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Testimony
of NATIONAL
GULF WAR RESOURCE CENTER
Submitted
by
Stephen
L. Robinson Executive
Director Before theSubcommittee
on Health House
Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Regarding Lessons
learned from the Gulf War
January 24, 2002National Gulf War Resource Center January
24,2002
Mr. Chairman and other distinguished members of the Committee, on behalf of National Gulf War Resource Center (NGWRC), we are pleased to have this opportunity to present our views with respect to the issue of Lessons Learned from the Gulf War. In this statement, we will discuss Lessons Learned from the veteran advocate and end user perspective. NGWRC is most appreciative of your inviting us to submit testimony and to provide a statement for the record in this matter, and for your leadership in seeking to insure the Lessons Learned are actually implemented. We believe this hearing will generate the action needed to protect future veterans and insure that those fighting the war on terrorism today do not repeat policy failures from the Gulf War. More
than decade ago, U.S. Forces were deployed to fight in a war that
would be won in a matter of hours rather than years.
The speed of battle and the technology that was employed
ensured our success as we achieved our objectives.
Generals were lauded as heroes and soldiers returned home to
parades and fanfare. Many
soldiers left the military immediately upon return and others
continued to serve. Not
long after the Gulf War veterans began to report symptoms and illness.
Some veterans believed they were ill as a result of their
service during the war. The President of the United States and the Department of
Defense made a critical decision at this moment in time that I believe
will soon be the most studied and dissected decision of my generation. The leadership of our government had to choose what to do,
tell the truth about what soldiers faced during the Gulf War or begin
a long protracted Public Affairs campaign designed to delay the truth,
control the story and fund the coffers of beltway contractors. “Its all in your
head” Lessons Learned from the gulf war. To understand what we
have learned we must first understand what we believed prior to the
Gulf War. What we believed then We were told we were
the best-trained, best-equipped army in the world and that we should
expect 60% casualties going into the breach.
The Iraqi Army was the third largest army in the world. What we know now Our leaders were
given overstated intelligence assessments about the Iraqi Army and the
threat. We went to war
with defective chemical suits. Chemical
and biological agent alarms were purchased and sent to the field even
though it was known in 1988 they didn’t work.
The fox vehicles capabilities were not fully understood before
deployment and Khamisiyah was a known chemical weapons storage
facility prior to the Gulf War. National Gulf War Resource Center January 24, 2002 What we believed then Anthrax, Botoxin and
other weapons of mass destruction will be used as offensively against
coalition forces therefore we should inoculate our forces to protect
them and we wont tell them what shots they are getting.
We will violate all standing policy on the use of
investigational new drugs because “Here at DoD, we believe we know
what’s best for soldiers”. What we know now It is not rational to
inoculate for every perceived threat and strain of biological agent or
chemical weapon. Usually, inoculation occurs when you intend to use a weapon
offensively, because it is almost certain that some of it will blow
back onto your own forces. The
decision to give U.S. forces the anthrax vaccine made no sense; the
vaccine was only approved for cutainous anthrax and is still not FDA
approved for inhalation anthrax, using it to protect against weapons
grade offensively deployed inhalation anthrax was an experiment.
This experiment continues today on postal workers who must
waive their rights to sue Bioport should they have a severe systemic
reaction. We also know that the Department of Defense is so far into
bed with Bioport that it does not matter how many times Bioport
deceives the nation, fails inspection and harms soldiers.
DoD will be there for the former JCS and his foreign owned
company. We also
know that the use of pyridostigmine
bromide as a pretreatment for Sarin exposure was an
experiment. Conventional
wisdom says you don’t give healthy people drugs designed for
severely sick people, especially if you do not know what the long-term
health effects will be. These
decisions and others that were violations of human testing in any
other setting are what I now call the “Black Beret Factor”.
The BBF factor is the suspension of common sense, regardless of
all conventional wisdom, and the implementation of policy even though
its in violation of standing law or directly harms the end user. What we believed then. We believed DoD would look at what happened to Gulf War veterans and provide accurate reports that were sound in methodology and investigational practices. We believed DoD would fund studies and research that would seek to find answers. We believed that DoD would be forthcoming, revealing any intelligence that would unravel the mystery of Gulf War illnesses. We believed that “No stone would be left unturned”. We believed the
mistakes made during the Gulf War would result in Lessons Learned that
would be implemented to protect soldiers in future conflicts to come. What we know now. DoDs investigational methodology is suspect and leans away from the veteran. In doing so, the veteran has suffered for the last 10 years waiting to be recognized and compensated fairly for injuries incurred during service to their country. We know that the vast majority of research conducted was funneled to beltway contractors who realized the gravy train that the investigation would produce. We know that independent research was crushed, stalled, demonized and ridiculed by the Office of the Special Assistant for Gulf War Illnesses. National Gulf War Resource Center January 24, 2002 We know that DoD has not been forthcoming in revealing the important intelligence matters of the Gulf War and as they begin to conclude the Gulf War investigation there are several areas of intelligence and investigation that they have conveniently ignored. We know they did not turn every stone. They turned selected stones. We know that DoD is
not implementing the Lessons Learned from the Gulf War that was passed
into law. This blatant
disregard for their own policy endangers soldiers who are called to
deploy into hazardous areas of the world where chemical and biological
agents may be used in time of war.
