A recently drafted executive order would open the door to medical and financial aid for veterans who believe their rare cancers and other illnesses come from their time at a remote military base.
The veterans were assigned to the base of the former Soviet Republic of Uzbekistan after the September 11, 2001 attacks and have spent years fighting for recognition.
Since then, more than 2,000 current and former service members have reported diseases, including rare forms of cancer, believed to be related to the former Soviet base also known as K-2, a CBS investigation has revealed. News.
Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller told Catherine Herridge, CBS’s senior investigative correspondent, in his first television interview on the network that he is directly involved in the case.
“[I’m] throwing the kitchen sink against it, ”Miller said.
Miller was one of the first to go to Afghanistan after 9/11 as an army special forces commander. It launched from the former Soviet air base, Karshi-Khanabad, or K-2, into neighboring Uzbekistan. The acting secretary said the K-2 reports are personal to him.
“It’s very personal. I think I have an obligation to help those who went through there and suffer from illness,” he said.
Of the 15,000 members of the service who went through K-2 between 2001 and 2005, more than 2,000 have flooded a Facebook page that was used to report diseases, including rare cancers.
Miller said he focused on helping veterans who served at the base.
“What I want is to be wrong about the veteran and not get caught up in the bureaucracy and the endless studies we’ve done in the past. That’s my commitment. There’s something going on, no doubt,” he said.
Miller said he hopes to provide assistance to K-2 veterans before Jan. 20, 2021 by drafting an executive order for President Trump’s consideration.. He says he is confident the order will be signed by the president.
“This is my fundamental goal and desire, and we will run to the end to try to make that happen,” he said.
A CBS News investigation documented new evidence of toxic conditions at the base, including aircraft-saturated fuel soils, a runway marked with warning signs, high levels of radiation, a 1993 explosion that dispersed toxic material by the base, as well as the existence of a unit of decontamination of chemical weapons of the Soviet era. One place was even nicknamed “Skittles Pond” for its changing shade.
Among the affected veterans is Doug Wilson, a former Air Force mechanic who says he can no longer work or drive after a rare form of cancer causes brain damage.
“I had no idea that at 40 this would be my life,” Wilson said.
Miller said seeing Wilson ‘s story led [him] to take it on more quickly “.
Meanwhile, K-2 veteran Mark Jackson told CBS News he recently received a preliminary diagnosis of cancer. He said the last 15 years have been a betrayal.
Miller, who works with the Department of Veterans Affairs, said the executive order he drafted would add Uzbekistan to the register of toxic exposures, alongside Afghanistan. This would allow K-2 veterans, such as Jackson and Miller, to access preventive testing and financial support.
“That [executive order] it will recognize its service as involved in operations in Afghanistan and open up programs and benefits to them that they cannot currently access, ”he said.
Asked about K-2 widows who have already lost their partner due to cancer, they believe it is related to toxic exposure at the base, Miller said they would not be left behind.
A recent hearing in Congress on the K-2 issue was held last month to address the health issues of sick service members.
Motivated by a new sense of drive, Miller hopes to use his ability to have some influence and break what he calls “bureaucratic logjam.”
A White House spokesman said he would not speculate on possible executive action. If President Trump refuses to sign the draft order, President-elect Joe Biden could take up the issue in office.
Both Jackson and Wilson told CBS News that they would support an executive order.