CURRENT STATUS OF ARMY'S POSITION ON EVIDENCE OF EXPOSURE TO CHEMICAL AGENTS IN THE GULF WAR
SUBJECT: Evidence of Exposure to Chemical Agents in the Gulf War (M-1-99) November 1997
Taking Care of Our Soldiers. Army is providing needed medical care and leaving no stone unturned in searching for possible causes of illnesses. Gulf War veterans
have reported a wide variety of symptoms some of which have known causes, some of which do not.
Army established the Gulf War Health Center at Walter Reed Medical Center to provide an expedited, accessible, and multidisciplinary continuum of care. The Gulf
War Health Center conducts the Comprehensive Clinical Evaluation Program (CCEP), and delivers an intensive outpatient treatment program known as the
Specialized Care Program.
Army has conducted diagnostic evaluations to over 24,110 service members who have registered in the DoD Comprehensive Clinical Evaluation Program (CCEP).
The Specialized Care Program treats those with persistent, disabling symptoms, and coordinates health services research exploring causes and treatment of Gulf War
weeks of multidisciplinary treatment of patients in small groups of three to eight individuals.
Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine (CHPPM) deployed technical teams to the Persian Gulf in May 1991 to measure the levels of
environmental contaminants created by burning oil well fires. In 1993, CHPPM developed a geographic information system (GIS) which integrated the unit location
registry database to track and map troop locations in relation to oil fire smoke. Since 1995, CHPPM has expanded this system to track troop exposures to other
potential environmental hazards from specific operational events including the demolition at Khamisiyah. Future plans call for mapping exposures to such potential
operational hazards such as depleted uranium, SCUD impacts, and other demolition activities.
Through the GIS database, CHPPM can link troop locations to exposures. This data is provided to qualified researchers for epidemiological analyses. Over the next
five years, CHPPM will continue to assess the effect of troop exposure to oil fire emissions and to update the GIS database with any discovered environmental threats
using the U.S. Armed Services Center for Research of Unit Records (USASCRUR) unit location registry.
Army is expanding and refining the Gulf War unit location registry database.
Since 1992, USASCRUR has reviewed over 6 million documents in developing a Gulf War unit location database for all services. Initially, USASCRUR's effort was
aimed at assisting CHPPM's analysis of troop exposure to oil well fires' smoke. USASCRUR has a similar database for Vietnam; that database is used in determining
veterans' claims of exposure to Agent Orange.
USASCRUR maintains two distinct databases. The first database is a personnel registry with the names of over 750,000 service members. The second database is
the unit location database. These databases combined allow DoD SAGWI to track individual service members who may have been exposed to chemical or
environmental threats. Given the magnitude of the potential chemical exposure threat such as the one in Khamisiyah, knowing the daily location of all units is of great
importance to ensure all affected service members are notified and informed of the services available to them such as the CCEP.
The database was mainly of battalion sized units. Since April 1997, Army has brought together the former operations officers (G3/S3 recall project) from division and
brigade size units to USASCRUR to validate the unit location registry and provide additional company location information from deployment to redeployment. In July,
we completed the daily tracking of XVIII Airborne Corps units. Currently, we are doing the same for former VII Corps units. Army expanded this project to account for all
units under Army Central Command (ARCENT) and its support command. We will complete this project in February 1998.
USASCRUR reviewed and forwarded all records to the Gulf War Declassification Project (GWDP) for declassification and conversion to a searchable data base.
Similarly, all new records located by the GWDP are shared with the USASCRUR to update the unit location database. Since October 1997, both activities are under
the operational control of Commander PERSCOM, specifically under The Adjutant General Directorate.
Search and Declassification of over 2.3 Million Pages of Operational Records.
Army made available millions of documents for various investigations on GWI.
Since March 1995, Army has been DoD's Executive Agent for declassifying Gulf War operational records. Army established the GWDP to accomplish this task. The
declassification of intelligence and medical records was assigned to the Director, Defense Intelligence Agency and the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Health Affairs),
respectively.
In 1997, Army sent teams worldwide to retrieve all available documents. After their visits, GWDP received 564 thousand pages of documentation, 292 thousand were
duplicates of documents on hand, gaining 272 thousand documents with new information.
In September 1997, Army completed its declassification mission. The GWDP reviewed and scanned 2.3 million pages of Army operational records. Over 816 thousand
pages had possible health-related information and were provided to SAGWI's Investigation and Analysis Directorate. Of those, 22 thousand pages were declassified
and posted on the World Wide Web.
