Pentagon Finds US Military Not Always Reporting Troops Exposure to Burn Pits

The inspector general for the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) has concluded that the department has not done enough to document when U.S. troops have been exposed to non-DOD-controlled burn pits during deployments. The U.S. military has used burn pits—designated open-air areas for burning waste—to dispose of their trash during deployments to the Middle East and Africa throughout the past three decades. These burn pits have fallen into disfavor in more recent years after U.S. troops stationed near them began to develop a variety of respiratory illnesses. Lawmakers, and military and Department of Veterans Affairs officials have taken steps to address the harms raised by U.S. military burn pits, expanding reporting requirements and extending benefits to the troops exposed to them....