TO ANYONE WHO SERVED AT FOB HAMMER, IRAQ

I have talked to one of my friends who was also in 3/3id at fob hammer, as was i from mar 07- june 08 and there has been a female soldier that was there during that time diagnosed with cancer, she is dieng. It could be a coincidence, but she didnt smoke, and she is young. Shes going through chemo now. So i have a good feeling that more people are going to get sick. Sorry i replied to this post so late, i just found it... Anyone know of anyone else having bad problems from hammer? I have chronic breathing problems now...hopefully it doesnt get worse
 
11bin3id,

That is certainly an unfortunate development with your friend, I hope she can get through it and live her life. I can tell you that I have respiratory issues that have been ever present since I've been at Hammer (I was there the same time as you). I have a 0% rating assigned from the VA for rhinitis - they acknowledge that there is something going on, but the symptoms are not consistent enough (nor bad enough) to meet the criteria for a higher rating.

I haven't spoke to my old comrades from 3BDE3ID in some time (primarily because they are back in Iraq). But I know that there are others who had similar respiratory issues - and the only common denominator is that they all served at FOB Hammer during OIF 5.3.

There is a report uploaded in the "Downloads" section of this website that I got my hands on before being medically retired. It basically states that there was some bad stuff in the air at FOB Hammer and Soldiers will have respiratory symptoms as a result. If you haven't already, take a look.
 
I served in OIF from sep 2006- april-2007. During this time my unit the 557 ERHS was tasked with the job of deploying our squadron east of Baghdad to site survey and set up FOB Hammer. I was a member of the CLP team and pulled security while this was done. I distinctly remember one of our hazmat guys meeting me one night in the smoke pit and being stressed out because the command dismissed his report that the site was hazardous. His team had found something in the dirt there and in the air. He said stuff would eventually hit the fan and he was glad we were getting out of there in 30 days. i don't know what he found as I'm just a security guy but it bothered me and this thread i found bothers me too. As we were leaving the area the Army rolled in to occupy it. At the time it wasn't called FOB Hammer, we called it butler range complex. my email is [email protected].
 
I was also on FOB hammer from nov 08 thru july 09. Since returning from that deployment i have had breathing problems chest pain an devolped myself a case of bullous pemphigoid (median age for this disease is 80!!!!!) What ventimiglia had to say really got to me i ahve also devoloped a speech impediment not stuttering but i say something comes out like mush and i was was a proficient typer and now most words come out jumbled and mixed up(gotta reread most things). Had a chest xray and like above was just told i will get a calll if anything is wrong (yeah right). got another xray with my phase one hopefully someone will look at it this time
 
I need the documentation that supports this memo ASAP, some of my guys are heading out (others are staying) that need this memo in their medical jacket.

Please advise.

Standing by for the email.
 
I know I'm super late but can someone/ anyone email me these documents please? I was at hammer in 08 and would really like to look into this information. Thank you.

[email protected]
 
I assisted in the design and construction of FOB Hammer. Residing on Hammer, PB Sallie, or Tuwaitha was an awful experience. I remember the female health inspector running around and later her published memorandum stating how the air quality was good. She was a character – most likely grew up in a house of learning doctors. Take a look at these photos and tell me Soldiers were not caught between a rock and a hard place (brick factory and the burn pit). Documents stating that Hammer was no worse than other parts of Iraq represents a scientifically meaningless analogy. Take a look at the photos and tell me the air quality is fine.
 

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I mentioned in an earlier post about a memo I would post up on the forum. Well I was about to scan them in today and noticed there is some 'sensitive' personal information (email addresses and the likes) throughout the report. I could 'blot' them out but I'd rather just respond to requests for the docs. I will gladly send the documents to anybody by request through email. Anyway, if you were a member of the USAF, USA, USN, or USMC (all of which I saw at FOB Hammer) you may want to keep this in mind if you ever have respiratory problems or some medical issue you believe can be connected to the following, which is the cover page of the report and basically summarizes what was going on with the air there.

