Features

2

Commentary. The Air Force surgeon general 

tells House Armed Services Committee members that ‘we are ready.’ 

Fresh Blood Needed. The Armed Forces Blood 

Program seeks donors to increase its stock of 

fresh blood. 

Health Care Strategy. DoD explains how it tracks 

health care provided to military personnel before, during and after deployments.

Aid to Afghans. Army medics provide health 

care treatment to Afghans in remote villages in 

Afghanistan.

See More Clearly Now. Active duty troops may 

be eligible to receive laser eye surgery through 

the military health care system.

Bio-Detection. Army Reserve unit provides 

biological surveillance via biological integrated 

detection systems in Afghanistan.

New Face Paint. Soldiers in the field test two 

new versions of camouflage face paint with and 

without insect repellent.

2003

7

spring

In Search Of. Researchers at the Walter Reed 

Army Institute of Research hope to develop a 

new, improved anthrax vaccine.

Pet Foster Homes. Pet fostering may offer a solution to deploying troops needing a temporary 

home for their pets.

Be Prepared. Office of Homeland Security officials offer keys to emergency preparedness tips 

on its Web site, Ready.Gov.

Pest Management. Navy entomologists focus on 

pest control, education and surveillance to keep 

Marines, sailors and soldiers bug-free.

In Every Issue

News from Around the World 3 

President Bush Establishes Medals For Global War

on Terrorism. Expanded Health Care Coverage For 

Reserve Family Members Approved.

Ask Our Doctors 5

DoD’s Top Doc Provides Answers To Concerns 

About The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome.

Vaccines, Drugs & Herbs 5

Frequently Asked Questions About The Smallpox Vaccine.

Gulf War Update 9

VA Extends Gulf War Benefits Through 2003.

Wilford Hall Conducts Chronic Pain Study.

Health Beat 17

Is Your Refrigerator Making You Sick?

Resource Guide 20

On the Cover

Airman First Class Gilmer Williams, of the 

379th Aircraft Expeditionary Maintance 

Squadron at Al Udeid Air Base Qatar, 

performs an after burner inspection before 

a training sortie. 

U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt Terry L. Blevins

U.S. Navy photo by Photographer’s Mate Airman Dustin Howell

A “Shooter” gives the signal to launch an F/A-18C Hornet from the “Blue 

Diamonds” of Strike Fighter Squadron One Four Six (VFA-146) from one of four 

steam driven catapults on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson 

(CVN 70). Carl Vinson is currently on deployment in the western Pacific Ocean. 

6

17
Deployment Quarterly spring 2003 • http://deploymentlink.osd.mil

guestcommentary

“When our sick or 

injured troops must 

be removed from the 

theater and transported to 

definitive care, we have 

a state-of-the-art 

aeromedical evacuation 

system,” Taylor said. 

Taylor described the 

newly created patient support pallets, which are rolled onto 

transport aircraft, unfolded, unpacked, and within minutes, 

convert that aircraft into an aeromedical evacuation 

platform. 

He termed the pallets a “monumental advancement” from 

the Air Force’s traditional use of dedicated platforms like 

the C-9 Nightingale, or extensive reconfigurations of other 

transport aircraft. 

“This saves cargo space, but, more importantly, it saves 

lives,” Taylor said. 

Taylor singled out one other major advance: the ability to 

move large numbers of more critically injured patients. 

He said that “our outstanding aeromedical evacuation 

teams” have been enhanced by the addition of critical care 

air transport teams, which attend to patients throughout 

some flights, providing life-saving, intensive care in the air. 

In 2002, 1,352 patients were transported in support of 

Operation Enduring Freedom, of whom 128 were critically 

ill or injured. 

“It is important to note that our new programs can be 

woven seamlessly into the joint medical capability,” Taylor 

said. 

He described an incident in Afghanistan where an Army 

Apache helicopter crashed and both pilots had massive 

facial and extremity fractures. Within 17 hours, Army and 

Air Force medics had delivered them to a military hospital 

in Europe for surgery. 

“Together, the three medical services have built an 

interlocking system of care for every airman, soldier, sailor, 

Marine and Coast Guardsman. 

While troops are in theater, their health surveillance 

continues, Taylor said. “Using automated systems, we have 

documented and centrally stored more than 11,600 deployed 

patient records since 9-11. 

“Tools are now in place to collect relevant environmental 

health data and forward them for centralized analysis. 

This linkage between individual patient encounters and 

environmental data is critical to any future epidemiology 

studies,” he said. ■

Lt. Gen. (Dr.) George Peach Taylor Jr. is the Surgeon General 

of the Air Force, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Bolling Air Force 

Base, Washington, D.C. 

‘We Are Ready’

by g.w. pomeroy

air force surgeon general public affairs 

I

mprovements in the deployment process since the 1991 

Gulf War have resulted in a more fit and healthy fighting 

force, the Air Force surgeon general told a House committee 

March 27. 

“Our military now finds itself engaged in war on multiple 

fronts — in fact, a greater percentage of our troops are 

deployed, in more locations, for longer periods of time, 

than at any time since the Vietnam War,” Lt. Gen. (Dr.) 

George Peach Taylor Jr. told the House Armed Services 

subcommittee on total force. “But I assure you: We are 

ready for this.” 

Improvements have covered pre-deployment health to 

post-deployment screening and counseling, Taylor said. 

“We believe in a life-cycle approach to health care that 

starts with accession and lasts as long as the member is in 

uniform, and beyond,” he said. 

Taylor told the panel that Air Force Medical Service 

airmen are also more prepared than ever. 

“Training such as our advanced trauma training and 

our Readiness Skills Verification Program assure our 

wartime skills are current,” Taylor said. 

Taylor said that the move to expeditionary medicine 

enabled AFMS to send medical forces forward rapidly, both 

in the initial deployment of Operation Enduring Freedom 

and now Operation Iraqi Freedom. 

“The capabilities we bring to the fight today provide 

troops a level of care that was unimaginable just 10 years 

ago — capabilities that make us a lighter, smarter, faster ... 

medical service,” Taylor said. 

A key component of this change has resulted in 

preventive medicine teams arriving in deployed locations 

on the very first planes, Taylor said. These small teams 

provide vital food- and water-safety capability. They also 

begin collecting environmental and hazard data, work 

closely on tent siting, and provide basic medical care. 

The surgical units, or Expeditionary Medical Support 

units called EMEDS, can be on the ground shortly thereafter 

— “perhaps within as little as three to five hours,” Taylor 

said. 

EMEDS are comprised of rapidly deployable medical 

teams that can range from large tented facilities with 

specialized services to five-person teams carrying 

backpacks. These five-person mobile field surgical teams 

travel with 70-pound backpacks which hold enough 

medical equipment to perform 10 life-saving surgeries 

anywhere, at anytime and under any conditions. 

In six months supporting Operation Enduring Freedom, 

one field team performed 100 in-the-field surgeries; 39 were 

combat surgeries.
http://deploymentlink.osd.mil • spring 2003 Deployment Quarterly

W

ASHINGTON — President Bush has 

issued an executive order establishing 

two military awards for actions in the 

global war on terrorism. 

The president signed the order 

March 12 establishing the Global War 

on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal 

and the Global War on Terrorism 

Service Medal. 

A White House spokesman said the 

medals recognize the “sacrifices and 

contributions” military members make 

in the global war on terror. 

The Global War on Terrorism 

Expeditionary Medal will be awarded 

to servicemembers who serve in 

military expeditions to combat 

terrorism on or after Sept. 11, 2001. 

Operation Enduring Freedom is the 

prime operation the medal may be 

awarded for. Personnel assigned to 

operations in Afghanistan and the 

Philippines are examples of servicemembers who will receive the award. 

The Global War on Terrorism 

Service Medal will be awarded to 

servicemembers who serve in 

military operations to combat terrorism 

on or after Sept. 11, 2001. Operation 

Noble Eagle is an example of the type 

of operation the medal 

may be awarded for. 

The awards do not take the place 

of the Armed Forces Expeditionary 

Medal, established Dec. 4, 1961, or 

the Armed Forces Service Medal, 

established Jan. 11, 1996. 

“Any member who qualified for 

Bush Establishes Medals for Global War on Terror

— Continued on Page 4

Close Quarters

U.S Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Lisa M. Zunzanyika

LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Va. — Airmen and soldiers team up to push one of two Army CH-47 Chinook helicopters onto a C-5 Galaxy. The 

soldiers are assigned to Detachment 1 Bravo Company, 5-159 Aviation Regiment out of Fort Eustis, Va. They are deploying to an undisclosed 

location supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. Since Sept. 11, 2001, air mobility support has included moving more than 445,578 tons of cargo 

and more than 447,407 passengers throughout the U.S. Central Command area of operations. C-5 Galaxy aircraft have flown almost 25 percent of 

Southwest Asia airlift missions. 

War on Terrorism 

Expeditionary Medal

War on Terrorism 

Service Medal

those medals by reason of service 

in operations to combat terrorism 

between Sept. 11, 2001, and a 
Deployment Quarterly spring 2003 • http://deploymentlink.osd.mil

news from around the world

DoD Approves Expanded 

Health Coverage for 

Reserve Family Members

ASHINGTON — Two major changes 

effective immediately will make it 

easier for Reserve Component family 

members to receive health care 

coverage from the Defense Department 

when their sponsor is activated, the 

department’s top doc said. 

The first change shortens the time 

Guardsmen and Reservists must be 

activated — from 179 to 30 days — for 

their family members to be eligible 

for enrollment in TRICARE Prime, the 

military’s most comprehensive health 

care option. 

Dr. William Winkenwerder, assistant 

secretary of defense for health affairs, 

said department officials were “pleased 

and delighted” to make the changes. 

“We realize that Reserve members 

and their families have a need for 

health care when Reservists are called 

up for active duty,” he said. “We 

wanted to make the use of that benefit 

easier and more comprehensive.” 