The demolition of sarin filled rockets at Khamisiyah.
Khamisiyah was a huge ammunition storage site, covering 50 square kilometers and containing about 100 ammunition bunkers and several other types of storage
facilities. Army engineers found approximately 1,250 rockets in about 10 stacks of crates in an open area now named as the "pit." The number of rockets is an
estimate based on Iraqi declarations and United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) findings.
There were no markings to identify the crates or rockets as chemically filled munitions.
On 4 March 1991, the engineers destroyed 37 bunkers. In May 1996, UNSCOM conclusively identified chemical munitions debris in bunker number 73, one of the
destroyed bunkers. On 10 March 1991, the engineers detonated crates containing about 1,250 rockets in the "pit" and 60 remaining bunkers. Six months later,
UNSCOM found about 750 of the 1,250 rockets had not been destroyed by the demolition that meant 500 rockets were destroyed. Their investigation showed that the
intact rockets contained chemical agents sarin and cyclosarin.
There were no reports of any one, soldier or civilian, experiencing symptoms consistent with exposure to a chemical agent during the demolition operations, and
throughout the entire period of Army occupation at Khamisiyah. Army units departed Khamisiyah in late April 1991.
Considering UNSCOM findings and further review of intelligence by 1996, CIA recognized Khamisiyah as a possible chemical weapons release site, informed DoD and
requested information about troop activity in the area. Since then, the potential troop exposure based on unit locations has been a real concern of everyone.
In July 1997, SAGWI made public the entire case narrative of this incident.
In October 1997, Army Inspector General (IG) found no empirical evidence of chemical munitions were present during the demolition. After interviewing over 700
soldiers including about 250 involved in the demolition operation, IG found no conclusive evidence that Army units knew or suspected they were destroying chemical
munitions. However, DA IG concluded that given UNSCOM's findings and current available intelligence it was likely that chemical munitions may have been destroyed.
PFC Fisher's Mustard Agent blisters.
On 1 March 1991, PFC David Allen Fisher, a cavalry scout assigned to the Scout Platoon, Headquarters Troop, 4th Squadron 8th Cavalry, 2d Brigade, 3d Armored
Division, while searching a destroyed Iraqi bunker for intelligence materiel and personnel in southeastern Iraq near the Iraq-Kuwait border came in contact with liquid
mustard agent. Blisters in his upper arm and urine sample analysis with positive results for a mustard breakdown product confirmed his exposure.
In August 1997, DoD SAGWI confirmed that PFC Fisher's blister injuries were likely the result of coming in contact with mustard chemical agents. No other reports of
similar blisters were made by PFC Fisher's unit or other units in the area. Fox reconnaissance vehicle readings of PFC Fisher's clothing and the bunker he searched
alarmed for mustard agents.
Although analysis of physical evidence conducted a month after the incident did not confirm the exposure, medical experts concluded that PFC Fisher's skin injuries
were most likely caused by exposure to mustard agent. PFC Fisher received a Purple Heart for his injuries.
Congressional Interest
The House Government Reform and Oversight Committee on Human Resources and Intergovernmental Affairs, chaired by Representative Shays (R-CT), during the
past year held various hearings related to: GW Veterans' personal experiences and possible encounters with chemical agents and perceived DoD "delay" in releasing
information prevented early research focus. On 29 October 1997, the committee issued an oversight report titled "Gulf War Veteran's Illnesses: VA, DoD Continue to
Resist Strong Evidence Linking Toxic Causes to Chronic Health Effects."
The Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, chaired by Senator Specter (R-PA), has a Special Investigation Unit interested on GWI, chemical defense equipment and
doctrine, and how much the chain of command knew and when they knew about it.
SUBJECT: Evidence of Exposure to Chemical Agents in the Gulf War (M-1-99) November 1997
Taking Care of Our Soldiers. Army is providing needed medical care and leaving no stone unturned in searching for possible causes of illnesses. Gulf War veterans
have reported a wide variety of symptoms some of which have known causes, some of which do not.
Army established the Gulf War Health Center at Walter Reed Medical Center to provide an expedited, accessible, and multidisciplinary continuum of care. The Gulf
War Health Center conducts the Comprehensive Clinical Evaluation Program (CCEP), and delivers an intensive outpatient treatment program known as the
Specialized Care Program.
