GulfLINK Database Description

As of 30 June 1997, GulfLINK contains over 40,000 pages of recently-declassified intelligence, medical, and operational documents with potential relevance to the possible sources of Gulf War illness. In the future, GulfLINK will also contain additional declassified documents from the medical and operational communities within the Department of Defense (DoD). Please see the descriptions below for more information about the intelligence declassified document collection.

Intelligence Documents in GulfLINK

Intelligence related to possible causes of Persian Gulf Veterans' illnesses is defined as that information acquired by the United States intelligence agencies which may report on the storage, deployment, or use of chemical, biological, or radiological weapons during the Desert Shield and Desert Storm operations. Additionally, this information will include, but is not limited to, any reports relating to outbreaks of disease, epidemics, or other widespread illnesses, that may have resulted from infection or environmental causes (oil well fires, toxic waste, flora, fauna, etc.), among the military forces or civilian population during the two cited operations.

Terms used in this guidance may be used as keywords to locate specific types of records.

The documents released have been reviewed for operational security, intelligence, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), and Privacy Act concerns and annotated accordingly. Please see the Explanation of Exemption Codes for more information regarding these annotations.

The records provided in these files are named according to the following convention:

• 0 prefix on file names = Briefing papers, notes, memoranda created by offices that research this geographic area.
• 1-6 prefix on file names = Intelligence information reports, not finally evaluated intelligence. Reports from all types of sources which have not been assessed for reliability or veracity.
• 7-9 prefix = Intelligence publications, requests for information, and other miscellaneous reporting.
• #TR###... documents = Translated, captured Iraqi documents. These records are presented in their original (translated) form as unevaluated information. The classification markings are Iraqi not U.S. or Allied. (NOTE: These documents are in many cases of marginal interest to the question of illnesses. They do indicate the Iraqi military's readiness and training for defensive chemical or biological warfare. They are presented in this collection to provide, as complete as possible, the intelligence records of the Department of Defense.)

  (Note: Enclosures to any of the documents above will have the same file name as the reference document but will include an "E" in the suffix.)

  Air Force Documents in GulfLINK

  On 12 March 1995, the Deputy Secretary of Defense, under guidance from the White House, initiated a high priority effort to identify all information pertaining to the health problems experienced by veterans of the Persian Gulf War. The preponderance of Air Force Gulf War operational records (1.8 million pages) are centrally maintained, indexed, and microfilmed at the Historical Research Agency at Maxwell AFB, AL. The Air Force Gulf War Declassification team is reviewing this collection to identify and declassify all health related information for public release. The screening criteria is based upon guidance from Air Force health professionals and other agencies that are responding to the Presidential Advisory Commission on Gulf War Illness.

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