Bernard Rostker, special assistant for Gulf War
illnesses, announced today that former Gulf War division and
brigade operations officers will meet to assist in
identifying unit locations in the DoD Persian Gulf Registry.
During the months of April and May, selected officers
of units that were in the vicinity of Khamisiyah will meet
at the U.S. Armed Services Center for Research of Unit
Records (USASCRUR), located near Fort Belvoir, Va.
They
will gather in small groups for a week at a time to assist
in clarifying unit locations throughout the duration of the
war. The officers participating in this effort are
representatives from the following units that participated
in the Gulf War: XVIII Airborne Corps, 101st Air Assault
Division, 24th Infantry Division, and the 82nd Airborne
Division.
While determination of units' daily locations is
the primary focus, each officer will also be afforded the
opportunity to contribute his insights regarding information
on possible unit exposure to environmental incidents and any
information concerning the location of operational records
that might still be available.
This effort is being accomplished in conjunction with
the Gulf War Declassification Project.
This project was
established by the deputy secretary of defense in March 1995
to conduct a DoD-wide review of all operational records to
find those which could help shed light on veterans'
illnesses, to provide useful documents to the office of the
special assistant for Gulf War illnesses, and to post
declassified health-related documents on the DoD Worldwide
Web site, GulfLINK.
As of December 31st, 5.4 million
documents have been reviewed throughout the Services and
over 65,000 pages posted to GulfLINK.
In the search for causes of Gulf War illnesses, this is
an important step to improve our ability to track unit
movements and to understand the hazards our soldiers may
have encountered.
The information in this database offers a
point of departure for additional analysis and is a
significant tool to assist in our efforts to take care of
our soldiers and veterans of the Gulf War.
