TAB J - Changes in This Report

The Al Jubayl case narrative, originally published on August 13, 1997, reported on investigations of three separate events, known as the loud noise event, the Scud Impact event, and the Purple T-shirt event. All three events occurred during the Gulf War at the port city of Al Jubayl, Saudi Arabia. Since we published the initial narrative, new information has emerged that necessitates an update to the case narrative.

The new information came from two sources. The first source was two individuals who met with us to discuss the original finding and assessment of the loud noise event. During the meeting, which occurred on September 5, 1997, the two individuals presented two different scenarios that challenged the assessment of the loud noise event. They believed that Iraq's military action caused the loud noise and not sonic booms from Coalition aircraft, as originally reported in the case narrative. The second source of information was the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence (MOD). On January 17, 2000, the MOD published the findings of its investigation into the loud noise event, "A Review of the Suggested Exposure of UK Forces to Chemical Warfare Agents in Al Jubayl on 19 January 1991." Although the MOD’s assessment is similar to ours, the MOD’s narrative contains new information not covered in our original Al Jubayl case narrative.

Besides obtaining new information, comments made by the General Accounting Office concerning the narrative also necessitate an update to the narrative. While agreeing with the assessments made in the narrative, the GAO criticized the narrative because it did not address the medical problems some veterans, many of whom were assigned to NMCB-24, have endured since returning home from the Gulf. The GAO recommended including this information in any update to the narrative.

The changes made to the paper are:


| First Page | Prev Page | Next Page |