“My base in Iraq did not have a burn pit.”

Said no OIF or OEF Veteran ever.

That’s because every single American outpost or base in Iraq and Afghanistan had a burn pit.

There were burn pits at Balad, LSA Anaconda, and FOB Marez.

At COP Heider, Sinjar, Talil.

They had burn pits at FOB Danger, FOB McKenzie, and LSA Diamondback.

They were at Sykes,  Stryker, and FOB Kalsu…..Al Asad, Taji.

You name a base in Iraq or Afghanistan – there were burn pits there.

I’ve heard Veterans tell me they had them in Kuwait, too…and even stories that we built burn pits at coalition bases in Bahrain. Here is one of the most complete lists I’ve seen of bases where we allegedly had burn pits….let me know if you see a base that is missing.

(We’ve copied and pasted the list below in the event that the linked site someday “disappears”, as happens far too often when Veterans issues go “out of vogue”).

What Are Burn Pits?

If you have to ask what a Burn Pit is, you didn’t go to Iraq or Aghanistan.

It’s that simple.

This is how our soldiers disposed of all waste while on their base: by burning it.

Soldiers burn plastics, wood, clothing, human waste, metal, rubber, solvents, medical waste, styrofoam, solvents, and more.

There was no limit to what was burned.

The largest of the burn pits was at Balad – the burn pit there covered over 10 acres and burned waste at the rate of multiple TONS per day.

Anyone who has seen a tire fire or a proscribed burn in the forest has seen how much smoke this type of burning puts into the air.

Of course we all know that breathing that kind – and volume – of smoke is dangerous.

But the biggest danger to Veterans wasn’t just the initial exposure to the smoke.

It was the Particulate Matter in the smoke.

What is Particulate Matter?

Particulate Matter is the small solid or liquid particles that remain in the air after a pollution event.

Known to scientists as “PM”, the particles can be large enough to be seen by the naked eye, but most commonly not.

It may be liquid or solid. Acid or metal. Dust or chemical.

The size of Particulate Matter is measured in units known as microns.

A micron is 1 one-millionth of a meter.

(A Micron is also the length of an Air Force ruck march. Ha, couldn’t resist.)

To give you an idea, the dot above this letter “i” is probably around 400-500 microns.

Any Particulate Matter that is smaller than 10 microns are a severe hazard to anyone’s health.

Why?

Particles this small can pass through the hair in your nose, into your lungs, through the membrane of the lungs and into your bloodstream, where it is distributed to your body.

VA Claims for Particulate Matter Exposure.

It doesn’t necessarily matter – for the purposes of a VA claim – what the Particulate Matter is made of.

Once small PM gets into your bloodstream – and we are talking from exposures as short as 3 hours – your immune system is compromised.

Your risk of respiratory problems and heart problems, cancers and lung damage, breathing disorders and ischemic heart disease skyrocket.

And then there is the chronic bronchiolitis – the long-term, chronic or permanent inflammation of the bronchioles.

Bronchioles are the “highway” that delivers air from your nose and mouth to the sacs in your lung, where the oxygen in the air is then dispersed to your bloodstream.

When those bronchioles are inflamed – due to a virus or an irritation like Particulate Matter – you begin to be short of breath. Persistent wheezing or coughing occurs.

Your away is obstructed and you might experience sleep apnea. Asthma. Heart problems.

Bottom line up front – if you were stationed at a base in Iraq and Afghanistan and breathed the air there for more than 3 hours while a burn pit was active – you need to amend your VA Claim right now.

You need to amend that claim to allege that any condition that you have now or will have, from cancer or lymphoma, respiratory or cardiac, lymphoma or sleep apnea – anything at all – was the result of your exposure to (use these words) Particulate Matter in the air at the base you were stationed at.

The VA may deny that claim.

In all likelihood, they will.

There are 2 (very general) reasons that the VA generally denies “Burn Pit” claims.

If they deny it because your current diagnosed condition is not shown to be the result of a Particulate Matter exposure in Iraq or Afghanistan, there are accredited VA attorneys out there who are versed in how to change this outcome – how to get your claim proved up with the right scientific and/or medical evidence.

On the other hand, they may deny it because you don’t (yet) have the medical condition that could result from the exposures to the Particulate Matter in the burn pits.

You may not yet have cancer.

Or Ischemic Heart Disease.

A lymphoma or bronchiolitis.