EDIT: I tried to hunt down our environmental officer over there but she PCS'ed (I wanted an update on the manganese, as our brigade was at FOB Hammer from March 07 - May 08). I sporadically searched for a more recent report on the manganese levels as I know they were constantly measuring the air samples there (due to a brick factory pouring smoke onto us and the living areas sitting on a former tank range, allegedly full of depleted uranium) and will definitely update this thread if I find anything. Hopefully there is nobody affected by this but just in case there is... Plus I know this memo wasn't handed out to all the regular joes!
Thank you for the information. I to have served a tour of duty at FOB Hammer and have had respiratory issues effecting my sleep. I would like a copy of this report, this may justify all the issues I had when I went to the clinic to complain about my health issues I was experiencing at FOB Hammer. Please send a copy of this document to [email protected]. Thank you in advance for your assistance and support.
 
You mention a "former tank range with depleted uranium".

Hello Folks: I served across the road from FOB HAMMER from May to October 2009 at the Besmaya Combat Range Complex (formally Butler Range). My team relocated to FOB Constitution in Abu Ghraib. We frequently used the services (DFAC, PX, Shops and Medical) at FOB HAMMER, almost daily. Besmaya and HAMMER were part of an Iraqi Army Range complex and Headquarters for one of the Republican Guard Air Defense Brigades during the '91 Gulf War and '03 Iraqi War. On Besmaya's training ranges, there are several occupied tank pits with destroyed Iraqi equipment (T-72 Tanks and ZSU ADA tracks) still exist. My team had a picture taken on top of one of the tanks. ?? Depleted uranium - Yes - from the A-10s that destroyed the Iraqi weapon systems. There was also a small farmhouse on the west-side of Besmaya, reportedly where hundreds of bodies were found laying around - all wounded Iraqi soldiers who succumbed to their injuries. On the far east-side of Besmaya were swamplands, also reportedly full of bodies (civilian and military) shortly after the '03 war. If you followed the Besmaya's interior Range Road east, one will hit a smooth-surface asphault 2-lane highway, complete with curbing and sewage pipes. It was very strange, this beautiful, 3 to 5K boulevard (not one pothole existed) out in the middle of no-where. The highway led to an incompletely developed, yet modern-looking sub-division. Nice streets laid out into neighborhoods, a large pit (?lwater feature?) with small pic-nic shelters, a small shopping plaza (all destroyed) and a large governmental-looking building (we speculated a fire or police department). Along the way to the sub-division were destroyed military equipment. We were told that FOB HAMMER (east end) was built on the foundation of the old AAA Brigade Headquarters buildings, and that much of the Iraqi junk (destroyed military equipment) was hauled over the the HAMMER Burn Pit. Not sure if any of this helps at all, but Besmaya was an interesting place.
 
Artillery - Thanks for the great pictures. I took several photos of the Brick factories from the top of the Besmaya Range Control Tower. Unbelievable!! Your pictures clearly show what we could never completely see. Thank you. I remember the sulfuric-smelling air was almost a daily occurrence, and then those days when the wind shifted, the smoke almost inhibited trainng. There were also the dust storms, when everything had a weird orangish hue and your visibility was only a few hundred feet. I retuned from Iraq in January 2010, and I coughed for over 1 year. I did not experience severe chest or joint pains, only mild chest discomfort. I have developed cancer though, recently diagnosed at Stage 1. I guess that I am lucky to find it early. Besmaya had several battle-destroyed Iraqi tanks and AAA tracks on its personnel training ranges. I have often wondered how many Rads my team picked up from the depleted uranium rounds from our friendly A-10s….?
 
I'm currently getting MEB out of the army for numerous injuries that I have sustained through my short time in the service. I served at FOB Hammer Iraq 08-09 with the 82nd and ever since have had serious medical issues. I have trouble breathing, joint pain in every joint, chest pains, head aches, twitching and actual freeze moments where I can not move. I have never had any issues prior to my deployment. If there is anyone with something of a paper trail i would love it. i have found very little to none but like so many of your post we share the same symptoms. I have been going to the doctor for the last few years to no avail.
 
