Senators to DoD: Provide masks near burn pits

[Admin]

Senators to DoD: Provide masks near burn pits (http://www.armytimes.com/news/2011/01/military-burn-pits-respirator-masks-010511w/)

Two senators are urging the military to provide respirator masks for all troops who might be exposed to dangerous fumes from open-air burn pits used to dispose of trash in Iraq and Afghanistan.

[Girex]

so what about all the happy fucks who have to fly over them? lol were all gonna die slowly

[Un4given]

Do you get the same exposure as the joes standing IVO of them?

[Girex]

probably worse... as you know smoke rises and most of the time it settles at one altitude. at TAJI in Iraq the pit was about a half mile from where we take of (well most of the time depending on wind) and we flew over it every day, you could smell it.

Also the factories have nothing like we do for filtration, we would fly in the smog all the time it gets pretty bad makes you feel sick sometimes.

[Wes]

Ok, I was going to let it slide until the "probably worse" comment.

How many hours have you spent burning shit with JP8 and a picket? How many times have you lived in a tent that was right next to the burn pit? Tents seem to let in just a little bit more smoke than CHUs. Patrolling the streets in 2003? Burning bodies of humans and animals, medical waste, sewage, and trash burning on the streets we walked for 3hrs at a time.

Yep, I can see where being a pilot and flying in the stuff must be WORSE.

[Un4given]

I agree with Wes. Not just that, the concentration of the harmful particles is much higher at the lower levels near the source. We would smell it in and around Taji when we were pushin' CLPs, but it was just a shitty smell and we weren't choking and flailing about because of it.

[Girex]

wes, noone is knocking or arguing what you (or anyone else for that matter) did, dont take it so personally.

I agree closer to the smoke pile is probably a higher concentration, how many pile are right next to living conditions? i flew over a few FOBs and most of the piles were away from the living areas. Not to say there arnt some out there i just didnt see any right next to a tent.

but what happens when something is burning? the smoke goes up, that coupled with the factories belching stuff that you dont see at ground level is probably worse. At some altitudes the smoke levels off and you can see a black line. I didnt have anything to test the air quality, but the smell is definatly different and smells worse than it did when the wind would shift the burn pit smoke towards us.

[Un4given]

so what about all the happy fucks who have to fly over them? lol were all gonna die slowly
Okay then, fly with your mask on. Good training.

[Wes]

The burn pits were right next to us 03-04 in Iraq. Aside from walking next to the burning stuff on the streets all day. In A-stan they were just on the other side of the wall of the FOB. Would blanket Mehtar Lam all day. COP Najil was where we still had to burn our own shit in 07-08. VBC isn't bad at all these days, and I'd imagine most bases in Iraq moved the burn pits a further away from the living areas.

Just reacting to the "probably more" statement. I've bitched about plenty of things in my 11yrs in the Army, but I've known that there are plenty of other dudes that had it shittier than me at the time, and a hell of a lot worse back in previous wars. Personally I just try to be careful when I start making claims to how much more my life sucked than someone else. Like for this tour, this is the fucking life. I LOVE this job and its perks. My guys that are on their first tour here keep bitching. I just shake my head at them.

[Girex]

yeah man, thats why i never bitched about the conditions when i was there... i remember AIT and remembering the stories from the guys who lived in their trucks and had to weld their own armor... you got 3 years on me so i trust your experience.

i was not trying to say we had it worse than anyone else i was merly commenting on that its great the good senators are realizing some of the issues and add my 2 C...

i use probably right as the meaning IE there is a probable chance it could be worse not as fact, and well theres a good chance there is more Carcinogen's flying over the mix of burn pits and industrial pollution. believe it or not i got sick a few times (threw up after landing) after pulling a few hours over that big ass plant south of the VBC.

as i said im definatly not knocking your experiences, i was a ground guy when i was enlisted and will never forget.

I have a feeling a lot of us are going to have issues later on in life because of these type of things, my grandpa developed type 2 diabetes after ww2 and never had issues before(nor did it run in the family).

[Un4given]

The burn pits were right next to us 03-04 in Iraq. Aside from walking next to the burning stuff on the streets all day. In A-stan they were just on the other side of the wall of the FOB. Would blanket Mehtar Lam all day. COP Najil was where we still had to burn our own shit in 07-08. VBC isn't bad at all these days, and I'd imagine most bases in Iraq moved the burn pits a further away from the living areas.

Just reacting to the "probably more" statement. I've bitched about plenty of things in my 11yrs in the Army, but I've known that there are plenty of other dudes that had it shittier than me at the time, and a hell of a lot worse back in previous wars. Personally I just try to be careful when I start making claims to how much more my life sucked than someone else. Like for this tour, this is the fucking life. I LOVE this job and its perks. My guys that are on their first tour here keep bitching. I just shake my head at them.
Wes, I thought nobody had it worse than you patrolling on your own with nothing but an 8" knife and 20' of 550 cord.


@ Girex - My pops has been out almost 10 years now, retired E8 with 23.5 years. He's been a civil engineering contractor since. Back then the military never pushed disability and for troops to get checked to see what they qualify for. I told him now Soldiers that are perfectly fine are getting X amount of disability like nothing for various exposures and rigors throughout their careers. So he went back and got qualified for 30-40% and VA is going to push for more (of course) which translates into roughly $500+/mo tax free and some of his retirement check tax free. He's kicking himself for not going in for that sooner. It's probably going to be more because 30 years ago he was a Titan II tech (down in the missile silos) and was exposed to some harmful fumes and some sort of explosion none of which made it to his medical records because he was taken to an off-post ER. Those will be added soon.

So it goes to show, all this exposure, either in the air or ground, can translate to some compensation years down the road; however, who knows what ailments you'll have when you're older and no money can compensate for having diabetes or cancer or something else.

[Cerebroden]

eh...I'm gonna die of something, might as well get some disability from all the shit I had to breath in