Officials noted that family members 

are eligible for coverage as soon as their 

sponsor is activated as long as that 

activation will exceed 30 days. 

The second important change 

has to do with a program called 

TRICARE Prime Remote for Active 

Duty Family Members. Under the 

program, families of military members 

stationed in areas far from military 

medical care still receive the same 

level of treatment at comparable cost. 

Typically, recruiters and ROTC cadre 

and their families use this benefit if 

they’re located at least 50 miles from a 

military clinic or hospital. 

Previous wording in the rules 

covering this benefit stated family 

members must live with their sponsor 

in an area not covered by a military 

medical treatment facility. 

This created a problem for Reserve 

families whose sponsors were 

activated. If Reservists are activated, 

chances are they’ve been sent away 

from their homes. Obviously, family 

members can’t move with activated 

Reservists in most cases, so this led 

to many being denied enrollment in 

Prime Remote. 

“There was a clause in the law that 

terminal date to be determined 

by the Secretary of Defense, shall 

remain qualified for those medals,” 

the executive order reads. “Upon 

application, any suchmember may 

be awarded either the Global War on 

Terrorism Expeditionary Medal or 

the Global War on Terrorism Service 

Medal in lieu of the Armed Forces 

Expeditionary Medal or the Armed 

Forces Service Medal.” 

No one may be awarded more than 

one of the four medals for service 

in the same approved expedition 

or operation to combat terrorism. 

No one is entitled to more than one 

award of the Global War on Terrorism 

Expeditionary Medal or the Global 

War on Terrorism Service Medal. 

The medals may be awarded 

posthumously. DoD and military 

service officials, including the Coast 

Guard, are working on provisions to 

award the medals. ■

— Continued from Page 3 said that the family must reside with 

the active duty ... member. There was 

some confusion and some difficulty 

in coming to a clearer definition of 

that,” Winkenwerder explained. 

“Reading it one way meant it would 

have been very difficult for those 

family members to use the benefit, 

because they would have had to 

follow the servicemember.” 

The new wording clarifies 

that regardless of where Reserve 

Component members are deployed, 

their families are eligible for 

coverage under this program if the 

military members’ regular home is 

in a covered location. 

“What we’ve made clear is that 

wherever that servicemember was 

living with his or her family, [the 

family members] are eligible right 

then and there,” Winkenwerder said. 

He said the two changes have 

been “very well received” in the 

Reserve community. “And we’re 

very glad we’re able to do this.” ■

Operation Uplink is a unique program, operated by the Veterans 

of Foreign Wars, that keeps military personnel and hospitalized veterans in touch with their families and loved ones by providing them with 

a free phone card. Using contributions from private donations, Operation Uplink purchases phone cards and distributes them to servicemembers and veterans who are separated from loved ones. More than 

2 million phone cards since 1996 — almost 900,000 since November 

2002. To learn more about this program, go to 

http://www.operationuplink.org

Support The Troops
http://deploymentlink.osd.mil • spring 2003 Deployment Quarterly

Q

Q

A

A

ask doc

vaccines drugs & herbs

— Continued on Page 16

— Continued on Page 8

My husband and I have been in the 

Marine Corps about five years now. 

He wears the uniform, but I am 

Questions similar to this are 

frequently asked, and are very 

important for everyone to 

understand. First, I appreciate 

any perceived benefit from 

“toughing it out” is usually 

short-term and the negative 

consequences in doing 

this are usually long-term. 

He should seek care for 

whatever medical condition 

he has. It’s probably easily 

treated 

and probably will have 

no impact on his ability to 

deploy or his career.

Now, back to the 

smallpox vaccination 

matter. You are correct 

about certain skin conditions being 

contraindication to receiving the 

smallpox vaccination. However, skin 

conditions run the gamut of a simple 

wart to severe eczema encompassing 

large areas of the body. One poses no 

an integral part of his career. He is about 

to deploy, and I am extremely concerned 

about his health and safety, particularly 

regarding this smallpox vaccination he 

is to receive. He is not one to complain 

about anything health-related, but I know 

he has a skin condition for which he hasn’t 

sought medical treatment. From what I 

have read, you are not supposed to receive 

the smallpox vaccine if you have skin 

conditions. Can he be exempted from 

receiving the vaccine? What happens if 

he doesn’t tell anyone and receives the 

vaccine?

your dedication 

and sacrifice 

just as much as 

your husbands 

— without your 

support, your 

husband would 

not be focused 

on the mission at 

hand, subsequently 

increasing the risk 

of an already risky 

business.

I have heard 

the phrase 

“toughing it out” that refers to a 

servicemember refusing to disclose 

a medical condition because he or 

she thinks it will negatively impact 

career progression. Whether it 

does or doesn’t have an impact, I 

honestly can’t say. I do know that 

You have probably read or 

heard of the outbreaks of a 

respiratory disease that is 

Can you tell me a little more about 

this new mystery respiratory illness 

that I’ve been reading about in the 

the pneumonia cases. It 

appears that direct, close 

contact with infected 

persons is necessary for 

transmission.

Where has the 

outbreak occurred?

In mid-February, the 

People’s Republic of 

China reported over 

300 cases of atypical 

pneumonia, with five 

deaths, in Guangdong Province. Since 

then, the CDC has received reports 

of outbreaks in a number of other 

countries to include Hong Kong, (a 

special administrative region of China), 

Vietnam, Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand 

and Canada. 

The United States has seen a number 

of cases, but no confirmed deaths at 

this time. All suspected cases of SARS 

are being actively investigated by state 

and local health agencies.” 

Because cases have the reached 

North America with eight cases and 

news? Is it contagious, and can I get it?

spreading in the Asian continent, 

with isolated cases in Europe and 

North America. The Department 

of Defense, through the Military 

Health System, is actively involved 

in monitoring this outbreak, and 

supporting both international and U.S. 

health authorities as needed. I want to 

provide you with some important facts, 

as we know them today.

What is this outbreak?

The outbreak, known as Severe 

Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or 

SARS, is a severe form of pneumonia 

that appears to have originated in 

China. Thus far, these outbreaks 

have spread primarily to close family 

contacts of the suspect cases, and 

healthcare workers involved in care of 

two deaths confirmed 

in Canada, the CDC 

has issued an alert 

for physicians and 

travelers in the United 

States to be cognizant 

of flu-like symptoms, to 

consider recent travel 

and contacts, to seek 

medical attention if ill, 

and to report possible 

cases. This alert offers 

information to the 

health community and 

the traveling population to make 

decisions regarding patient care and 

personal travel plans. These alerts and 

more detailed information, to include 

a brief case definition, are available on 

the CDC Web site at

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/sars/.

Is this a virus or bacteria?

The World Health Organization 

and CDC are still in the early stages 

of their investigation, and it is still 
Deployment Quarterly spring 2003 • http://deploymentlink.osd.mil

Urgent Need For Blood Donors

To Help Maintain Military Supply

DoD Has New 

Plan For 

Monitoring 

Deployment 

Health Care

by sgt. 1st class doug sample, usa

american forces press service 

— Continued on Page 12

DoD is 

concerned with 

taking care of 

the health of 

its military 

personnel and 

their families.

T

he Defense Department has 

changed the way it will track and 

assess the health care given military 

personnel before, during and after 

deployments, said a senior Pentagon 

health official. 

DoD’s new strategy emphasizes 

health care surveillance of 

deployed personnel, said Dr. 

Michael Kilpatrick, deputy director, 

Deployment 

Health Support 

Directorate in 

the office of the 

deputy assistant 

secretary of 

defense (health 

affairs) for Force 

Health Protection 

and Readiness. 

Officials, he 

said, want no 

repeat of 1991 

Gulf War health care problems, 

referring to widespread instances 

reported of deployed personnel 

returning home with incomplete 

and poorly maintained medical 

records and improperly monitored 

illnesses.

Kilpatrick said DoD is concerned 

with taking care of the health of 

its military personnel and their 

families.

“To do that optimally, we need to 

provide preventive care,” he said. 

“And, if a servicemember becomes 

ill or is injured, we need to provide 

treatment for them.” 

After a deployment, he added, 

personnel need to know that DoD 

will provide them with care for any 

medical problem they may develop. 

This force health protection 

strategy is designed to help DoD 

track servicemembers’ diseases 

T

he Defense Department’s Armed 

Services Blood Program Office 

supplies all deployed forces with 

blood collected from the 21 military 

donor centers in the United States, 

and when necessary purchases 

some blood from civilian collection 

agencies, according to the director, 

Army Col. G. Michael Fitzpatrick.

“The need for donors is constant 

because red blood cells are only good 

for 42 days after you donate them,” 

he said at the Pentagon April 4. “In 

order to treat military casualties 

every 

medical 

unit must 

have a 

readily available supply of blood. 

Shipments are made every week to 

rotate the inventory and make sure 

blood is on hand for any casualty 

who may need a transfusion. 

“There is a special need right now 

for donors with Type O blood,” 

Fitzpatrick said. “The Armed 

Services Blood Program Office has 

issued a plea for military members 

and retirees, their family members, 

and others eligible to donate blood 

in military facilities to contact their 

local military blood donor center to 

make an appointment and donate on 

a regular basis.”

Locations of local donor centers 

and other information is available at 

http://www.tricare.osd.mil/asbpo/.

If there is no military donor center 

nearby, Fitzpatrick said, people 

can still help the Armed Services 

Blood Program Office by supporting 

agencies where the Armed Services 

Blood Center purchases blood. These 

include America’s Blood Centers at 

http://www.americasblood.org/ and the 

American Red Cross at http://www.

redcross.org/donate/give/.

Right now, he noted, the Armed 

Services Blood Program Office is 

limiting its purchases to type O 

negative liquid 

red cells because 

it has been able 

to meet all other 

requirements. ■

“The need for donors 

is constant.”