But let me say this – I bet that every single Vietnam Veteran who is suffering from the chronic diseases that result from Agent Orange had filed a claim in 1975 alleging that their exposure to Agent Orange caused the host of medical conditions that they did not yet have.

Had they done so, many of these Veterans would have effective dates that go back 2, 3, or 4 decades – thanks to lawyers like those that brought the Nehmer lawsuit against the VA in the 1980 and 90s.

Bottom line up front – and I say this to be frank and not put the VA down – the VA has no clue what it is talking about in most Burn Pit cases.

The VA is so hammered by the scandals of the last 10 years that investing the research money to find out what is happening to soldiers after a near-constant exposure to Particulate Matter smaller than 10 microns at the Burn Pits is pretty low on the priority list.

And even when the VA is aware that a Veteran has a Particulate Matter claim, they don’t even follow the most basic rule about sending “Particulate Matter” fact sheets to the C&P Examiner.

If you say you were at LSA Anaconda for 8 months and worked the burn pits for 7 hours a day, 6 days a week for 8 months, they won’t think about Particulate Matter, or looking for the early markers of heart and respiratory disease.

They won’t ever think your sleep apnea could be caused by the damage to your airway caused by PM smaller than 10 Microns.

If your claim for a condition that you believe results from your exposure to the burn pits at your base in Iraq and/or Afghanistan, please reach out to a VA Accredited attorney that knows how to get the VA to follow their rules and regulations for these “Exposure” claims in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Veterans Law Blog publishes a FREE eBook that will teach you how to find the best VA accredited attorney for your claim or appeal.

 

PS…This is, by far, the most comprehensive list of bases where we had burn pits….if your base is not listed, please contact me to let me know by clicking the green support button in the lower  right.

The following is a list of locations where burn pits allegedly operated:

