Army Seeks to Identify Troops, Veterans Exposed to Chemical Weapons

Posted 2015-04-03 17:12 by Grunt Report with 0 comments

The Army is reaching out to specific units that service officials believe could have been exposed to chemical warfare agents as the Army tries to ensure troops across all four services receive the right medical support – in some cases, years after the exposure might have occurred.

Soldiers who served in Iraq with the Army’s 702nd, 755th or 710th Explosive Ordnance Disposal companies, or with “Bushmaster Company,” 1st Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, will likely hear from the Army in its search for soldiers who may have been exposed to chemical warfare agents.

Those units are identified in guidance issued March 20 by Under Secretary Brad Carson where he details the Army’s plan to locate active-duty members and veterans of all branches who may need medical support and, in some cases, receive the Purple Heart.

The four goals of the Army’s review are to “identify, contact and evaluate service members and veterans” who might have been exposed; offer a medical exam to those individuals; document the results in the “individual service treatment records and pass to the Department of Veterans Affairs; and “consider appropriate recognition for [those] with injuries,” Carson states.

EOD units are identified specifically because these units were called on to destroy the deteriorating chemical weapons caches the military found after 2003 and more likely to be exposed to the agents.

While Carson identifies Army units, the search is much broader, looking for current and veteran soldiers at risk as well as service members and veterans of the sister services, as well. The Army has been designated the lead agency in the review, but each service will handle the process for its own members and veterans.

The review now underway also includes scouring media reports in which troops and veterans claimed they were exposed to chemical agents. It has also set up a hotline for service members and veterans to self-report, at 800-497-6261.

The Army will collect data weekly from the services.

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