Editor’s Note: As 

of January, all 17,000 

units shipped to 

dae in support of 

Operation Enduring 

Freedom have come 

from DoD blood collection centers. The 

need for blood and 

its byproducts tends 

to rise significantly 

during contingency 

operations. If you 

have any questions 

about the entire blood 

donation process, go 

to the Armed Forces 

Blood Program Office 

Web site at http://

www.tricare.osd.mil/

asbpo/donor_info/donating.htm

 
http://deploymentlink.osd.mil • spring 2003 Deployment Quarterly

A

due to their culture. But 

after seeing doctors 

examine children, they 

assembled in the triage 

area, where initial 

medical assessments were 

performed.

“This was my first 

humanitarian aid 

mission, and I’m not sure 

if I was ready to see what 

I saw,” said Army Capt. Jon Baker, 

commander of Company C, 82nd 

Forward Support Battalion. 

“Knowing that some of these 

children wouldn’t live because of 

disease, war or exposure broke my 

heart. It almost brought tears to my 

eyes,” he said.

Military-contracted interpreters 

helped overcome the language barrier. 

The doctors treated illnesses such 

as the flu, pneumonia, eye infections, 

skin infections, ear infections, 

malnutrition, diarrhea, fever, worms 

and parasites.

“Most of the patients had 

symptoms for what we refer to 

as common illnesses,” said Army 

Capt. (Dr.) Keith Lemmon, a field 

surgeon and pediatrician. “But ... 

having a common illness and not 

Army Medics Treat 

Ailing Afghans

by pfc. matthew acosta

49th public affairs detachment (airborne)

treating it properly causes the illness 

to spread through the families and get 

potentially worse for that person.”

“It was sad to see these people 

suffering from sicknesses that would 

never occur in the states,” said Army 

Spc. Tony Fantasia, a medic with 

the 339th Combat Support Hospital. 

“However, it was gratifying to know 

what little help we were providing 

would make such a large impact.”

“Most of the problem originates 

with the absence of enough clean 

water ... to drink and bathe 

themselves with,” Post said. “If they 

bathed regularly, the number of skin 

disorders would drop dramatically.”

Education on matters of hygiene 

and sanitation is key, said Lemmon.

“If we could teach the Afghan 

people now, while the country is 

stabilized, and educate them in basic 

health care and proper sanitation and 

hygiene, maybe by the time we leave 

here there could be an infrastructure 

in place, and they could begin to care 

for themselves,” Post said.

Providing humanitarian aid to 

the people proved to be a learning 

experience not only for the Afghans, 

but for the soldiers as well.

“In the last five months I’ve learned 

more about medical treatment 

and learned how to treat patients, 

both soldiers and civilians, than 

I’ve learned in the last eight years 

being an EMT [emergency medical 

technician],” Fantasia said. “Treating 

the locals and seeing how they live, 

gives me a new respect for the things 

that I have back home.” ■

s Operation Enduring Freedom 

continues, U.S. forces in Afghanistan 

are waging war on another front line 

— combating sickness, disease and 

infection among Afghan families.

“Our mission in the theater of 

operation is to provide Level III 

[surgical] health care to coalition 

soldiers, or health care to anyone in 

danger of losing their life, limbs or 

their eyesight,” said Army Reservist 

Lt. Col. James Post, commander of 

the 339th Combat Support Hospital. 

“However, now that the country is 

stabilizing, we will begin to provide 

health care to the local population 

through MEDCAPs [medical civic 

action programs].

“The MEDCAPs are not designed 

to do heart transplant operations or 

serious surgical procedures,” Post 

explained. “They’re to provide 

primary care for the most basic 

illnesses.”

During a MEDCAP at a refugee 

camp several kilometers north 

of Kandahar Air Field, Post said 

most women were hesitant to take 

advantage of this medical assistance, 

http://deploymentlink. Deployment Quarterly

osd.mil • spring 2003
Deployment Quarterly spring 2003 • http://deploymentlink.osd.mil

Ask The Doc

— Continued from Page 5

unknown if this is a virus or bacteria. 

The pattern of transmission is what 

would typically be seen from a 

contagious respiratory illness or a 

flu-like illness. There is no evidence 

to suggest that this is a purposeful 

act of bioterrorism. At this stage, 

however, investigators are not ruling 

out any possibility.

How can I reduce my risks of 

acquiring the disease?

Many illnesses are transmitted 

from one person to another 

through direct or indirect contact 

between people. This includes both 

respiratory and intestinal illnesses, 

from minor to severe. An example 

of direct contact is shaking hands 

with a sick person. An example of 

indirect contact is touching a door 

knob - or any object - that someone 

else with an illness has recently 

handled. Another form of indirect 

contact is through small droplets that 

someone has sneezed or coughed 

into the air.

There are a few simple measures 

that have been proven to be effective 

in decreasing transmission of these 

illnesses. They include:

• Washing your hands often, 

especially if there are ill people 

around you.

• Touching your face less often 

(to decrease moving infectious 

particles on your hands to your 

mouth and nose).

• Covering your mouth and nose 

if you cough or sneeze

• Decreasing unnecessary time 

spent close to others who are 

sick.

 Many people are concerned about 

SARS now. Medical scientists are 

studying this disease intensely to 

learn how to stop the epidemic. 

While our knowledge is far from 

complete at this stage, it seems clear 

that taking the precautions above 

will decrease your chances of getting 

SARS, if 

you are exposed to someone with it.

What organizations are in charge?

The World Health Organization, 

based in Geneva, has taken a leading 

international role in investigating 

and confirming the outbreaks. The 

Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention is the lead U.S. agency. 

The CDC is providing significant 

assistance to the WHO, and is 

also thoroughly investigating the 

outbreak and taking aggressive steps 

to reach those who have traveled to 

the affected areas. 

What is the Department of 

Defense doing?

“In DoD, our infectious disease 

surveillance systems are closely 

monitoring for disease trends and 

possible cases. My office will receive 

daily updates on our health care 

surveillance of DoD beneficiaries 

across the globe. In addition, our 

military laboratories are supporting 

both CDC and WHO as needed.

The most important action for all 

beneficiaries is to remain informed, 

and to communicate with your health 

care provider if you are concerned 

about a medical problem. We will 

provide updates to you as they occur 

on this site, and also recommend you 

visit the CDC Web site http://www.cdc.

gov/ncidod/sars/ if you have questions. 

William Winkenwerder Jr., M.D., 

M.B.A, is the assistant secretary of 

defense for health affairs. He serves as the 

principal staff assistant and advisor to the 

secretary of defense for all the Department 

of Defense health policies, programs and 

activities, and subject to the direction 

of the secretary of defense, exercises 

oversight of all Department of Defense 

health resources.

Seal 

The Deal

OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM — 

Senior Airman Michael Campbell checks 

for a seal on his oxygen mask before 

a live-fire joint rescue exercise with a 

foreign national air force firefighting team 

March 10. Campbell is assigned to 

the 320th Expeditionary Civil Engineer 

Squadron at a forward-deployed location. 

The exercise was designed to improve 

communications, cohesiveness and 

equipment familiarity. 

U.S Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Matthew Hannen

■
http://deploymentlink.osd.mil • spring 2003 Deployment Quarterly

T

W

gulf warupdate

by sue campbell

59th medical wing public affairs 

ilford Hall Medical Center at Lackland 

Air Force Base in Texas recently 

received a $2 million research grant to 

study the use of a pain rehabilitation 

program. 

The study is aimed at 

musculoskeletal system conditions, 

which are the leading cause of 

hospitalization and disability for the 

U.S. armed forces. 

The Department of Defense pays 

more than $1.5 billion per year 

to disabled servicemembers, and 

musculoskeletal conditions account 

for 40 to 50 percent of this amount. 

The grant funds the study of 

an interdisciplinary chronic pain 

rehabilitation program, or ICPRP. 

“The major hypothesis is that the 

ICPRP will help military personnel 

suffering from musculoskeletal 

disorders stay on active duty and be 

fully qualified to perform all their 

military duties,” said Air Force Lt. 

Col. (Dr.) Alan Peterson, psychology 

flight commander at Wilford Hall and 

leader of the study. “The program 

will teach participants strategies to 

reduce or better manage their pain 

and improve their 

quality of life.” 

Peterson said that despite 

continuous advances in military 

medicine, the rates of disability cases 

within the military have increased 

at an alarming rate, nearly doubling 

between 1985 and 1994. 

“The medical discharge of one 

active duty U.S. military member 

in their 20s costs the government 

approximately $250,000 in lifetime 

disability costs, excluding health 

care expenses,” the doctor said. 

“Musculoskeletal system conditions 

Wilford Hall Conducting Chronic Pain 

are the single most common reason 

for medical discharges from military 

service.” 

Peterson will conduct the pain 

study in collaboration with Dr. Robert 

Gatchel from the University of Texas 

Southwestern Medical Center in 

Dallas. The study is expected to take 

about four years to complete and will 

involve military patients referred 

to Wilford Hall and nearby Brooke 

Army Medical Center from around 

the world. 

“There is a clear need for clinical 

research to develop evidence-based 

assessment and treatment approaches 

to decrease the cost associated with 

these conditions within the U.S. 

armed forces,” Peterson said. “It’s 

a win-win situation if our research 

results in money saved and improved 

quality of life for our patients.” ■

here’s still time for family members 

of Gulf War veterans to participate in 

the Veterans Affairs’ Gulf War Registry 

medical evaluation program. The VAfunded health examination program 

established in 1994 for the spouses 

and children of Gulf War veterans has 

been extended to Dec. 31, 2003. The 

law authorizes the VA to continue to 

provide examinations to the spouse 

or child of a Gulf War veteran who is 

experiencing illness and is registered 

in the VA Gulf War Registry medical 

evaluation program. 

