Veterans exposed to cancer-causing chemicals at K2 Air Base deserve justice | Opinion

For the past two decades, the DOD and VA have denied the medical care and benefits claims of veterans who got sick from K2’s toxic chemicals.

Mark Green
Guest columnist
  • Rep. Mark Green is a physician and decorated combat veteran of Afghanistan and Iraq.

I was serving in the Army when I flew through the Karshi-Khanabad (K2) Air Base, a military installment built on top of a former Soviet base in Uzbekistan. K2 was chosen by the U.S. military for its close proximity to Afghanistan despite being saturated with toxic chemicals and cancer-causing hazards.

Leroy Miller looks at a map of the Karshi-Khanabad Air Base (known as K2 in Uzbekistan in the fall of 2001). Miller arrived in K2  to train for the invasion of Afghanistan. He returned to K2 after several months in Afghanistan and didn't know that the former Soviet air base was filled with chemical weapons, asbestos, radioactive processed uranium and other toxins. But when he began to get ill several years ago and couldn't understand what was happening he learned other K2 veterans are also ailing. Sen. Tammy Baldwin has introduced legislation that would allow K2 vets to get health care and disability benefits currently denied by the VA.

It is far past time to admit that using the K2 base has caused irreparable harm to many of our K2 veterans and their families. The truth is that ever since returning home from fighting the War on Terror, these veterans have endured a different kind of battle — cancer and illnesses from toxic chemical exposure. For the past two decades, the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs have denied the medical care and benefits claims of veterans who got sick from K2’s toxic chemicals. As a veteran, physician and cancer survivor, this issue is personal to me.

After speaking with the Stronghold Freedom Foundation and a fellow special operations medical officer in late 2019 about K2 veterans suffering from the effects of toxic chemical exposure, I knew I had to take action.

Darryl Riddle, widow of retired Air Force Pilot Richard Riddle, looks over at his portrait while holding his memorial flag. Richard died of cancer in 2020, after being stationed at Karshi-Khanabad Air Base,Uzbekistan following 9/11. The base known as K2, is a former Soviet air base in southeastern Uzbekistan that shares a border with northern Afghanistan, and was the site of massive contamination.
A disturbing number of service people who were stationed there have later contracted fatal illnesses.

The majority of troops sent to K2 were from Fort Campbell, which is in my district. This included the Fifth Special Forces Group, which had higher incidences of cancer than troops who deployed elsewhere. As a representative in Congress for my fellow brothers and sisters in arms, it is my duty to be a voice for our K2 veterans sick from toxic exposure.

The K2 Veterans Toxic Exposure Accountability Act

I introduced my first bipartisan bill on K2, the K2 Veterans Toxic Exposure Accountability Act, over a year ago. The bill directed the secretary of defense to assess the toxic exposure of American military service members deployed to K2 and address the health conditions caused by this exposure. I’m proud my legislation passed as an amendment to the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act after a bipartisan push.

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Fighting for our K2 veterans has been an uphill battle in Congress. Both the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense have continuously stonewalled and resisted cooperating with Congressional investigations. The resistance began soon after Chairman Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.) and I prompted the National Security Subcommittee to investigate the decision to use the K2 base during Operation Enduring Freedom. Through letters and congressional hearings, we exerted a tremendous amount of pressure on the Department of Defense to get previously declassified reports on K2 released to the public. I knew these documents would shed light on what happened at K2, but I didn’t expect our investigation to uncover outright negligence and mismanagement.

Department of Defense knew the risks

Rep. Mark Green

Not only did the declassified reports confirm the dangerous levels of petrochemicals in the soil at Camp Stronghold Freedom, the reports also confirmed that the Department of Defense knew about the risk before deploying 15,000 troops to Uzbekistan. One declassified 2001 Operational Health Risk Assessment found that the inhalation of vapors from the soil could cause adverse health effects. Another assessment found that 50-75% of military personnel on the base were exposed.

Despite confirmation that numerous toxins were present at K2, and that at least 2,500 K2 veterans self-reported cancer and other illnesses, the Department of Veterans Affairs has yet to acknowledge a relationship between deployment to K2 and a subsequent cancer diagnosis. This means that for two decades, the VA has denied our K2 veterans’ health coverage and disability benefits for illnesses related to toxic exposure.

Before he died at the age of 36 from stage three astrocytoma brain cancer, Lieutenant Colonel Timothy Brooks told his wife that he often woke up covered in a layer of dust, and that black goo oozed from the floor of his tent. This is just one of the many devastating stories describing what our K2 veterans went through in Uzbekistan. It’s clear that our veterans cannot afford to wait.

Stories like Brooks’ are the reason we are fighting. I am proud that my K2 legislation was not only included in the NDAA, but was also used as a model for an executive order issued by President Donald Trump on his last day in office. The order directs the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs to consider whether Uzbekistan should be designated as a combat zone for purposes of medical care. My initiative granting those who served at K2 access to the burn pit registry was also enacted into law. There is no reason that our K2 veterans should not be given equal access to this registry just because they were stationed in Uzbekistan instead of Iraq or Afghanistan.

A 2005 photo shows a U.S. Air Force C-130 aircraft taxiing to a stop at Karshi Khanabad Air Base in Uzbekistan.  The United States began leasing the former Soviet air base from the Uzbek government, at no cost, in the wake of the 2001 terrorist attacks on America. The base provided an attractive option for the U.S. to project military power into Afghanistan, but a number of toxins and ground contaminants were discovered at the site, and may have a role in elevated levels of cancer and other illness among those who served at the base.

Despite these recent successes in the fight for our K2 veterans, there is still work to be done. That’s why I’ve introduced the K2 Veterans Care Act of 2021 alongside National Security Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Stephen Lynch, Sen. Richard Blumenthal and Sen. Tammy Baldwin. This bill co-sponsored by more than 50 Republican and Democratic lawmakers will establish a presumption-of-service connection for cancer and illnesses associated with toxic exposure while serving at K2. The presumptive status is critical to ensure K2 veterans receive health care and benefits reflective of their service and sacrifice.

The Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense owe our K2 veterans answers and care. Our bipartisan, bicameral legislation will ensure our K2 veterans receive both the justice and the care they deserve.

Rep. Mark Green is a physician and decorated combat veteran of Afghanistan and Iraq. He served on the mission to capture Saddam Hussein, and he interviewed Hussein for six hours on the night of his capture. Green serves on the House Foreign Affairs and Armed Services Committees.