Army Chief Out (Updated Again)

We're hearing that Army Secretary Francis Harvey has resigned, presumably over the Walter Reed scandal.

Yup, here's the confirmation, from AP...

Not only that, but former Walter Reed head honcho Maj. Gen. George Weightman is getting hauled in front of Henry Waxman's House Oversight Committee.

Like Phil Carter said over dinner the other day, maybe this is the difference between Rumsfeld and Gates at the Pentagon. Rummy's wife (and, presumably, Rummy himself) knew there were shenanigans going on at Walter Reed – yet, there were no consequences. Gates, it appears, is taking scalps. Good for him.

Maybe this signals a new era of – dare I say it? – accountability in the Pentagon's upper ranks. The head of Navy shipbuilding, Admiral Charles Hamilton, was recently reassigned, after all kinds of cost inflation in the signature Littoral Combat Ship program.

(High five: DD)

UPDATE: Think Progress has Gates' full statement. And Hot Air has the – video. This was definitely about Walter Reed.

I am disappointed that some in the Army have not adequately appreciated the seriousness of the situation pertaining to outpatient care at Walter Reed. Some have shown too much defensiveness and have not shown enough focus on digging into and addressing the problems.

Gates has named a new chief for the medical center: Maj. Gen. Eric B. Schoomaker – the brother of the current chief of staff, who was serving as head of U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command at Fort Detrick, Maryland. (Here's a Q&A he did last August.)