The provision to extend the 

program was included in the Veterans 

Millennium Health Care and 

Benefits Act, Public Law 106-117, 

signed by former President Clinton 

on Nov. 30, 1999. The law ensures 

the continuation of vital health care 

services for the nation’s veterans 

into the next century as well as the 

timeliness and quality of the Veterans 

Administration health care system. 

Authority for the program was 

established by Public Law 103-446. 

It was first extended by Public Law 104-

262 in 1996, and again in 1998 

by Public Law 105-368.

To be eligible for participation in 

the program, an individual must be the 

spouse or child of a veteran who 

is listed in the VA’s Gulf War Veterans 

Registry and has — or previously had 

— an illness or disorder, including a 

birth defect, miscarriage or still

birth, that can’t be disassociated from 

the veteran’s service in the 

Southwest Asia theater of operations. 

Participants must also grant the 

VA permission to include relevant 

medical data from the evaluation in 

the registry.

As of February 2000, more than 

4,000 family members of Gulf War 

veterans have requested a Gulf War 

Registry examination. To facilitate 

access to the benefit, the program now 

allows for individuals to receive the 

exam through their private physician, 

once a request has been submitted to 

the VA’s helpline.

Individuals interested in registering 

for the program should contact the VA 

at (800) 749 - 8387. ■

VA Extends Benefits 

for Gulf War Family 

Members Through 2003

Editor’s Note: This article was orginially published on GulfLINK on May 5, 

2000.
Deployment Quarterly spring 2003 • http://deploymentlink.osd.mil

T

he trend started a few years ago. 

Throngs of professional boxers, football 

and basketball players, skydivers, pilots, 

police and firefighters flocking to get 

laser eye surgery — and coming out all 

smiles and keen sighted.

Military eye doctors were among those 

paying close attention. 

“All these people were getting these 

procedures done and seeming to do their 

jobs safely and without any problem,” 

Army Col. (Dr.) William P. Madigan said, 

one eye doctor observing the trend.

Madigan wears three hats. He’s 

the consultant to the Army Surgeon 

General for ophthalmology; the chief 

of ophthalmology service at Walter 

Reed Army Medical Center; and the 

ophthalmology division chief at the 

Uniformed Services University of Health 

Sciences in Bethesda, Md.

“We talked to a lot of policemen and 

firefighters who said they were in such 

better condition to do their jobs after 

having LASIK,” he said.

LASIK is the acronym for LaserAssisted In-Situ Keratomileusis, which 

means to use a laser to reshape the cornea 

— the clear covering in the front of the 

eye — without invading adjacent cell 

layers. The surgeon cuts a flap in the 

cornea, leaving a hinge at one end. The 

flap is pulled back out of the way, and the 

surgeon then uses a laser to reshape the 

newly exposed corneal tissue.

After the surgery, which takes about 

one minute, the flap is put back and left 

to heal.

“A [firefighter] said losing his 

glasses going into a burning building 

would sometimes create a life or death 

situation,” Madigan continued. “A 

policeman who loses his glasses in 

a scuffle could be at a disadvantage 

— perhaps he can’t see as well as the 

person he’s trying to apprehend.”

The same thing applies to a soldier on 

the battlefield, the colonel noted.

“He’s out there scrambling to get under 

cover from enemy fire, drops his glasses 

and can’t see more than five feet in front 

of him,” Madigan said. “Now he’s no 

longer an asset to his unit because he 

can’t see and needs somebody to help 

him get to safely. Then he needs to get to 

a place where he can get outfitted with 

glasses.”

Some Gulf War veterans told Madigan 

about difficulties they had with 

eyeglasses in the desert. 

“In the ensuing years they had 

refractive surgery and were deployed to 

Afghanistan,” he said. “After returning, 

they said having laser eye surgery was 

the best thing the Army ever did to 

prepare them for combat missions — the 

single best thing the Army ever did for 

them.

“It gives them confidence and good 

vision without optical devices, and they 

really benefited from it on the battlefield,” 

the colonel said. “They say the difference 

between being in Desert Storm with 

glasses and to being in Afghanistan after 

laser eye surgery was like night and day.”

Madigan said people who have LASIK 

are very comfortable because the surface 

No More Glasses or 

by rudi williams

american forces press service

Ask Your Doctor If Laser Eye 

Surgery Is Right For You

Photo by Rudi Williams

Army Capt. Steven Kyle Jones has his eyes prepared for LASIK surgery at Walter Reed Army Medical 

Center in Washington, D.C.
http://deploymentlink.osd.mil • spring 2003 Deployment Quarterly

of the cornea hasn’t been disturbed and 

the reshaped tissue is protected once the 

flap is back in place. 

“They typically see 20/20 within 

an hour after the procedure,” he said. 

“They’re very comfortable and do well 

right off the bat.”

The comfort level isn’t the same with 

the refractive surgery procedure called 

PRK, or photorefractive keratectomy. 

There’s no flap-cutting, but instead the 

laser burns right into the surface layers 

of the cornea. That’s similar to having a 

corneal abrasion, the doctor explained. 

Consequently, patients who have PRK 

have to wear bandage contact lens over 

the cornea for about four days after the 

procedure.

“With the PRK you don’t see real well 

right off the bat because the epithelium 

has to heal over the next 

few days,” Madigan said. “It can be 

a little uncomfortable. Some people 

require more pain medicine than others, 

but the visual results are the same 

overall.”

Although doctors have done LASIK 

internationally for more than 10 years, 

the first U.S. clinical trials started in 

1995.

But the Navy started studying the 

effects of laser eye surgery even earlier 

— in 1993. Then Navy Cmdr. Steven C. 

Schallhorn started a refractive surgery 

program at Naval Medical Center San 

Diego. He was doing preliminary studies 

on the Navy’s special operations SEAL 

teams using PRK, Madigan noted.

Schallhorn, now a captain, found that 

after PRK, SEALs no longer had to worry 

about losing their glasses or having a 

contact lens float or fly away when they 

were in water or parachuting from an 

aircraft. And they could wear protective 

masks without a special refractive insert 

that limits their peripheral vision.

That was harmonious music to 

the ears of Madigan and other Army 

officials studying the possibility of using 

PRK/LASIK to improve readiness.

“We said, ‘maybe this has some 

applicability to the broader military,’” 

Madigan recounted. “Servicemembers 

are a physically active, relatively young 

population. They’re often in remote sites 

that don’t have optical shops if they lose 

their glasses or break a lens.”

The Army’s first PRK/LASIK site 

opened in May 2000 at Fort Bragg, 

N.C. More than 5,000 soldiers from 

XVIII Airborne Corps and the Special 

Operations Command have since been 

treated with outstanding results, he said. 

“Our results are even better than 

civilian studies have quoted,” Madigan 

noted. “I think that’s because of how 

careful we are in our patient selection. 

Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Lance Cheung

A patient receives laser eye surgery at Wilford Hall Medical Center at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas. Air Force doctors have performed the procedure, 

known as photorefractive keratectomy, on more than 4,000 servicemembers. 

We can just pick the patients we think 

it’s going to be most helpful for.” 

The current policy among the 

services says that just about any active 

duty person can have either PRK or 

LASIK. Those who have had PRK can 

get a blanket waiver for the Special 

Forces Qualification, Combat Diving 

Qualification and Military Free Fall 

courses. PRK and LASIK are both 

waived for Airborne, Air Assault and 

Ranger schools.

However, those who have had 

LASIK must enroll in an observational 

study, if a slot is available, to undergo 

training in Special Forces qualification 

and aviation school. LASIK is strictly 

disallowed for combat divers and 

free-fall parachutists. Researchers 

want to ensure the flap does not create 

problems in these unique environments 

before granting routine waivers.

Madigan noted that the Air Force 

is providing PRK for certain of 

its personnel, but the service isn’t 

conducting LASIK studies in its 

aviation community yet. But the Air 

Force will take people who have had 

PRK and allow them to enroll in a study 

they’re doing for Air Force pilots.

Madigan emphasized that PRK and 

LASIK aren’t part of the TRICARE 

— Continued on Page 18
Deployment Quarterly spring 2003 • http://deploymentlink.osd.mil

B

by sgt. w. cullen james, usa

11th public affairs detachment

AGRAM, Afghanistan — Sometimes 

being unique presents its challenges. 

Being one of two units of its kind, the 

310th Chemical Company is a rare 

resource. 

Providing biological surveillance 

via biological integrated detection 

systems in danger areas is their 

mission, and one platoon keeps a 

watchful eye over Bagram every 

night.

The 25 soldiers from 5th Platoon, 

310th Chemical Company, an Army 

Reserve unit based out of Fort 

Mclellen, Ala., operate three biological 

integrated detection systems stations 

around Bagram’s airfield. The stations 

monitor for the presence of biological 

weapons. 

“We’re there every night. Seven 

days a week,” said Army Reserve 

1st Lt. Stephanie Zeigler, platoon 

leader, 5th Platoon, 310th Chemical 

Company.

Their rarity has come at a cost. The 

chemical unit was activated Oct. 11, 

2001, and have been either waiting or 

on missions ever since.

“After we were activated, we were 

relocated from Fort McLellen to Fort 

Polk,” said Zeigler. At Fort Polk, 

La., the 310th was attached to the 

83rd Chemical Battalion, who owns 

the only other biological integrated 

detection systems unit, the 7th 

Chemical Company.

Although activated only a month 

after the Sept. 11th tragedy, the unit 

stayed at Fort Polk several months 

before deploying on a mission.

“It was really hard at Polk,” 

said Spc. Kevin Jones, a biological 

integrated detection systems operation 

specialist. “We pulled a lot of details. 

It was hard to explain to our family 

and the folks at work the importance 

of being activated while there.”

On mission, both Ziegler and Jones 

explained that the motivation of the 

soldiers has never been higher.

“Some parts have been great. 

The fact that we’re doing our job is 

great. I wanted to be able to tell my 

grandchildren that I did my part,” 

Ziegler said.

