PORTLAND (AP) -A Maine veteran who sought treatment at Walter Reed Army Medical Center for wounds sustained in Iraq says he was not surprised by reports of deficiencies at the Washington hospital.

Curtis Mills, a former Army sergeant from Shapleigh, said he became frustrated by endless waits for treatment at Walter Reed, which has been called the Army’s premier caregiver for soldiers wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Mills, 33, was unable to bathe himself during the week it took him to arrive at Walter Reed. His wife, Penny, teenage daughter Jessica and toddler son Conan found him covered with blood and dirt.

Mills said he had to hobble across the medical center’s campus to collect signatures needed for some of the dozen surgeries scheduled on his right shoulder and leg, which had been shredded by a roadside bomb.

The surgeries went well when performed, Mills said. But after nearly a year, he stopped fighting to have the military hospital remove leftover shrapnel and accepted a discharge and free care volunteered by Maine Medical Center in Portland.

U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe, saying she was “incensed” by reports of conditions at Walter Reed, sponsored legislation Thursday to improve outpatient housing to match active-duty barracks, require emergency medical technicians and crisis counselors around the clock.

and allow no pest infestation.

Fellow Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins said the Armed Services Committee would investigate Tuesday at a hearing.

Maine’s two congressmen, Democrats Tom Allen and Mike Michaud, have also registered their concerns.

Mills’ injuries have prevented him from returning to a job as a postal carrier. He still attends physical therapy to try and get more use out of his arm and leg.

“I’m Army all the way. I wish I was still in the military,” Mills said. “But this was not the military. It was something different.”

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