We know that the truth will come out, it always does. The question here
today is, do we have the courage to invest in the truth today so that
we protect the soldier of tomorrow? National
Gulf War Resource Center Funding
Statement National
Gulf War Resource Center (NGWRC) is a national non-profit veterans
organization registered as a 501(c)3 with the Internal Revenue
Service. NGWRC is not in
receipt of any federal grant or resource. For
further information Contact: President of NGWRC Mike Woods (301)-585-4000 Stephen
L. Robinson Steve Robinson
entered the Army on September, 28,1981 and on completion of basic
training and Airborne School, he was assigned to C co 1/75 Ranger
Battalion where he earned his Ranger Tab and Black Beret.
Steve Robinson has served in a wide variety of assignments to
include; the Ranger Battalion, 24th Infantry Division, 1/1Oth Special
Forces, Ranger Instructor Florida Phase, Long Range Surveillance
Detachment Team Leader in Korea, Military Science Instructor, and
finally as the NCOIC, Preliminary Analysis Group, Investigations and
Analysis Directorate, Office of the Special Assistant to the Secretary
of Defense for Gulf War Illnesses, Medical Readiness, and Military
Deployments from February 1999 through September 2001.
During this period, Mr. Robinson was actively involved in all
aspects of the organization’s mission.
He served as the Senior Non-Commissioned Officer to the
Preliminary Analysis Group and assistant to the Executive Officer for
all immediate response and request for information Steve has held a wide
variety of leadership positions. He served as a 60mm mortar gunner and
90mm recoilless rifle gunner, FDC assistant and FO controlling Joint
CAS/Artillery while assigned to the Ranger BN. He has served as a
Squad Leader in two Mechanized Infantry Battalions and was the Branch
Chief of the Mountaineering Phase of Platoon Confidence Training
Course in Bad Tolz, Germany. He also augmented C co 1/10th ODA 32 during Operation Provide
Comfort after the Gulf War. Steve is a graduate
of several Army schools and courses including; Airborne, Ranger,
Jungle Warfare, Marine Corps Amphibious Scout Swimmer, Primary
Leadership Development Course, Basic Non-commissioned Officer Course,
International Long Range Surveillance Course basic/advanced, Special
Forces Jumpmaster Course, Instructor Training Course, Combat
Lifesaving Course, Tactics Certification Course, Survival Escape
Resistance Evasion Course High Risk, Explosives Ordinance
Demolition Course, S.O.C.C Course and The Revolutionary Warfare
Course. Mr. Robinson was hand
selected to train the following Government, Federal and State
organizations: - U.S. Airforce Security Police Team for the worldwide competition Peacekeeper Challenge 94. - U.S. Ambassadors
Staff, Bonn Germany ‑ Survival. - Correctional
Emergency Response Team Eglin AFB ‑ Hostage Rescue and Close
Quarters Battle. - Special Operations
Response Team. Federal Prison Panama City, Florida ‑ Hostage
Rescue. Military awards
include: Infantry Cord,
Expert Rifle, Expert 60‑mm mortar, EIB, Master Parachutist
U.S., Master Parachutist German, Master Parachutist Korean, German Marksmanship
Silver, German EIB Bronze, Ranger Tab, SF Combat Patch, OSR - 3, ASR - 1
NCOPD‑3, NDSM, GCM‑6, HSM - 1, AAM ‑ 4, ARCOM
‑ 4, MSM – 1, DMSM - 1 After successful
completion of a twenty-year military career, Steve Robinson continues
to serve his country and his fellow soldiers.
He has accepted the position of Executive Director of the
National Gulf War Resource Center, a non-profit organization that
helps veterans of the Gulf War and protects soldiers of today’s
Army. In this capacity,
Mr. Robinson serves as a representative for the organization and
it’s agenda to veterans, congress and the media. Steve Robinson is married to the former Patricia A. Tomlin of Cape May Court House, New Jersey. Back to Witness List |