“Here, you feel like you have a 

mission in life,” Jones explained.

The unit was deployed to theater 

in December 2002 and replaced one 

of their sister platoons in place. They 

anticipate being replaced by automatic 

units, called Porta Shields, and to 

return to Fort Polk in June.

Upon redeployment, the unit 

should deactivate shortly thereafter.

“Legally, we are only supposed to 

be activated for two years,” Ziegler 

said. “Of course, if war is declared, 

that goes out the window.”

While Reserve units may be called 

up for such a period of time, Ziegler 

said, most Reservists have been 

surprised at the length of time the 

310th has been active. ■

Bio Detection: Reservists Keep 

Providing biological surveillance via biological integrated 

detection systems in danger areas is their mission.

and injuries and to provide them 

comprehensive follow-up treatment 

for deployment-related health 

conditions, he said. 

Kilpatrick directs the DoD effort to 

protect the health of deployed servicemembers. He noted there was no 

unique screening being done prior to 

deployment during the Gulf War. 

“If you were on active duty, you were 

generally assumed to be deployable,” 

he said. 

Now, he said, the Defense 

Department plans to see that force 

health is closely monitored through

 a series of medical assessments before 

and after deployment and that health 

concerns are documented and closely 

monitored. 

Kilpatrick said the pre- and postdeployment health assessment is a brief 

series of questions that look to 

see if troops are physically and 

psychologically prepared to deploy. 

The forms can be found on DoD’s 

deployment Web site at http://

deploymentlink.osd.mil/deploy/prep/deploy_

health_asses.shtml.

“[The assessment is] an opportunity 

for them to bring up any medical 

conditions that occurred to them in the 

last several months or in the period 

since their last physical examination. 

It’s a quick check to make sure they are 

ready to go,” he said. 

The health assessments are done on 

paper and checked by a physician “to 

see if there are any changes in servicemembers’ health or condition that may 

require attention before or after they 

deploy,” Kilpatrick said. Later, the 

forms are sent to Walter Reed Army 

Medical Center in Washington, D.C., 

where they are scanned electronically 

and retained for analysis. 

DoD has established three 

deployment health centers, one each 

for health surveillance, health care 

and health research. They focus 

on the prevention, treatment and 

understanding of deployment- related 

health concerns. Two centers are at 

Walter Reed; the third is at the Naval 

Health Research Center in San Diego. 

DoD will improve deploymentrelated medical recordkeeping through 

its Composite Health Care System II 

and the Theater Medical Information 

Program, which is still being tested. 

Kilpatrick said the two systems 

will collect immunization data 

electronically through a centralized 

data bank, along with computerized 

medical files currently being gathered 

on deployed military personnel from 

all the services in order to document 

deployment-related health problems. 

He noted that Special Forces soldiers 

deployed to remote areas can now use 

handheld computers to gather and 

store medical data on soldiers and 

then later transmit the data to rear 

operations headquarters. 

Still, pre- and post-deployment 

health assessments and electronic 

record keeping are only part of the force 

protection strategy. Kilpatrick said 

broader initiatives to protect deployed 

personnel are expected, 

and more research is being done. 

“We’ve learned a great deal from 

deployments over the past 12 years 

since the Gulf War, and we intend 

to use those lessons to benefit those 

who serve today, Kilpatrick 

concluded. “That’s what this 

program is all about.” ■

Health Strategy

— Continued from Page 7

Deployment Quarterly spring 2003 • http://deploymentlink.osd.mil 
http://deploymentlink.osd.mil • spring 2003 Deployment Quarterly

I

research

Researchers Seek A Better Anthrax Vaccine

by karen fleming-michael

fort detrick, md.

— Continued on Page 18

T

New Face Paint Equals No Pests 

by karen fleming-michael 

standard staff writer fort detrick, md. 

he diseases insects carry — malaria, 

dengue and leishmaniasis to name a 

few — are real health threats in the 

field, which is why soldiers are issued 

insect repellent. They’re also issued 

camouflage face paint because they’re 

expected to be able to hide in plain 

sight — without 

giving away 

their position 

by swatting at 

insects. 

Yet, until 

recently, soldiers 

who needed to 

use repellent and 

camouflage face 

paint at the same 

time ran into 

sticky situations. 

“If you applied 

the repellent first 

and then the face 

paint, the paint hindered the repellent’s 

effectiveness. If soldiers reversed the 

order of application, the repellent made 

a gooey, smelly mess ... and soldiers 

weren’t using it,” said Col. Raj. Gupta, 

a medical entomologist who’s worked 

on fixing the face paint and repellent 

problem since 1989. 

The idea to unite the two was a 

soldier-driven initiative, said William 

Robertson, a combat developer with 

the U.S. Army Medical Department 

Center and School in San Antonio, Texas. 

Through the Soldier Enhancement 

Program, which allows troops to weigh 

in on anything they wear, use or carry, 

soldiers told the Army they needed the 

two products to be combined. 

“Soldiers, in some cases, weren’t 

using the Army-available products, but 

were attempting to purchase their own 

products from the civilian world [to 

resolve the problem],” Robertson said. 

“Soldiers should not have to spend their 

own money to do their job.” 

Offering a solution to the problem, 

Gupta and other researchers at the 

now-closed Letterman Army Institute 

of Research and the Walter Reed Army 

Institute of Research blended camouflage 

face paint with a controlled-released 

formulation of DEET, the repellent 

issued to soldiers since 1990.

“We were only successful because 

of very vibrant and active basic 

— Continued on Page 14

mproved delivery, fewer shots and 

fewer reactions — that’s what the 

Walter Reed Army Institute of Research 

hopes to gain for service-members by 

participating in a Centers for Disease 

Control and Prevention-sponsored 

clinical study of the 

anthrax vaccine.

The study has two 

goals. The first is proving 

the anthrax vaccine, 

manufactured by BioPort 

Corporation in Lansing, 

Mich., is effective when 

subjects are given fewer 

doses than the normal 

regimen of six shots 

delivered at zero, two and 

four weeks and at six, 12 

and 18 months, with annual boosters.

“The [current vaccination] schedule 

is extremely cumbersome,” said 

Army Col. Janine Babcock, principal 

investigator for the Walter Reed Army 

Institute of Research study trial. “It 

is expensive to implement, and it is 

very difficult to support from a vaccine 

production and logistical point of 

view.”

Babcock said fewer doses also 

should increase patient acceptance.

“If you have your choice between six 

shots and three, we’d all pick three,” 

she said.

The second goal is to 

reduce the side effects 

of redness, tenderness, 

swelling and discomfort 

sometimes associated 

with the vaccine.

Serious reactions 

remain statistically rare. 

Of the 2,120,594 doses 

given to more than 

528,000 servicemembers, 

11 people’s reactions 

were severe enough to result in 

hospitalizations that were “certainly 

or probably caused” by the vaccine, 

according to a May 2002 Anthrax 

Vaccine Expert Committee report.

The shot is given subcutaneously, 

which means the needle is inserted 

between the skin and muscle.

“When you give vaccines [like the 

anthrax vaccine] subcutaneously, they 

work very well stimulating the immune 

system in a very powerful way, but 

they can cause more local side effects,” 

Babcock said.

The study hopes to show that 

intramuscular shots are the best way to 

deliver the vaccine, which will make it 

more tolerable for servicemembers who 

must receive it.

“For years we used a typhoid-fever 

vaccine, and it was very safe and 

very effective against typhoid fever 

— but no one liked it,” said Army 

Col. Alan Magill, deputy director 

for communicable diseases and 

immunology and also a study associate 

investigator. “It caused a really sore 

arm, and people felt bad for a couple of 
Deployment Quarterly spring 2003 • http://deploymentlink.osd.mil

research that established the physical 

parameters and theoretical framework 

that led to the development of 

these products,” Gupta said. “The 

knowledge we gained from active 

basic science research essentially cut 

in half the time to create prototype 

candidates.”

The two new camouflage face paints 

compacts — the brown one has DEET, 

the green one doesn’t — have five 

colors for soldiers to use when they 

hide in plain sight. With the new 

compacts, warfighters will have all 

the colors they need for a deployment 

anywhere in the world. The plastic 

compacts contain 20 applications of 

green, loam (a dark, greenish brown) 

and sand and 10 applications of white 

and black, a new color for the military.

“When we talked to soldiers, we 

found that they really wanted the 

black color to produce shadow effects 

and to match their BDU [battle dress 

uniform] colors,” said Scott Doughty, 

a biomedical engineer and product 

manager for the face paint for the U.S. 

Army Medical Materiel Development 

Activity. 

Since 1996, Doughty and a team 

from Fort Sam Houston, Texas; Fort 

Benning, Ga.; Fort Belvoir, Va.; and 

Natick Soldier Systems Center in 

Natick, Mass., have helped guide 

the two products through advanced 

development by working with the 

manufacturer, the Food and Drug 

Administration — because face paint 

is considered a cosmetic — and the 

Environmental Protection Agency 

— because it controls products that 

contain DEET.

Developing both the DEET and 

non-DEET versions was a “happy 

coincidence” for researchers, 

Gupta said. 

“When we started looking at 

adding DEET to the face paint, the 

‘Big Army’ took notice and said that 

creating a better face paint that has 

thermal protection was something they 

planned to do, so they turned over 

developing the non-DEET product to 

the team as well.” 

Textile technologist Anabela Dugas 

has tested the two formulations 

for their visual and near-infrared 

protection at Natick since 1998. Just 

as she does with all military 

camouflage items, she used a color 

spectrometer to determine each 

paint’s reflectant properties, ensuring 

the readings were within acceptable 

minimum and maximum ranges 

for visual protection as well as for 

defeating night vision goggles. 

Once the paint color passed that test, 

soldiers smeared on the paint 

and headed for the camouflage 

evaluation facility that has arctic, 

woodland, urban and desert scenes. 

