On Thursday a ceremony dedicating the new barracks for wounded soldiers was held on the Bethesda Naval Medical Base which will new be part of the new Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. The barracks will house Soldiers, Sailors, Marines and Airmen wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan.
These barracks as described as being more than your usual issued barracks room to troops. They are more similar to 153 hotel suites. All of the barracks room are wheel chair accessible. Each room is outfitted with full kitchens, flat screen televisions, internet is provided as well as plenty of access to plugs to charge electronics of todays generation of soldiers including prosthetics. These hotel suites are referred to as apartments by those wounded soldiers lucky enough to have received future peeks at where they will be living. Laundry facilities will be provided on-sight.
This is a step up from current facilities where a wounded warrior MIGHT have a small fridge in his room with nowhere near the same amenities during his stay.
Outside the Wounded Warrior Complex there are healing gardens incorporated into the surrounding area.
There is also the nearby Warrior Support complex. The new facility has a focus on fitness with the goal of getting injured soldiers active again through basketball, aerobics, swimming and many other activities, all wheel chair accessible. Swimming will be done in an official Olympic sized swimming pool mirrored by rows and rows of brand new exercise equipment.
Families have not been forgotten either. A new Austins Warrior Playground has opened in the new WTU facility. The 2,000 sq. ft. playroom will be able to accommodate children from six weeks up to 12 years. The room is equiped with the newest toys and games including video gaming systems, creative and imaginative play areas and interative kosk.
GALLERY:
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