patients will be moved in August.

“I can think of no better way to ensure the continued and compassionate care of our wounded soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines and coast guard men and women than by bringing together the best, the brightest the most caring people to treat our men and women in uniform,” McHugh said.

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