There, researchers donned night vision 

goggles to confirm if the spectrometer’s 

readings 

were accurate. 

“What you see through night vision 

goggles is light, so the sand properties 

should be the same as the sand face 

paint so you blend in to the sand 

background,” she said. The numbers 

the spectrometer gives for minimum 

and maximum levels are required 

specifications for documentation, 

Dugas said, but seeing through night 

vision goggles really is believing. 

Because the product ultimately 

belongs to soldiers, researchers took 

it to the field to see if soldiers liked 

it. Gupta brought the product to an 

infantry company in Panama in 1996 

for its first study. He knew he was 

headed toward a successful product, 

he said, when the soldiers kept the 

prototypes. Later studies conducted 

in 1999 by WRAIR researchers Lt. Col. 

Mustapha Debboun and Col. Dan 

Strikman in Thailand and by Debboun 

in Korea in 2001 let seven additional 

infantry companies test the face paint.

Doughty and the development team 

focused on packaging issues such as 

the size and weight of the compact, 

easy-opening clasps and mirror. The 

mirror couldn’t be glass because it 

needs to withstand the rigors of field 

life, but it couldn’t be plastic because 

DEET is a solvent and will dissolve 

most plastic over time. 

In the end, stainless steel was the 

reflector of choice. 

“The interesting comment from 

Korea [trials] is soldiers love the 

mirror for shaving,” Doughty said. 

“Once they finished with the paint in 

the compact, they probably broke the 

hinge and kept the mirror.” 

Though the product has cleared 

most hurdles, the development team 

still has work to do, starting with 

educating soldiers. Because of the 

team’s work, new specifications are 

being finalized for any face paint the 

Defense Logistics Agency may make 

in the future.

Doughty noted that soldiers who 

purchase commercial products, like 

the paint bow hunters use, aren’t 

getting the safeguards the new face 

paint offers, with or without DEET. 

“Natick Soldier Center has tested 

all of these,” Doughty said, pointing 

to his collection of off-the-shelf 

camouflage face paint compacts. 

“And they absolutely do not come close 

to meeting the military specifications 

for concealment. We need to let 

soldiers know that though these 

products are out there, they 

don’t offer the protection they need.” 

The team is also taking on the widely 

used camouflage face paint sticks to get 

them up to the same standard as the 

compacts. In contrast to the 184,000 

compacts purchased 

last year through the supply system, 

Army units bought almost 300,000 of 

the sticks. The problem with the 

sticks, Dugas said, is they offer only 

visual protection from the naked eye, 

not from night vision devices. Doughty 

said the dispenser, which is rolled 

aluminum and can cut lessthan-svelte fingers and easily dislodges 

its cap, also stands improvement.

Future product improvements 

include face paint that offers 

concealment from thermal imagers 

so heat radiating from the face and 

hands can’t be detected against 

their background. 

“When we come up with thermaldefeating paint, we will have to see 

if it interferes with the DEET and if 

the time-released repellent interferes 

with the thermal,” Doughty said. “That 

Face Paint

— Continued from Page 13
http://deploymentlink.osd.mil • spring 2003 Deployment Quarterly

or the harried soldier, scurrying to 

wrap up a thousand details before 

deploying to an unknown future, pet 

abandonment is a decision born of 

desperation and fraught with guilt. 

For a frightened, bewildered animal, 

suddenly ripped from a secure and 

comfortable home and thrust into 

a terrifying world of shelters — or 

worse, life as a stray on the streets 

— abandonment almost always means 

an early death. 

Moved by a love of animals and 

gratitude to their country’s defenders, 

a growing number of Americans are 

offering an alternative scenario, pet 

fostering. 

These stay-at-home patriots open 

their homes to the dogs and cats — and 

sometimes the rats, parrots, iguanas, 

boa constrictors and tarantulas — of 

departing servicemembers who have 

no one else to care for their animals. 

When the servicemember returns, he 

or she gets to restart life with a beloved 

family member. The pet is healthy and 

happy, and the soldier, guilt-free. 

The trick is getting servicemembers 

and foster-caregivers together and 

making sure that the parties (human 

and animal) are a good fit for each 

other, said Maj. Steven D. Osborn of 

U.S. Army Veterinary Command at 

Fort Sam Houston, Texas. 

Osborn recommended beginning 

the search locally. Servicemembers 

can check with installation veterinary 

treatment facilities, which may be 

familiar with local services. But in the 

by harry noyes

special to the american forces press service 

Pet Fostering May Be Deploying 

Troops’ Answer for Saving 

Fido and Kitty

event the veterinary treatment facility 

isn’t, the soldier should not give up. 

Check next with local humane 

societies, animal-control facilities and 

breed clubs. If that does not turn up 

a suitable program then cast a wider 

net regionally or even nationally. Of 

course, a more distant foster home 

involves costs for transportation of 

the animal, but this is a small price for 

owners who love their pets and feel a 

sense of responsibility toward them. 

Several Internet sites now exist to 

help servicemembers with general 

advice on fostering and with brokering 

services to bring pet owners and fostercaregivers together. 

These sites do not assume 

responsibility for the pets. Even if 

a site matches up pet owners and 

pets with potential caregivers, the 

pet owner is responsible for the final 

decision to work with a particular 

caregiver. 

It is also the pet owners’ 

responsibility to communicate fully 

and openly with foster-caregivers, 

to ensure both sides are comfortable 

and confident with arrangements, to 

settle all questions about expenses 

beforehand, and to draw up a contract 

outlining such details. 

The pet owner is generally 

responsible for veterinary bills, special 

foods and the like. The owner may 

offer a gratuity for the foster-caregiver 

if he or she wishes to, but most services 

are set up on the understanding that 

fostering per se is free of charge to the 

soldier. 

Among the relevant Web sites are 

these: 

NetPets (http://www.netpets.org, 

and click on the “military pets foster 

project” link at top of home page), is 

a nonprofit service that says it has 

recruited and screened 5,000 fostercaregivers. Caregivers must provide 

references and contact information 

about their veterinarians. Founder 

Steve Albin phones the veterinarian 

before accepting a would-be fosterer. 

There is no charge to servicemembers, who can fill in an online 

form describing their pets. Albin 

will then match each pet with one or 

more suitable foster homes. There are 

also links for signing up as a fostercaregiver and for donations to support 

the site. 

Feline Rescue (http://www.

felinerescue.net, and click on “Operation 

Noble Foster” box), is a nonprofit that 

says it has received many fostering 

offers. The site has a database allowing 

owners to do their own searches for 

suitable fosterers. Feline Rescue does 

not screen fosterers itself, but collects 

screening information for pet owners 

to study. In turn, it asks owners to 

provide a “cat resume” to help the 

fosterer determine whether a particular 

cat is suitable for his or her home. The 

site also offers a sample contract form. 

The Humane Society of the United 

States (http://www.hsus.org/ace/11822) 

doesn’t offer foster-brokering services, 

but it has information to assist military 

pet owners, including a checklist and 

a sample contract form. The society 

works with other animal-protection 

organizations to encourage local 

shelters to develop fostering programs. 

4MilitaryFamilies (http://

www.4militaryfamilies.com/pets.htm) 

provides information and tips for 

taking care of military pets during 

foster care or moves. ■
Deployment Quarterly spring 2003 • http://deploymentlink.osd.mil

T

by jan davis

bureau of medicine and surgery

he Sept. 11th terrorist attacks 

have prompted new emphasis on 

emergency planning by communities, 

businesses and organizations. It has 

even generated the establishment of 

a new cabinet-level department 

focusing on the protection of 

Americans against terrorist attacks.

According to Rear Adm. Philip 

VanLandingham, director of Navy 

Medicine’s Office of Homeland 

Security, as good as federal, state, and 

local governments and organizations 

are at planning for emergencies and 

keeping people safe, they can’t do it 

alone.

“Sailors, Marines and their families 

must make their own personal 

emergency action plans so they know 

what to do, whether for a terrorist 

attack, a hurricane or a fire,” said 

VanLandingham. “It’s wise to plan 

ahead for emergencies. Make an 

emergency kit with items such as 

food and water, and ensure you’re 

informed on what to do in different 

kinds of disasters.”

The U.S. Department of Homeland 

Security’s Ready.Gov Web site, 

http://www.ready.gov, says it’s 

important to think about the places 

where you and your family spend 

time — your command, school, work, 

gym and daycare — and know about 

their emergency plans. Find out how 

they will communicate with families 

Keys to Emergency Preparedness

problem. The other would put an 

individual at risk for a significant 

adverse event. The medical 

literature lists eczema vaccinatum

as a complication from receiving 

smallpox vaccine when the eczema 

exists. A health care provider would 

have to make a determination in 

the severity, the manner it should 

be treated, and if the condition 

meets the requirements for medical 

exemption from receiving the 

smallpox immunization. Please refer 

to Assistant Secretary of Defense for 

Health Affairs policy memorandum 

dated Nov. 26, 2002, which speaks to 

the various types of exemptions as a 

result of medical and administrative 

conditions or situations. The policy 

can be read on the Smallpox Web site 

at http://www.smallpox.army.mil/media/

pdf/SPclinicalpolicy.pdf.

Furthermore, each service 

publishes specific implementation 

policy, which should be of particular 

interest to you and your husband. ■

Cmdr. Gene DeLara, Medical Service 

Corps, U.S. Navy, serves as the medical planner in the Deployment Health 

Support Directorate. He has a Doctorate 

of Pharmacy and a Masters of Business Administration. DeLara is both a 

pharmacist and medical planner holding 

the 1805 Plans, Operations, and Medical 

Intelligence specialty code. 

Vaccines, Drugs

— Continued from Page 5

and others during an emergency. 

Then create your own plan.

The American Red Cross has 

information for individuals and 

families’ emergency planning based 

on the Homeland Security Advisory 

System. Their brochure, “Your Family 

Disaster Plan,” available on its Web 

site, http://www.redcross.org, is a basic 

“how to” on putting together a plan.

