| Veterans
News Flash 
VA
Names Members of
Gulf War Veterans Advisory Committee
May 13, 2008
Secretary Peake to Hear Their Concerns, Issues
WASHINGTON -- Veterans
who served in the Southwest Asia theater of operations
during 1990–1991
will have their own special advocates before Secretary
of Veterans Affairs Dr. James B. Peake, thanks
to a new advisory committee Peake established to
respond to issues unique to them.
The 14-member, independent panel will advise the
Secretary and the Department of Veterans Affairs
(VA) on the full range of health care and benefits
needs of those who served in the conflict.
“Gulf War veterans made an invaluable contribution
to national security and peace in a volatile region,” Peake
said. “This new panel will ensure that VA
benefits and programs adapt to the needs of these
veterans, just as our services have adapted for
veterans of other conflicts.”
Serving on the committee
are Gulf War and other veterans, veterans service
organizations’ representatives,
medical experts, and the survivors of Gulf War
veterans. Members were selected to provide a variety
of perspectives, experiences and expertise.
The committee will be
chaired by Charles Cragin, a retired Navy captain,
who has had several senior level positions within
the federal government, including Acting Under
Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness
and Chairman of VA’s
Board of Veterans’ Appeals.
In January 2002, the
Department created an advisory committee to assist
VA’s secretary on research
into the medical problems of Gulf War veterans.
That older committee will retain responsibility
for research involving veterans of the 1990-1991
conflict in the Middle East.
This committee’s
first meeting will be held in mid-June in Washington,
D.C. It is expected to complete its work within
18 months. Committee meetings will be open to
the public.
A list of the members
of VA’s Gulf War Advisory
Committee is as follows:
Membership VA Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans
- Charles Cragin, (Chair) of Raymond, Maine.
Currently serves a senior counselor for Maine
Street Solutions, LLC.
- Martha Douthit of Ashburn, Va. Surviving spouse
of Gulf War Army veteran, member of the Gold
Star Wives of America, currently an international
trade analyst with the U.S. Department of Commerce.
- Dr. Henry Falk of Atlanta. Retired rear admiral
and former Assistant U.S. Surgeon General. Currently
director for the Coordinating Center for Environmental
Health and Injury Prevention with the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention.
- Mark Garner of Lorton, Va. A retired Marine
Corps chief warrant officer-three and Gulf War
veteran who served as a Nuclear, Biological,
and Chemical Defense Officer.
- Dr. Lynn Goldman of Chevy Chase, Md. Vice chair
of the Institute of Medicine Gulf War and Health
Study; currently professor of environmental health
sciences at Johns Hopkins University.
- Dr. John Hart of Plano, Texas. Past president
of the Society for Behavioral and Cognitive Neurology,
currently professor of neurology and psychiatry
at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical
Center.
- William (Rusty) Jones of South Riding, Va.
Retired Marine Corps colonel, and veteran of
Gulf War and Vietnam War.
- Kirt Love of Crawford, Texas. An Army veteran
of the Gulf War, currently serving as director
of the Desert Storm Battle Registry.
- Daniel Ortiz of Whittier, Calif. An Army veteran
of the Gulf War, currently serving as department
service director with the Veterans of Foreign
Wars.
- Daniel Pinedo of Oceanside, Calif. Marine Corps
colonel currently serving as the comptroller
for First Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp
Pendleton, Calif.
- Thomas Plewes of Annandale, Va. A retired Army
lieutenant general and former chief of the Army
Reserve. Currently a senior program officer with
National Academy of Sciences.
- Valerie Randall of Savage, Md. A retired Army
sergeant first class; currently with the Department
of Homeland Security.
- Edward (Randy) Reese of Washington, D.C. An
Army veteran of the Gulf War; currently national
service director for the Disabled American Veterans.
- Steve Robertson of Fredericksburg, Va. A Gulf
War veteran who served both in the Air Force and
Army National Guard. Currently director of the
national legislative commission for The American
Legion.
SOURCE:
US Department of Veterans Affair
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