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Joint UK and US task force to support Armed Forces community

26 May 2011 11:27 AM

An American and British Service personnel task force which will share experience and best practice to support wounded, injured and sick personnel will be established following yesterday's meeting between US President Barack Obama and Prime Minister David Cameron.

The task force will also share experiences on how best to support transition to civilian life for those leaving the Services and how to support Service personnel, veterans and their families, in particular linking them to local communities.

The two leaders announced that the US Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, Dr Clifford Stanley, and the UK Minister for Defence Personnel, Welfare and Veterans, Andrew Robathan, will jointly lead the task force.

The task force will bring together teams of UK and US experts from inside government, and will seek the views and involvement of the charitable and business sector. It will initially focus on three strands of work:

• supporting wounded, injured and sick personnel, including physical and psychological care and rehabilitation;

• supporting Service personnel, veterans and their families, in particular linking them to local communities;

• supporting the transition of those leaving the Services into civilian life, including vocational training and education.

Both the UK and US Armed Forces have shouldered an enormous burden in recent years and each nation has world class medical facilities to look after their respective injured personnel - Headley Court and the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in the UK, and the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in the US.

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