Other planning steps include: 

• Know how to contact each other. 

If local telephone systems are down, it 

may be easier to contact out-of-town 

friends of family members who can 

then communicate with the separated 

family members. Family members 

should carry telephone numbers, a 

cell phone, a pre-paid calling card or 

change for a pay telephone.

• Know how and where to get 

emergency information. Find out what 

kinds of disasters are most 

likely to occur in your 

area and how you will be 

notified. One common 

method is emergency radio or TV 

broadcast. Some communities use 

special sirens. Military installations 

may have emergency workers go 

door-to-door.

• Talk to your neighbors to see how 

you can collaborate in an emergency.

You should also make a safety 

kit for you and your family. The kit 

should include, as a minimum:

• A three-day supply of 

non-perishable food and water (one 

gallon per person per day) as well as a 

can opener and disposable plates and 

cutlery.

• One change of clothing and 

footwear per person and one blanket 

or sleeping bag per person.

• A first aid kit, including a supply 

of your prescription medications. 

Don’t forget to rotate the medicine out 

before it expires. Consider taking a 

first aid class.

• A battery-operated radio, 

extra batteries, flashlight and other 

common-sense articles are also 

good to include.

• Sanitation supplies and special 

items for infants, elderly or disabled 

family members.

For additional recommendations on 

what to have in your kit, download 

“Your Family Disaster Supplies Kit” 

from the Red Cross Web site.■

Get The Brochure

You can view and print a copy of the 

Department of Homeland Security’s brochure 

“Preparing Makes Sense. Get Ready Now” at 

http://www.ready.gov or call 1-800-BE-READY 

(1-800-237-3239) to have a copy mailed to 

you at home.
http://deploymentlink.osd.mil • spring 2003 Deployment Quarterly

C

F

healthbeat

by lori tubbs

navy environmental health center 

portsmouth, va.

ood-borne illnesses most often heard 

about are those involving eating 

establishments. Someone becomes 

ill after eating an undercooked 

hamburger, unwashed produce or 

bacterial-infected meat or poultry. 

Officials then inspect the place and 

often levy fines for not meeting 

sanitation and food-safety standards.

However, according to a national 

consumer survey, the most common 

place to get a food-borne illness may 

be your own refrigerator. If food 

inspections were given to residences 

in the United States, the number of 

violations would be astronomical.

While most consumers are concerned 

about food safety, few follow basic 

guidelines, such as 

using a thermometer to check their 

refrigerator’s temperature. The survey 

found an overwhelming 91 percent 

of consumers felt it is important 

that a refrigerator be set at the right 

temperature, yet 60 percent didn’t 

know their refrigerator should be set 

below 40 degrees Fahrenheit. More 

alarming was that 32 percent thought 

the temperature should be set higher 

than 40 degrees.

Is Your Refrigerator 

Making You Sick?

Here are some simple tips to 

remember for safe refrigeration of foods 

at home:

 • Set the temperature below 

40 degrees, using a refrigerator 

thermometer found in hardware 

and home-supply stores. Place the 

thermometer in the center of the middle 

shelf and check it regularly.

• Keep your refrigerator clean. 

Immediately wipe up spills with hot, 

soapy water and rinse. 

• Refrigerate or freeze meat and 

poultry the minute you get home 

from the store. 

• Thaw foods in the refrigerator, 

under cold running water or in a 

microwave just before cooking. 

Because of room temperature and the 

high risk for bacterial contamination, 

avoid using a counter top for thawing 

food. Remember, the danger zone is 

40 to 140 degrees Fahrenheit.

• Make it a weekly habit to throw 

out expired foods that you no longer 

should eat.

• Divide leftovers into small portions 

and store them in shallow, tightly 

sealed containers (two inches deep or 

less). Date leftovers so you know how 

long they’ve been in the refrigerator. A 

good rule to follow is 

to discard cooked leftovers after 

four days. 

• Keep the refrigerator door closed 

as much as possible, and don’t store 

highly perishable foods like milk or 

eggs in the door. Store eggs in their 

carton on an inside shelf.

Remember the two-hour rule for 

prompt refrigeration. Perishable 

leftovers from a meal should not stay 

out of the refrigerator more than two 

hours. In hot weather (90 degrees 

Fahrenheit or above), this time is 

reduced to one hour. When in doubt, 

throw it out. 

Food-borne illness affects millions 

of Americans each year. Flu-like 

symptoms such as headache and 

nausea are common; however, a lot 

of people think they have the flu and 

really are suffering from a mild case of 

food poisoning caused by tiny, living 

bacterial and viral organisms. Proper 

food refrigeration is just as important 

as washing your hands before 

preparing a meal. ■

by marine sgt. david christian

1st force service supportgroup 

AMP IWO JIMA , Kuwait — A tiny 

mosquito bite could transmit a disease 

such as malaria to an unsuspecting 

victim and possibly lead to death. 

One of the most powerful weapons to 

combat this danger is the sailors from 

the 1st Force Service Support Group, 

who use their knowledge of 

entomology to keep servicemembers 

healthy while in support of Operation 

Enduring Freedom.

The specialists focus on pest 

control, education and surveillance to 

Navy Medicine Helps Work the Bugs Out

accomplish their mission of ensuring 

troop vigor. The main weapon in 

their arsenal is insecticide — lethal 

to insects but safe for humans, when 

used correctly. The most effective 

technique is to spray uniforms and 

mosquito netting with permethrin. 

Once uniforms are treated with the 

insecticide, it binds to the fabric and 

will not wash out. They have sprayed 

thousands of uniforms and netting for 

Marines, sailors and soldiers over the 

past several months.

“When a mosquito or tick lands on 

the treated uniform, it will pick up tiny 

particles of the insecticide and die in 

about 24 hours,” said Navy Lt. Pete 

Obenauer, an entomologist with 1st 

Force Service Support Group.

In a camp setting, another combative 

priority is to rid the area of flies. A 

simple solution is to sprinkle treated 

fly bait in the compound. The attracted 

flies feed and die in minutes.

Education is the second line of 

defense. The preventive medicine team 

explains what to look for, what to avoid 

and how to battle common pests such as 

flies, ticks, mosquitoes, spiders, rats and 

snakes.

“My recommendation to Marines 

and sailors [and soldiers] is to wear bug 

— Continued on Page 18
Deployment Quarterly spring 2003 • http://deploymentlink.osd.mil

program. 

“It’s a readiness program,” he noted. 

“It’s to make soldiers better at their 

jobs so they can do their missions more 

effectively and safely. That’s why it’s 

called the Warfighter Program.”

The Walter Reed Center for Refractive 

Surgery had its first patient in March 

2002 and has since performed the 

procedure on more than 600 patients. 

The waiting list today is more than six 

months long.

Since PRK and LASIK are readiness 

issues, line commanders in the Army, 

Research

— Continued from Page 13

Eye Surgery Navy and Air Force prioritize the waiting 

list, the colonel noted. 

“They tell us who we’re doing — 

infantrymen, artillerymen, armor, special 

operations and Special Forces. Anybody 

who is going to be at the line of battle or 

behind the enemy’s line of battle has first 

priority,” he said.

The Army offers refractive surgery to 

soldiers, the Air Force to airmen, and 

the Navy to sailors, Marines and Coast 

Guardsmen.

“In May 2000, the Army was doing 

laser eye surgery at Fort Bragg, the 

Navy at San Diego, and the Air Force 

wasn’t doing it anywhere at the time,” 

Madigan noted. But, he said, it has since 

expanded.

— Continued on Page 19

repellant and use mosquito netting,” said 

Obenaur. “Since most mosquitoes feed 

at night, if you have your netting up, 

you significantly reduce your chances of 

getting bit.”

Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class 

Maryjane Guest, a preventive medicine 

technician, has additional advice.

“Don’t eat in the tents, because the 

food attracts rats, and the rats attract 

snakes.” 

The third line of defense is ongoing 

surveillance. The team monitors pests by 

collecting insects from various locations 

to see if any are carrying diseases. 

Obenauer said servicemembers 

would likely suffer greatly without 

modern preventive medicine’s attack on 

pests. 

“During World War II, many Marines 

and soldiers came down with malaria, 

which incapacitated one of every three 

Marines,” he said. “We’re not on the 

front line fighting the bullets, but I like 

to think that we’re fighting insects so we 

can keep the forces healthy.” ■

Pest Control

— Continued from Page 17

Left: Capt. Christily Silvernail, a public health 

officer with the 438th Expeditionary Medical Group, 

sets up mosquito traps. 

U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sergeant William Greer

days with a low-grade fever. So acceptance was very low, even though the 

vaccine was safe.”

The CDC study is based on pre-liminary 

results Dr. Phil Pittman found 

in a study at the U.S. Army Medical 

Research Institute of Infectious Diseases 

from 1996 to 1998.

“In his study [of 173 subjects], the people 

who got the fewer doses intramuscularly 

had levels of antibodies that were not 

inferior [to the sub-cutaneous injections] 

and the reactions were much fewer,” 

Babcock said.

The current study, funded by Congress 

in 1999, has three parts: Part A is a 

human study, Part B is a primate study and 

Part C is a basic science study. The Walter 

Reed Army Institute of Research 

is participating in Part A, which involves 

testing the change from subcutaneous to 

intramuscular injection and decreasing the 

number of doses.

Part B will test the changed regimens 

against an aerosol challenge in primates 

to show whether they are protected from 

getting anthrax.

Part C will go a long way in helping 

develop new generations of the anthrax 

vaccine. Researchers will examine blood 

samples from people and primates taken 

at the same times, such as before a dose 

and after a dose, to find the key things 

in the immune system that predict 

protection.

“We want to find out what the best 

marker of protection is. Once we’ve found 

that, researchers can use that to help 

develop the next generation of vaccines 

and validate them,” Babcock said.

