Group seeks probe of animal use in Army combat training

FORT MEADE, Md. A research reform advocacy group is asking the Pentagon to investigate an Army contractor that uses animals for combat casualty training.

The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine filed the complaint Wednesday. It targets SIMMEC Training Solutions of Oceanside, Calif.

The Army acknowledges it notified SIMMEC that the company didn't have a veterinarian present, as required by Army regulations, during a training session involving animals in October 2011. The session was at Fort A.P. Hill near Bowling Green, Va. The Army says the matter was resolved.

SIMMEC says it has never been out of regulatory compliance. It calls the group's complaint "absurd."

The Washington-based advocacy group says the training involved the wounding of pigs.

The Army says it's testing a simulator to replace animals used as patient models.