On Aug. 9, the Department of Veterans Affairs announced several steps to expand access to VA benefits for veterans who served at Karshi-Khanabad Air Base (K2) in Uzbekistan after Sept. 11, 2001, as well as their survivors.
The VA plans to take steps to make chronic multisymptom illness a presumptive condition for K2 veterans and recognize exposures at K2 as toxic-exposure risk activities. The VA will also ensure that toxic exposures are fully taken into account when processing K2 veterans’ claims and conduct pre-decisional review of K2 claims.
Additionally, all veterans who served at K2 are already eligible to enroll in VA health care—without needing to apply for disability compensation first.
Approximately 16,000 veterans served at K2, and the VA is already conducting extensive outreach to this population and its survivors. If you are a K2 veteran or a surviving family member of a K2 veteran and need assistance with applying for VA health care, disability compensation or survivor benefits, please contact your nearest DAV service office by visiting benefitsquestions.org.