VeTALKX: Karshi-Khanabad (K-2) Military Exposures Q&A

SGT Carla Best I just happen to read alot and want justice for everyone affected. It makes me sad that we are all very sick from something that we were intentionally exposed to and that not a single soul has taken accountability or simply said, "I'm sorry".

Hi Kristen. I'm not with the VA but I can give you some information related to your questions. Part of what the PACT Act does is mandate epidemiological studies to be performed. I know that Johns Hopkins was tasked to perform at least one study regarding K-2. At least one other study was mandated for Fort McClellan. These studies will take a few years to complete.

I don't know exactly what SFF and the Yale Law Team are after with their FOIA request. I did tell SFF a while ago about a finding in the earliest declassified K-2 Health Risk Assessment. This is from a review that I haven't yet published:

According to the Final Environmental Site Characterization and Operational Health Risk Assessment, Stronghold Freedom, Kashi Khanabad Airfield, Uzbekistan, dated 27 October - 27 November 2001, K-2 personnel “before and after” internal radiation levels (urine gamma spectroscopy) were tested but the results were never placed in K-2 personnel medical files. These tests specifically targeted early personnel who operated in or around Site 1 (the radioactive area) next to the berm. The assessment states, “The final bioassay results for the preliminary and post analysis did not reflect any significant levels of internal radiation exposure to personnel operating in or around Site 1” (p. 20).
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Of course, what this actually means is open to interpretation. I'm not a big conspiracy theorist. But I'm very familiar with all of the DoD K-2 declassified documents and I know that the VA is not telling the truth about what K-2 vets were exposed to. The people tested with the urine gamma spectroscopy were those very first arrivals at K-2. There was an MP group that arrived first to secure the base. They dug foxholes (I'm using USMC lingo here) in the berm. They lived and slept in that dirt for weeks. They had that dirt on them for weeks. They ate with dirty hands which means they ingested that dirt. There were no facilities except for a water pipe sticking out of the ground. They had clear signs of some sort of very acute toxic exposure to something as soon as they started digging in the dirt. It sounds like they were exposed to radiation but it could have also been volatile organic compounds (which were definitely present) or heavy metals or a mixture of two or three of those categories.

Back to being "open to interpretation." It is quite possible that these early personnel were given "before" and "after" urine gamma spectroscopy tests and there was little to no difference in the before and after *results.* Why? Because it is possible these personnel had already been exposed when they took the "before" test. That means when they took the "after" test, there wasn't much difference in the results.

Then there is the issue of MEGs, which stands for Military Exposure Guidelines. Military personnel are allowed to be exposed to higher levels of toxins. The shorter the exposure period, the higher the toxin level allowed. There's room to fudge the numbers, exposure time, etc., and call it good.

And then there are different levels of operational risk. Depending on how important the mission is, there are higher levels of acceptable losses/casualties. This would not actually change MEGs, but I do believe it would be a reason for the DoD to lie or withhold information.

At any rate, these urine gamma spectroscopy tests were sent to General Engineering Laboratories which now appears to be GEL Laboratories under GEL Solutions, LLC. Here is my last GEL contact information (I included this info with what I send to SFF). You can use this info if you want to do your own FOIA request through the DoD:

GEL Solutions, LLC
2040 Savage Road
Charleston, SC 29407
P [login to see]
F [login to see]

You also have my permission to use the paragraph above (word for word) from my review if it helps. BTW, I'll be making a post soon about what you all were exposed to. Osla

Defense Center for Public Health-Aberdeen's website provides several documents related to the conditions at K2. Additionally, all of the declassified K2 reports can be found at the bottom of this page under the section titled "Where can I find more information" [https://phc.amedd.army.mil/topics/envirohealth/hrasm/Pages/K2-Airbase-Exposures.aspx]. The VA's K2 website provides information on the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry's re-evaluation of the samples collected during the K2 occupation using using currentscreening thresholds for health [https://www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/karshi-khanabad.asp]. Thank you for your service. If you are not already enrolled for VA health care, we encourage you to do so. VA also encourages Veterans who believe their military service has negatively impacted their health to submit a claim to VBA.

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs I have seen and read all of the old exposure documents that were "voluntarily" released years to include these ones. This doesn't answer my question at all. I was referring to the litigation that you are currently involved in to release the CURRENT docs via FOIA request.
You also didn't answer me when I asked why you are spreading misinformation to vets by offering Uranium testing even though it won't show up in the Urine or serum after so long.
Thirdly, I asked why Fort McClellan isn't being looked into despite the fact that it is a superfund site with a huge legacy of toxic exposures.

This copy n paste answer jargon is bullsh*t. I should have known that this whole forum was a red herring.

Here is a link with lots of info about that. One of the very good things about the PACT Act legislation is that it specifically allows retroactivity. Since you previously filed for colon cancer, your benefits will be retroactive to when you initially filed even if it was as far back as 2013. You will file a Supplemental claim for this.

https://www.va.gov/resources/the-pact-act-and-your-va-benefits/?utm_source=rallypoint&utm_medium=native&utm_campaign=ar_pact_fy23_sur#information-for-survivors

Make sure you file for all the secondary conditions caused by the cancer as well.

Please apply again. Gastrointestinal cancers are included as a new category of presumptive conditions under the PACT Act. VA encourages all eligible Veterans and survivors to file a claim (or submit their intent to file a claim) for PACT Act-related benefits. Veterans who do so by August 9, 2023, may have their benefits, if granted, backdated to August 10, 2022, the day President Biden signed the bill into law. Please follow these instructions: Apply for VA Disability Benefits
- File a claim online using an eBenefits account at https://www.ebenefits.va.gov. This is the fastest way to proceed.
- Complete and mail the VA Form 21-526EZ (Application for Disability Compensation and Related Compensation Benefits) with a copy of your service treatment records to the following address:

Department of Veterans Affairs
Claims Intake Center
P.O. Box 4444
Janesville, WI 53547-4444.

- Contact the VA Regional Office at [login to see] for assistance.

The letter was mailed on June 2nd, and we apologize for the date listed on the letter not being updated. On June 13th, we sent an email version of the letter to all those K2 Veterans for whom we had a valid email address. We are pleased that you received notification of this event. With regard to RallyPoint, if you already had a RallyPoint account, you would have been taken directly to the K2 page. If no account existed, then RallyPoint directs you to create an account before taking you to the requested page. We apologize for any inconvenience but are glad that you were able to navigate to the K2 page at RallyPoint and please that you attended the K2 Community Forum. We have reached out to all K2 Veterans for whom we have a valid address or email. If a K2 Veteran has not enrolled in VHA health care or has not submitted a claim with VBA then VA has no means to collect their contact information. We know that there are Veterans that do not use the VA, and thus, we asked that you share the letter with your fellow K2 Veterans to extend our reach. VA worked with several Veteran Service Organizations (VSOs) to assist with the distribution of information.