NewsBytes May 27, 2022      
     
In this issue:
Navy Desertions Increased in 2021
Cause of Gulf War Illness Discovered
House Passes 19 Veterans Bills
Memorial Day Observances



Navy Desertions Increased in 2021
National Public Radio (NPR) and NBC News are reporting an increase in desertions from the Navy in 2021. Navy Desertions Increased in 2021, with 157 sailors illegally fleeing the Navy, more than double the number who deserted in 2019. Although all but eight of them eventually returned to their units. 

The Navy has seen an increase in desertions over the previous three years. In 2019, 63 sailors fled from their duty stations, and another 98 did so in 2020, a Navy spokesperson, Lt. Cmdr. Devin Arneson, told NPR. The number of deserters still at large had been on the decline between 2017 and 2019.

The NPR report noted that other branches of the military didn’t see a similar increase in the past three years. Desertions in the Army dropped by 47 percent, from 328 in 2019 to 174 in 2021, and the Marine Corps reported 59 in 2019 and 31 in 2021. The Coast Guard did not record a single deserter between 2019 and 2021.

The FRA has dispatched a letter to the Chairpersons and Ranking Members of the House and Senate Armed Services Personnel Subcommittees to ask for an oversight hearing on Navy morale issues. 


Cause of Gulf War Illness Discovered
After the Gulf War, nearly one-third of all who deployed reported unexplained chronic symptoms such as rashes, fatigue, gastrointestinal and digestive issues, brain "fog," neuropathy, and muscle and joint pain. Federal agencies generally rejected the idea that troops may have been suffering from exposure to chemical agents, with many veterans experiencing symptoms sent to mental health providers.

A study published in the journal of Environmental Health Perspectives used genetic research and survey data to determine that service members exposed to sarin were more likely to develop Gulf War Illness, and those who were exposed and had a weaker variant of a gene that helps digest pesticides were nine times more likely to have symptoms.

The FRA has urged key members of the House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees on Defense to continue to provide funding for the treatment-focused Gulf War Illness Research Program (GWIRP), part of the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program (CDMRP) within the Department of Defense (DoD). The FRA also co-hosted the 2021 Capitol Hill Forum on Gulf War Illness (GWI) organized by the Veterans for Common Sense and the Institute for Neuro Immune Medicine.


House Passes 19 Veterans Bills
The House passed 19 veterans’ bills before Memorial Day. The bills would improve the claims process for survivors of military sexual trauma, make VA’s patient advocate program more accessible, streamline the transfer of GI Bill benefits to veterans’ dependents, improve support for women veterans, and kick start the modernization of VBA’s IT systems to get veterans their benefits faster. 

  
Memorial Day Observances
National President James W. Campbell (Branch 40) will represent the Association at a White House breakfast meeting and at the Memorial Day ceremonies at Arlington National Cemetery on Monday, May 30. He will join other national leaders in honoring the men and women who have died in service to their nation by laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns. National Vice President James Robbins, Jr. (Branch 126) and National Executive Director Chris Slawinski will participate in a ceremony at the U.S. Navy Memorial on Memorial Day, and other FRA leaders will participate in Memorial Day ceremonies and events across the country to pay tribute to America’s fallen heroes.

The FRA NHQ will be closed on Monday, May 30, in observance of Memorial Day.

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