BOSNIA SAMPLING

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@igc.org>]

MONITORING THE MILITARY ENVIRONMENT IN BOSNIA

In the two most recent large-scale conflicts involving the U.S. 
military - the Vietnam and Persian Gulf Wars - debates over the extent 
of negative health impacts to U.S. service personnel have persisted 
long after the last shot was fired. In the U.S. military's peacekeeping 
operation in Bosnia-Herzogovina, however, the Army Center for Health 
Promotion and Preventive Medicine and associated units have taken a 
positive, proactive view. In a paper being presented this week, Brad 
Hutchens and Andrew Pate of that Army Center describe a "comprehensive 
air, soil, and water sampling in an effort to identify and evaluate 
environmental threats with the goal of reducing or eliminating Disease 
and Non-Battle Injuries (DNBI)." (That's a new acronym that we'll all 
have to learn!)

During the first year of the "Operation Joint Endeavor" (OJE) 
deployment, the Army took approximately 1,700 samples in Bosnia, 
Hungary, and Germany, producing over 112,000 data points - each sample 
was analyzed for numerous potential biological and chemical 
contaminants. Geographic information systems were used to correlate 
that data with medical data on U.S. troops. 

The authors conclude, "The end result of this effort was that OJE was a 
healthier deployment than expected. The OJE DNBI rates averaged between 
7 and 8 per 100 troops per week, much less than the expected rate of 
DNBI of 10 per 100 troops per week which was based on recent 
deployments to Somalia, Haiti, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia." 

It may actually be too soon to judge the significance of those 
findings. Other factors contributed to the reduced rate. Furthermore, 
there is always the potential for health problems to emerge after 
troops return home.

Still, this new approach should be a valuable tool, not only for 
keeping fielded troops healthy, but for identifying the likely causes 
of chronic disease among veterans. Bosnia, as a relatively smooth 
peacekeeping operation, was probably an easy place to try out the 
techniques of military environmental surveillance. If early results are 
borne out - and techniques are perfected - it's possible that the 
approach will be expended and perfected for other, "hotter" deployments.

Lenny Siegel