An armored vehicle passes through a breached sand berm separating Saudi Arabia from Iraq in February 1991, paving the way for advancing allied troops as the Gulf War moves to its next phase after 38 days of air raids and skirmishes. (Wayne J. Begasse/Stars and Stripes)

WASHINGTON — A Gulf War veteran is formally requesting the Department of Veterans Affairs add Gulf War illness to the list of service-connected medical conditions that qualify veterans for monthly, tax-free disability compensation and enrollment in VA health care.

The request by Ronald Brown, a toxic wounds consultant with Vietnam Veterans of America, follows a recent decision by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to officially recognize Gulf War illness as a legitimate medical condition affecting tens of thousands of former service members deployed to the Persian Gulf more than 30 years ago.

Brown submitted a letter to Margarita Devlin, principal deputy undersecretary for benefits, urging the VA to “act swiftly” to include Gulf War illness as a medical condition with a disability rating and benefits specific to the severity of an individual’s ailment.

“These steps are essential to honor the commitment to our Gulf War veterans and ensure they receive the recognition, compensation and support they deserve,” Brown wrote in the Oct. 16 letter.

VA acknowledged receipt of the letter but also warned Brown that the federal government shutdown will delay a response.

More than 700,000 troops deployed to the Persian Gulf in 1990 and 1991, with an estimated one-third developing unexplained medical symptoms that included severe fatigue, asthma and skin rashes.

Veterans often received a diagnosis of “medically unexplained chronic multi-symptom illness” — not Gulf War illness — because the condition was not officially recognized until Oct. 1.

“I think having a diagnosis of multi-symptom illness created a lot of confusion for veterans and for the VA,” said Mike Jarrett, a 66-year-old Gulf War Army veteran in Virginia.

Mike Jarrett, an Army veteran, served in the Persian Gulf War from 1990 to 1991. Jarrett said he developed several medical conditions during his deployment that continue today. “I didn’t ask until I needed help. But I was often told it was in my mind,” said Jarrett, who is 100% disabled from Gulf War illness. He is shown riding aboard a landing craft utility boat in the Persian Gulf.  (Mike Jarrett)

Jarrett, who is 100% disabled, said it was a struggle for him to convince VA doctors that his symptoms were connected to his deployment in the Persian Gulf.

“I didn’t ask until I needed help. But I was often told it was in my mind,” he said.

Jarrett, a former chief warrant officer, became ill during his nine-month deployment to the Persian Gulf in August 1990. But he was given several diagnoses, including chronic fatigue syndrome, reflux and fibromyalgia, all common in the general population.

Jarrett said the VA’s inclusion of Gulf War illness as a service-connected condition would bring legitimacy to the ongoing medical problems veterans say they developed from their deployments.

While no single cause for Gulf War illness has been identified, researchers point to links to toxic exposures that include chemical nerve agents such as sarin gas, smoke from oil well fires and pesticides.

Brown wrote in the letter that the addition of Gulf War illness as a service-connected condition will bring “fairness and consistency” to the review of the claims for benefits.

He also said that a diagnosis of Gulf War illness will make it easier for the VA to identify veterans for research to find treatments and perhaps a cure.

“It is important that Gulf War illness is fully recognized by the VA because they are professional caregivers to veterans,” Brown said.

“Following the CDC’s approval of an official diagnostic code for Gulf War illness, veterans find it hard to understand why VA hasn’t immediately issued new regulations adding the Gulf War illness [as a medical condition] so hundreds of thousands of afflicted veterans can obtain the VA benefits and care they need and earned,” said Paul Sullivan, an Army veteran and national vice chair of the nonprofit Veterans for Common Sense.

Veterans for Common Sense has long advocated for Gulf War illness to be added as a “presumptive medical condition” that the VA automatically treats as service connected without the veteran having to prove a link between an illness and military duty.

Jarrett said he volunteered for academic and VA research of the symptoms he and other Gulf War veterans were experiencing after he retired from the military in 1996.

The findings revealed damage to his mitochondrial DNA and atrophy in parts of his brain.

“There were a lot of lost opportunities because of my physical limitations after I left the service. But my hope is that other veterans will have an easier time getting treatment and having their claims approved once the VA designates benefits for Gulf War illness,” Jarrett said.