Army has conducted diagnostic evaluations to over 24,110 service members who have registered in the DoD Comprehensive Clinical Evaluation Program (CCEP).
The Specialized Care Program treats those with persistent, disabling symptoms, and coordinates health services research exploring causes and treatment of Gulf War
weeks of multidisciplinary treatment of patients in small groups of three to eight individuals.
Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine (CHPPM) deployed technical teams to the Persian Gulf in May 1991 to measure the levels of
environmental contaminants created by burning oil well fires. In 1993, CHPPM developed a geographic information system (GIS) which integrated the unit location
registry database to track and map troop locations in relation to oil fire smoke. Since 1995, CHPPM has expanded this system to track troop exposures to other
potential environmental hazards from specific operational events including the demolition at Khamisiyah. Future plans call for mapping exposures to such potential
operational hazards such as depleted uranium, SCUD impacts, and other demolition activities.
Through the GIS database, CHPPM can link troop locations to exposures. This data is provided to qualified researchers for epidemiological analyses. Over the next
five years, CHPPM will continue to assess the effect of troop exposure to oil fire emissions and to update the GIS database with any discovered environmental threats
using the U.S. Armed Services Center for Research of Unit Records (USASCRUR) unit location registry.
Army is expanding and refining the Gulf War unit location registry database.
Since 1992, USASCRUR has reviewed over 6 million documents in developing a Gulf War unit location database for all services. Initially, USASCRUR's effort was
aimed at assisting CHPPM's analysis of troop exposure to oil well fires' smoke. USASCRUR has a similar database for Vietnam; that database is used in determining
veterans' claims of exposure to Agent Orange.
USASCRUR maintains two distinct databases. The first database is a personnel registry with the names of over 750,000 service members. The second database is
the unit location database. These databases combined allow DoD SAGWI to track individual service members who may have been exposed to chemical or
environmental threats. Given the magnitude of the potential chemical exposure threat such as the one in Khamisiyah, knowing the daily location of all units is of great
importance to ensure all affected service members are notified and informed of the services available to them such as the CCEP.
The database was mainly of battalion sized units. Since April 1997, Army has brought together the former operations officers (G3/S3 recall project) from division and
brigade size units to USASCRUR to validate the unit location registry and provide additional company location information from deployment to redeployment. In July,
we completed the daily tracking of XVIII Airborne Corps units. Currently, we are doing the same for former VII Corps units. Army expanded this project to account for all
units under Army Central Command (ARCENT) and its support command. We will complete this project in February 1998.
USASCRUR reviewed and forwarded all records to the Gulf War Declassification Project (GWDP) for declassification and conversion to a searchable data base.
Similarly, all new records located by the GWDP are shared with the USASCRUR to update the unit location database. Since October 1997, both activities are under
the operational control of Commander PERSCOM, specifically under The Adjutant General Directorate.
Search and Declassification of over 2.3 Million Pages of Operational Records.
Army made available millions of documents for various investigations on GWI.
Since March 1995, Army has been DoD's Executive Agent for declassifying Gulf War operational records. Army established the GWDP to accomplish this task. The
declassification of intelligence and medical records was assigned to the Director, Defense Intelligence Agency and the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Health Affairs),
respectively.
In 1997, Army sent teams worldwide to retrieve all available documents. After their visits, GWDP received 564 thousand pages of documentation, 292 thousand were
duplicates of documents on hand, gaining 272 thousand documents with new information.
In September 1997, Army completed its declassification mission. The GWDP reviewed and scanned 2.3 million pages of Army operational records. Over 816 thousand
pages had possible health-related information and were provided to SAGWI's Investigation and Analysis Directorate. Of those, 22 thousand pages were declassified
and posted on the World Wide Web.
The demolition of sarin filled rockets at Khamisiyah.
Khamisiyah was a huge ammunition storage site, covering 50 square kilometers and containing about 100 ammunition bunkers and several other types of storage
facilities. Army engineers found approximately 1,250 rockets in about 10 stacks of crates in an open area now named as the "pit." The number of rockets is an
estimate based on Iraqi declarations and United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) findings.
There were no markings to identify the crates or rockets as chemically filled munitions.