Exposure Site	Site City	Site State/Province	Site Country
Bagram Airfield	Bagram	Parvan	Afghanistan
Camp Bastion	Lashkar Gah	Helmand	Afghanistan
Camp Dwyer	Garmsir	Helmand	Afghanistan
Camp Eggers	Kabul	Kabul	Afghanistan
Camp Kabul	Kabul	Kabul	Afghanistan
Camp Phoenix	Kabul	Kabul	Afghanistan
Camp Spann	Mazar-e Sharif	Balkh	Afghanistan
COP Bak	Bak	Khowst	Afghanistan
COP Tere Zayi	Tere Zayi	Khowst	Afghanistan
FOB Airborne	Kane-Ezzat	Vardak	Afghanistan
FOB Asadabad	Asadabad	Konar	Afghanistan
FOB Chapman	Khost	Khowst	Afghanistan
FOB Ghazni	Ghazni City	Ghazni	Afghanistan
FOB Maimaneh	Maimaneh	Faryab	Afghanistan
FOB Orgun-E	Orgune	Paktika	Afghanistan
FOB Qalat	Qalat	Zabul	Afghanistan
FOB Ramrod	Malwand	Kandahar	Afghanistan
FOB Salerno	Khowst	Khowst	Afghanistan
FOB Shank	Gardez	Lowgar	Afghanistan
FOB Sharana	Sharana	Paktika	Afghanistan
FOB Shindand	Sabzawar	Herat	Afghanistan
FOB Tarin Kowt	Tarin Kowt	Uruzgan	Afghanistan
FOB Walton	Kandahar	Kandahar	Afghanistan
ISAF HQ	Kabul	Kabul	Afghanistan
Kandahar Airfield	Kandahar	Kandahar	Afghanistan
FOB Fenty	Jalalabad	Nangarhar	Afghanistan
Camp Lemonier	Djibouti	DJ	Djibouti
Al Asad Airbase	Al Asad	Al-Anbar	Iraq
Al Taqaddrum Airbase	Al Habbaniyah	Al-Anbar	Iraq
Ali Air Base	Nasiniyah	Dhi-Qar	Iraq
Baghdad Central Prison	Abu Ghraib	Baghdad	Iraq
Cam Scania`Nippur	Nippur	Al-Quadisyyah	Iraq
Camp Anderson	Al Diwaniyah	Al-Quadisyyah	Iraq
Camp Ashram	Ashraf	Diyela	Iraq
Camp Babylon	Al Hillah	Babil	Iraq
Camp Baharla	Fallujah	An-Anbar	Iraq
Camp Bucca	Umm Qasr	Al-Basrah	Iraq
Camp Corregidor	Ramadi	Al-Anbar	Iraq
Camp Delta	Al Kut	Wasit	Iraq
Camp Dogwood	Al Iskandariyah	Babil	Iraq
Camp Falcon	Baghdad	Baghdad	Iraq
Camp Fallujah	Fallujah	Al-Anbar	Iraq
Camp Freedom I	Baghdad	Diyela	Iraq
Camp Hope	Al Diweniyah	Al-Quadisyyah	Iraq
Camp Independence	Baghdad	Baghdad	Iraq
Camp Korean Village	Ar Rutbah	Al-Anbar	Iraq
Camp Manhattan	Al Habbanlyah	Al-Anbar	Iraq
Camp Ramadi	Ramadi	Al-Anbar	Iraq
Camp Rustamiyah	Sadr City	Baghdad	Iraq
Camp Shield	Baghdad	Baghdad	Iraq
Camp Taji	Taji	Baghdad	Iraq
CamPpCannon	Husaybah	Al-Anbar	Iraq
COB Basra	Basra	Al-Basrah	Iraq
COB Spector	Tikrit	Salah ad-Din	Iraq
COP Meade	Zambraniyah	Baghdad	Iraq
FOB Bernstein	Tuz	Salah ad-Din	Iraq
FOB Brassfeld-Mora	Samarra	Salah ad-Din	Iraq
FOB Caldwell	Kirkuk	Kirkuk	Iraq
FOB Courage	Mosul	Ninawa	Iraq
FOB Danger	Tikrit	Salah ad-Din	Iraq
FOB Duke	Najaf	An-Najaf	Iraq
FOB Echo	Al Diwaniyah	Al-Quadisyyah	Iraq
FOB Gabe	Baqubah	Diyela	Iraq
FOB Hammer	Baghdad	Baghdad	Iraq
FOB Hit	Ramadi	Al-Anbar	Iraq
FOB Hotel	Najar	An-Najaf	Iraq
FOB Kalsu	Iskandariya	Babil	Iraq
FOB Lima	Karbala	Al-Karbala	Iraq
FOB Loyalty	Ramadi	Al-Anbar	Iraq
FOB Marez	Mosul	Ninawa	Iraq
FOB McKenzie	Samarra	Salah ad-Din	Iraq
FOB Mercury	Abu Ghraib	Baghdad	Iraq
FOB Normandy	Muqdadiyah	Diyala	Iraq
FOB Peliwoda	Balad	Salah ad-Din	Iraq
FOB Q-West	Qayyarah	Ninawa	Iraq
FOB Scunion	Baquba	Diyala	Iraq
FOB St, Michael	Mahmudiya	Salah ad-Din	Iraq
FOB Summerall	Baiji	Salah ad-Din	Iraq
FOB Sykes	Tal Afar	Ninawa	Iraq
FOB Ubeydi	Al Ubaydi	Al-Anbar	Iraq
Green Zone	Baghdad	Baghdad	Iraq
Haditha Dam	Haditha	Al-Anbar	Iraq
Joint Base Balad	Balad	Salah ad-Din	Iraq
Joint Security Station McHenry	Hewijah	Kkirkuk	Iraq
JSS Al Awad	Al Awad	Dhi-Qar	Iraq
JSS Tarmiyah	Tarmiyah	Baghdad	Iraq
JSS Thrasher	Ghazaliya	Baghdad	Iraq
Kirkuk Air Base	Kirkuk	Kirkuk	Iraq
Mosul Air Base	Mosul	Ninawa	Iraq
Victory Base Complex	Baghdad	Baghdad	Iraq
Ali Al Salam Air Force Base	Ali Al Salam AFB	Al Jahra	Kuwait
Camp Arifjan	Kuwait City	Al Asimah	Kuwait
Camp BuehringUDAIRI	Udairi	Al Jahra	Kuwait
Camp Coyote	Camp Coyote	Al Jahra	Kuwait
Camp Doha	Ad Dawhah	Al Jahra	Kuwait
Camp New York	Udairi	Al Jahra	Kuwait
Camp Spearhead	Shuaiba	Al Ahmadi	Kuwait
Kuwait Naval Base	Al Julaia	Al Ahmadi	Kuwait
Al Udeid Air Base	Doha	Ad-Dawhah	Qatar