Hazardous Exposures

[carlie]

http://www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/

[john999]

If you knew all of that would you ever have enlisted? MacDill AFB a few miles from my home is a toxic clean-up site. Maybe it has leaked into the ground water all the jet fuel and other stuff from SAC and Central Command over the decades? God knows what exposures people on base and off base have received over decades.

[jbasser]

As an E3 I was approached by my division officere and Chief and it was explained to me that I was going to Asbestos Rip Out School.No CHoice here. I have seen, sampled and removed some real asbestos messes. Being Radcon Qualified and an asbestos worker enabled me to make rank faster but I always wondered If I would ever get old especially if I was sampling or removing Asbestos inside of a Sub RC. I know now that I am not but I cant let it get me down so I do everything to enjoy what time I have left.

J

Edited May 15, 2010 by jbasser

[Chuck75]

At least they sent you to some sort of training!

In my time, the only training was how to wear a respirator. Of course, you could not see what you were doing, since the old style gas masks/respirators had small and lousy glass or plastic eye lenses. Scratched lenses? No spares.

Hazmat suits? How about Asbestos fire suits as the closest thing to hazmat suits!

Ships built for WWII and the Korean Wars, then used in the Vietnam war were full of Asbestos. Those that were used to provide close in or offshore fire support were subjected to shock & vibration from the firing that broke up long asbestos fibers, and often caused clouds of asbestos containing dust in spaces near and in the gun turrets.

Besides asbestos, the ships had vast quantities of lead containing paint that was periodically removed by sanding & grinding down to bare metal, then repainted.

By the late 1960's, real concerns arose, and the Navy started to take serious precautions against asbestos, at least during formal ship overhauls. Protective gear, containment areas, filtered ventilation and all that were finally made mandatory. The sailors engaged in the usual underway paint removal replacement efforts seldom had adequate protection against asbestos or lead.

As an E3 I was approached by my division officer and Chief and it was explained to me that I was going to Asbestos Rip Out School.No Choice here. I have seen, sampled and removed some real asbestos messes. Being Radcon Qualified and an asbestos worker enabled me to make rank faster but I always wondered If I would ever get old especially if I was sampling or removing Asbestos inside of a Sub RC. I know now that I am not but I cant let it get me down so I do everything to enjoy what time I have left.

J

[Testvet]

ypou will all notice they did NOT even list the 7120 men exposed at Edgewood Arsenal to chemical weapons and drugs on that "exposure page" what we never happened?

[Commander Bob]

If you knew all of that would you ever have enlisted?

Well John, You and I had no real choice. During the Vietnam era, and before, it was either drafted, enlistment, deferment, or Canada.

Edited May 15, 2010 by Commander Bob

[john999]

Bob

That's right, and my father, and his father, and his father had all served in the military during war time. I sort of thought if I was not in college then it was my only option to enlist. Our minds were washed and there was the draft. First thing employers wanted to know was what your draft status was before hiring.