On 4 March 1991, the engineers destroyed 37 bunkers. In May 1996, UNSCOM conclusively identified chemical munitions debris in bunker number 73, one of the
destroyed bunkers. On 10 March 1991, the engineers detonated crates containing about 1,250 rockets in the "pit" and 60 remaining bunkers. Six months later,
UNSCOM found about 750 of the 1,250 rockets had not been destroyed by the demolition that meant 500 rockets were destroyed. Their investigation showed that the
intact rockets contained chemical agents sarin and cyclosarin.
There were no reports of any one, soldier or civilian, experiencing symptoms consistent with exposure to a chemical agent during the demolition operations, and
throughout the entire period of Army occupation at Khamisiyah. Army units departed Khamisiyah in late April 1991.
Considering UNSCOM findings and further review of intelligence by 1996, CIA recognized Khamisiyah as a possible chemical weapons release site, informed DoD and
requested information about troop activity in the area. Since then, the potential troop exposure based on unit locations has been a real concern of everyone.
In July 1997, SAGWI made public the entire case narrative of this incident.
In October 1997, Army Inspector General (IG) found no empirical evidence of chemical munitions were present during the demolition. After interviewing over 700
soldiers including about 250 involved in the demolition operation, IG found no conclusive evidence that Army units knew or suspected they were destroying chemical
munitions. However, DA IG concluded that given UNSCOM's findings and current available intelligence it was likely that chemical munitions may have been destroyed.
PFC Fisher's Mustard Agent blisters.
On 1 March 1991, PFC David Allen Fisher, a cavalry scout assigned to the Scout Platoon, Headquarters Troop, 4th Squadron 8th Cavalry, 2d Brigade, 3d Armored
Division, while searching a destroyed Iraqi bunker for intelligence materiel and personnel in southeastern Iraq near the Iraq-Kuwait border came in contact with liquid
mustard agent. Blisters in his upper arm and urine sample analysis with positive results for a mustard breakdown product confirmed his exposure.
In August 1997, DoD SAGWI confirmed that PFC Fisher's blister injuries were likely the result of coming in contact with mustard chemical agents. No other reports of
similar blisters were made by PFC Fisher's unit or other units in the area. Fox reconnaissance vehicle readings of PFC Fisher's clothing and the bunker he searched
alarmed for mustard agents.
Although analysis of physical evidence conducted a month after the incident did not confirm the exposure, medical experts concluded that PFC Fisher's skin injuries
were most likely caused by exposure to mustard agent. PFC Fisher received a Purple Heart for his injuries.
Congressional Interest
The House Government Reform and Oversight Committee on Human Resources and Intergovernmental Affairs, chaired by Representative Shays (R-CT), during the
past year held various hearings related to: GW Veterans' personal experiences and possible encounters with chemical agents and perceived DoD "delay" in releasing
information prevented early research focus. On 29 October 1997, the committee issued an oversight report titled "Gulf War Veteran's Illnesses: VA, DoD Continue to
Resist Strong Evidence Linking Toxic Causes to Chronic Health Effects."
The Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, chaired by Senator Specter (R-PA), has a Special Investigation Unit interested on GWI, chemical defense equipment and
doctrine, and how much the chain of command knew and when they knew about it.
Veterans Health
Links
Gulflink-Office of the Assistant for Gulf War Illnesses
Provides online access on-line access to medical, operational, and intelligence documents from the 1990-1991 Gulf War
http://www.gulflink.osd.mil/
United States Department of Veterans Affairs My HealtheVet (MHV)
Gateway to veteran health benefits and services. VA Medical benefits registration. As a veteran you should register at a VA Hospital
to ensure that you remain eligible to receive your VA medical benefits. More about your rights as a veteran here.
http://www.myhealth.va.gov/
Studies
Current Status of Army's Position on Evidence of Exposure to Chemical Agents in the Gulf War
Comprehensive Clinical Evaluation Program (CCEP)
Links
Gulflink-Office of the Assistant for Gulf War Illnesses
Provides online access on-line access to medical, operational, and intelligence documents from the 1990-1991 Gulf War
http://www.gulflink.osd.mil/
United States Department of Veterans Affairs My HealtheVet (MHV)
Gateway to veteran health benefits and services. VA Medical benefits registration. As a veteran you should register at a VA Hospital
to ensure that you remain eligible to receive your VA medical benefits. More about your rights as a veteran here.
http://www.myhealth.va.gov/
Studies
Current Status of Army's Position on Evidence of Exposure to Chemical Agents in the Gulf War
Comprehensive Clinical Evaluation Program (CCEP)
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