Artillery,

Thanks for the pictures. I was at FOB Loyalty with convoys supporting Hammer in '10. I never saw the factories, but everyone knew about them. I still remember the damn smell. If anyone still has that memo floating around, or a more recent one as well, please inbox me. Thanks,
 
I was stationed at Butler Range Complex aka FOB Hammer as a contractor working at the SSA. This place was primitive upon our arrival there. The dust their was finer than anywhere I had witnessed in Iraq. The brick factory and burn pit were equally hazardous as they were on opposite sides of the FOB. If it wasn't the dust, then the wind would blow in either the brick factory exhaust or the burn pit fumes. The Army units we supported also gave us a copy of the air quality report that was labelled "hazardous." It would be at least as likely for a VA examiner to hook up a respiratory condition (sinusitis, rhinitis, sleep apnea, etc.) due to your exposure there with the air quality report to substantiate the environment.
 
Could someone please e-mail me the report to [email protected]. I have had respiratory issues since 2011, 7 months after my redeployment from FOB Hammer. I have had appointments and I'm suspected to have asthma but the albuterol doesn't help. Then it was GERD but the zantac and nexium don't help. I have diminished breath sounds but I'm too young to have COPD according to my doc so now I'm just walking around struggling to breath and using a rescue inhaler every 2 hours.
 
I was not in the army during the initial invasion of Iraq but when I was deployed with soldiers who were, during OIF 3 and OIF 5, they told me they did in fact fire DU rounds during the invasion, though these were fired from Bradley Fighting Vehicles, not Abrams. I wouldn't know if tanks fired them or not outside of Kuwait.

During OIF 5 I was mostly working out of FOB Hammer and can confirm that it was a test range used to fire many different types of munitions after the initial invasion. We frequently uncovered various types of UXO as well as shell casings, linkage, brass, etc. during the 15 months we were stationed there and before we even arrived in country we were told that FOB Hammer was going to be built on an area that had been used as a range for the past several years.

I was on an Abrams for the invasion attached to 3rd Brigade 3rd ID and I guarantee that we fired many DU tank rounds during the invasion in 2003.
 
I mentioned in an earlier post about a memo I would post up on the forum. Well I was about to scan them in today and noticed there is some 'sensitive' personal information (email addresses and the likes) throughout the report. I could 'blot' them out but I'd rather just respond to requests for the docs. I will gladly send the documents to anybody by request through email. Anyway, if you were a member of the USAF, USA, USN, or USMC (all of which I saw at FOB Hammer) you may want to keep this in mind if you ever have respiratory problems or some medical issue you believe can be connected to the following, which is the cover page of the report and basically summarizes what was going on with the air there.

EDIT: I tried to hunt down our environmental officer over there but she PCS'ed (I wanted an update on the manganese, as our brigade was at FOB Hammer from March 07 - May 08). I sporadically searched for a more recent report on the manganese levels as I know they were constantly measuring the air samples there (due to a brick factory pouring smoke onto us and the living areas sitting on a former tank range, allegedly full of depleted uranium) and will definitely update this thread if I find anything. Hopefully there is nobody affected by this but just in case there is... Plus I know this memo wasn't handed out to all the regular joes!

I mentioned in an earlier post about a memo I would post up on the forum. Well I was about to scan them in today and noticed there is some 'sensitive' personal information (email addresses and the likes) throughout the report. I could 'blot' them out but I'd rather just respond to requests for the docs. I will gladly send the documents to anybody by request through email. Anyway, if you were a member of the USAF, USA, USN, or USMC (all of which I saw at FOB Hammer) you may want to keep this in mind if you ever have respiratory problems or some medical issue you believe can be connected to the following, which is the cover page of the report and basically summarizes what was going on with the air there.

EDIT: I tried to hunt down our environmental officer over there but she PCS'ed (I wanted an update on the manganese, as our brigade was at FOB Hammer from March 07 - May 08). I sporadically searched for a more recent report on the manganese levels as I know they were constantly measuring the air samples there (due to a brick factory pouring smoke onto us and the living areas sitting on a former tank range, allegedly full of depleted uranium) and will definitely update this thread if I find anything. Hopefully there is nobody affected by this but just in case there is... Plus I know this memo wasn't handed out to all the regular joes!

I would like a copy please.

Thank you.
 
I would like to get a copy of this report, I was there from Mar2007, to Sep2007. Our unit build most of the facilities at the camp. I was MedEvac to 28CASH and got surgery out there. During my recovery, my command decided to send me back to the camp while on recovery, and still taking medications.
 
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