Veterans who served at Karshi-Khanabad Air Base in Uzbekistan after Sept. 11, 2001, and have a chronic illness that isn’t easily diagnosed are now eligible for expedited disability benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs.
The VA announced Friday that those who served at the installation, known as K2, and have symptoms similar to Gulf War Illness, which the VA calls “medically unexplained chronic multisymptom illness,” have a presumptive condition that will make it easier for them to apply for disability compensation.
While K2 veterans already are eligible for health care benefits under the PACT Act, and those with health conditions related to burn pit exposure qualify for fast-tracked disability benefits, the announcement is the first for this population to receive a unique service-connected designation.
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“At VA, our goal is to provide every veteran who served at K2 with the care and benefits that they deserve for their service to our nation — and that’s what this effort is all about,” VA’s Under Secretary for Benefits Josh Jacobs said in a statement Friday.
According to the announcement, service at K2 from 2001 to 2005 also qualifies as a toxic exposure risk activity, or TERA, for contaminants such as jet fuel, volatile organic compounds, particulate matter, asbestos and lead-based paint, a designation that also eases the…
