Embroiled in the ongoing brouhaha over the treatment and bureaucratic quagmire faced by war wounded outpatients at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, the Army Surgeon General, Lt. Gen. Kevin Kiley, has decided to retire. Defense Secretary Robert Gates earlier accepted the resignation of Army Secretary Francis Harvey, and the Army already had removed Maj. Gen. George Weightman from command at Walter Reed, where he had served since last August. However, Kiley has faced extensive criticism since he led Walter Reed for the two years before Weightman. The Army has appointed Maj. Gen. Eric Schoomaker to head Walter Reed and has named a combat-arms officer, Brig. Gen. Michael Tucker, to serve as his deputy.
The Space Development Agency is set to launch 21 Tranche 1 data transport satellites on Oct. 5—its fourth Tranche 1 mission since last fall and the first to carry Northrop Grumman-built satellites.