WASHINGTON —- The Army Wounded Warrior Program has expanded its criteria so more severely wounded, ill and injured Soldiers can participate, the program's leaders said in an interview Friday.

Program director Col. Jim Rice and Sgt. Maj. Brent Jurgersen said that Soldiers with a combined disability rating of 50 percent will be eligible for the program as long as the injuries are combat-related.

For example, if a Soldier has a 10-percent rating on his hand, 20-percent on his leg and 20-percent due to traumatic brain injury, he would now qualify for AW2 if those injuries were combat related. In the past, Soldiers were required to have a 30-percent disability rating for a single injury or illness.

"As we were laying out the criteria for the Army Wounded Warrior Program in a briefing for senior leaders, one of the responses was that they thought maybe the program wasn't as inclusive as it needed to be. That they had, in their visits to Army installations, come across Soldiers and Families who needed the support of programs like the Army Wounded Warrior Program," said Rice. He and Jurgersen pointed out that those Soldiers may be more in need of assistance than the wounded Soldiers who were traditionally eligible for the program, founded in 2004.

"It is the right decision to make," said Jurgersen. "This population captures what our mission is and that is to take care of the most severely wounded and ill Soldiers and their Families. This change in eligibility criteria just kind of capitalizes on that...so we can reach those Soldiers who have that need."

Soldiers with a disability rating of 30 percent for a single injury or illness, whether combat related or not, remain eligible for the program as well. These Soldiers have typically lost a limb, vision or hearing, have suffered severe burns or have severe post-traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injury. About 3,400 Soldiers are currently enrolled in the program.

Newly-eligible Soldiers don't have to do anything to enroll in AW2. The program will contact them, and even if Soldiers and their Families don't want to participate or need assistance, program officials said AW2 will keep them on the rolls and periodically check in.