The study will last for 43 months, 

however, Babcock said a very important 

question can be answered 18 months after 

the first subjects enroll: Can clinicians 

get the same antibody responses while 

eliminating the two-week shot and giving 

the first three doses intramuscularly?

After the six-month shot, researchers 

will compare antibodies of people who 

received fewer shots and antibodies of 

people who received the conventional 

regimen, and the results will be sent to the 

FDA.

“Hopefully the FDA will respond to 

that information and revise the license to 

change the way the initial three doses are 

given,” Babcock said. “We will be able to 

positively impact the way vaccine is given 

within two years. In vaccine development 

time lines, that’s pretty good.”

Of the five centers in the United 

States hosting the trials, WRAIR is the only 

military site. Of the study’s 1,560 subjects, 

300 will participate at WRAIR. None will 

be active-duty military 

because servicemembers need to receive 

the shots under the current FDA license.

“WRAIR’s participation in the study 

is crucial. We wanted to bring in 

the military’s perspective to the 

collaboration,” Babcock said. ■

— Continued from Page 12

The Army has operating laser centers 

at Fort Hood, Texas; Fort Campbell, Ky.; 

Madigan Army Medical Center, Fort 

Lewis, Wash.; Tripler Army Medical 

Center, Hawaii; Landstuhl Regional 

Medical Center, Germany; Brooke 

Army Medical Center, San Antonio, 

Texas; Bragg; and Walter Reed. 

The Navy does LASIK surgery at 

Naval Medical Center San Diego, Calif., 

and National Naval Medical Center 

Bethesda, Md. PRK is offered at the 

Naval hospitals in Portsmouth, Va., and 

Jacksonville, Fla.; Camp Lejeune, N.C.; 

Camp Pendleton Marine Base, Calif.; 

and Naval Station Bremerton, Wash.
http://deploymentlink.osd.mil • spring 2003 Deployment Quarterly

The Air Force performs PRK at 

Wilford Hall Medical Center, Lackland 

Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas; Air 

Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colo.; 

Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, 

Ohio; Keesler Air Force Base, Miss.; and 

Travis Air Force Base, Calif. LASIK is 

only done at the academy and Wilford 

Hall.

Madigan, a U.S. Military Academy 

graduate and former artillery officer, 

expounded on the many advantages for 

servicemembers not having to depend on 

optical devices — eyeglasses or contact 

lens — to see clearly. He remembers 

the difficulties he had with his glasses 

on maneuvers with the infantry and 

sleeping in the boonies wrapped up in a 

shelter half.

“You’d be taking off your glasses 

every two minutes to wipe off the 

raindrops so you could see,” Madigan 

noted. “Hygiene in the field is terrible, 

so you’re at much greater risk for corneal 

ulcers and other problems if you wear 

contact lenses.”

However, he said, contact lens wearers 

can do physically active things rain or 

shine and still have better forward and 

peripheral vision than eyeglass wearers. 

He pointed out soldiers do better when 

they don’t need glasses to use such 

things as binoculars or the night-vision 

goggles used by Apache helicopter 

pilots.

Preliminary studies on aviators show 

enhanced cockpit performance 

after laser treatment. Nightvision lab researchers at Fort 

Belvoir, Va., discovered that 

servicemembers perform better, 

with higher marksmanship 

scores after PRK or LASIK, 

Madigan noted.

“LASIK correction is a 

permanent change to the cornea 

that should last you your 

lifetime,” he said. “But there’s 

an enhancement rate that runs 

around 10 percent. That is, 

about 10 percent of all the cases 

you do will need a second laser 

treatments weeks or months 

down the road to fine-tune the 

prescription.” 

Madigan said PRK and LASIK 

are best used for nearsighted 

people, but they also work for 

farsightedness and astigmatism. 

The procedures don’t work for 

cataracts or diseased retinas, the 

doctor said.

“We just fine-tune the physical 

optics,” he said. “We’re getting 98 

percent to 100 percent of our soldiers 

to 20/40 or better uncorrected vision 

[without spectacles]. About 85 percent 

are 20/20 or better.” 

A 20/40 correction concerns many 

patients — that’s the cutoff states 

generally use before drivers have to 

wear corrective lenses whenever they 

operate a vehicle, he remarked. Even 

better results are on the horizon with 

a new, more sophisticated system that 

just arrived at Walter Reed.

“We’ve received the first 

shipment of the commercially 

available Ladar Wave, which 

delivers a more pinpoint 

treatment option,” Madigan said. 

“Preliminary studies have shown 

an incredible increase to 20/15 

and even 20/10 vision using the 

system — it bounces an infrared 

beam into the eye and analyzes 

the reflection. It can analyze all 

the different factors that go into 

poor vision.”

“If I were a 21-year-old 

artillery lieutenant in the field 

again, I would have had this last 

week,” he said. “It’s the best 

thing around. If I hadn’t thought 

this was safe, effective and 

predictable, I never would have 

promoted it as something good 

for the Army.”

Asked why he hasn’t had 

LASIK to be rid of his own glasses, 

Madigan pointed to his age and 

profession. “If I were to be in the 

less than one-tenth of 1 percent that 

had a complication, I could lose my 

livelihood. That’s a risk I don’t want 

to take at my age,” he noted.

“Maybe I’d come away with best 

corrected (even with glasses) 20/40 

vision rather than the 20/15 I enjoy 

now. Well, I could drive without 

glasses and do most things very well 

— but I couldn’t do microsurgery,” 

Madigan concluded. ■

Eye Surgery

— Continued from Page 18

Editor’s Note: Laser keratorefractive 

surgery, commonly called PhotoRefractive Keratectomy (PRK) 

or Laser-In-Situ Keratectomy (LASIK)

is used to improve servicemembers 

readiness posture through the Warfighter Refractive Eye Surgery Program. 

Applicants to the Armed Forces are 

routinely admitted through a waiver 

process so long as their pre-operative 

refractive error was 

less then minus 8.00 diopter, and they 

experienced a good result which allows 

them to meet the standard visual qualifications required of all applicants.
Deployment Quarterly spring 2003 • http://deploymentlink.osd.mil

other resources

Air Force Association

1501 Lee Highway

Arlington, VA 22209-1198

Phone: (800) 727 - 3337

http://www.afa.org

American Legion

1608 K St., NW

Washington, DC 20006

Phone: (202) 861 - 2700

http://www.legion.org

American Red Cross

17th & D Streets, NW

Washington, DC 20006

Phone: (202) 639 - 3520

http://www.redcross.org

American Veterans

4647 Forbes Blvd.

Lanham, MD 20706

Phone: (877) 726 - 8387

http://www.amvets.org

Association of the U.S. Army

2425 Wilson Blvd.

Arlington, VA 22201

Phone: (800) 336 - 4570

http://www.ausa.org

Department of Veterans Affairs

810 Vermont Ave., NW

Washington, DC 20400

Phone: (202) 273 - 4300

http://www.va.gov

Disabled American Veterans

807 Maine St., SW

Washington, DC 20024

Phone: (202) 554 - 3501

http://www.dav.org 

Enlisted Association of 

the National Guard

1219 Prince St.

Alexandria, VA 22314

Phone: (800) 234 - 3264

http://www.eangus.org

Fleet Reserve Association

125 N. West St.

Alexandria, VA 22314-2754

Phone: (703) 683 - 1400

http://www.fra.org

Marine Corps Association

715 Broadway St.

Quantico, VA 22134

Phone: (866) 622 - 1775

http://www.mca-marines.org

Marine Corps League

8626 Lee Highway, #201

Merrifield, VA 22031

Phone: (800) 625 - 1775

http://www.mcleague.org

National Association for 

Uniformed Services

5535 Hempstead Way

Springfield, VA 22151

Phone: (800) 842 - 3451

http://www.naus.org

National Committee for Employer 

Support of the Guard and Reserve

1555 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 200

Arlington, VA 22209-2405

Phone: (800) 336 - 4590

http://www.esgr.org

National Guard Association

of the United States

1 Massachusetts Ave., NW

Washington, DC 20001

Phone: (202) 789 - 0031

http://www.ngaus.org

Naval Reserve Association

1619 King St.

Alexandria, VA 22314-2793

Phone: (703) 548 - 5800

http://www.navy-reserve.org

Navy League

2300 Wilson Blvd.

Arlington, VA 22201

Phone: (800) 356 - 5760

http://www.navyleague.org

Non Commissioned 

Officers Association

225 N. Washington St.

Alexandria, VA 22314

Phone: (703) 549 - 0311

http://www.ncoausa.org

Reserve Officers Association

1 Constitution Ave., NE

Washington, DC 20002

Phone: (800) 809 - 9448

http://www.roa.org

Military Officers Association 

of America 

201 N. Washington St.

Alexandria, VA 22314

Phone: (800) 245 - 8762

http://www.moaa.org

Veterans of Foreign Wars

200 Maryland Ave., NE

Washington, DC 20002

Phone: (202) 543 - 2239

http://www.vfw.org

Vietnam Veterans of America

8605 Cameron Street, Suite 400

Silver Spring, MD 20910-3710

Phone: (301) 585 - 4000

http://www.vva.org

By Phone

Direct Hotline for Servicemembers, 

Veterans and Families	 	 	

	 (800) 497 - 6261

Deployment Health Clinical Center

(866) 559 - 1627

Department of Veterans Affairs

	 (800) 827 - 1000

VA Gulf War Registry	 	 	

	 (800) 749 - 8387

VA Benefits and Services	 	

	 (877) 222 - 8387

On the Web

Department of Defense

http://www.defenselink.mil

Department of Veterans Affairs

http://www.va.gov/

DeploymentLINK

http://deploymentlink.osd.mil

GulfLINK

http://www.gulflink.osd.mil

TRICARE

http://www.tricare.osd.mil/

re- guide