Ex-Joint Chiefs chairman doing better after fall

Former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Henry "Hugh" Shelton, here in a 1999 photo, suffered a spinal cord injury.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Retired Gen. Henry "Hugh" Shelton, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is showing "gradual improvement" from the spinal cord injury he suffered in a weekend fall, hospital officials said.

A statement from Walter Reed Army Medical Center said Shelton, 60, was expected to be moved Wednesday out of the hospital's intensive care unit.

"He is now able to stand with assistance but is still experiencing weakness in his right leg and both arms," the statement said, adding that no date has been set for spinal cord surgery.

After the fall Saturday from a ladder at his Fairfax, Virginia, house, Shelton suffered partial paralysis and initially had no ability to move his arms or legs, Pentagon sources said.

EXTRA INFORMATION On the Scene: Dr. Sanjay Gupta on Shelton's prognosis

The hospital said that with the type of injury Shelton suffered, patients usually improve over time.

"He has no problems with speech or breathing," a statement said Tuesday. "He is alert, able to sit and is conversing with the medical staff and with his wife, Carolyn, who is at his bedside."

Shelton completed a four-year term as Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman on September 30. He previously was chief of the U.S. Special Operations Command.

He led the Haitian intervention in 1994-95 and was assistant division commander for operations of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) during the Persian Gulf War in 1991.

Shelton's other commands have included the 82nd Airborne Division and the 18th Airborne Corps. He served two tours in Vietnam, first with the 5th Special Forces Group and then with the 173rd Airborne Brigade.

The Tarboro, North Carolina, native has received the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit, a Bronze Star and the Purple Heart.