The Al Jubayl case narrative, originally published on August 13, 1997, reported on investigations of three separate events, known as the loud noise event, the Scud Impact event, and the Purple T-shirt event. All three events occurred during the Gulf War at the port city of Al Jubayl, Saudi Arabia. After we published the initial narrative, new information emerged that necessitated an update of the case narrative.

Version 3.0 - February 22, 2001

The new information came from two sources. The first source was two individuals who met with us to discuss the original finding and assessment of the loud noise event. During the meeting, which occurred on September 5, 1997, the two individuals presented two different scenarios that challenged the assessment of the loud noise event. They believed that Iraq’s military action caused the loud noise and not sonic booms from Coalition aircraft, as originally reported in the case narrative. The second source of information was the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence (MOD). On January 17, 2000, the MOD published the findings of its investigation into the loud noise event, "A Review of the Suggested Exposure of UK Forces to Chemical Warfare Agents in Al Jubayl on 19 January 1991." Although the MOD’s assessment was similar to ours, the MOD’s narrative contained new information not covered in our original Al Jubayl case narrative.

Besides obtaining new information, comments made by the General Accounting Office concerning the narrative also necessitated an update to the narrative. While agreeing with the assessments made in the narrative, the GAO criticized the narrative because it did not address the medical problems that some veterans, many of whom were assigned to NMCB-24, have endured since returning home from the Gulf. The GAO recommended including this information in any update to the narrative.

We published a second interim report of this narrative on February 22, 2001, and made the following changes to the paper:

• The rewritten narrative reflects the updated methodology and footnoting standards of the Special Assistant;
• The rewritten narrative discusses our investigation into the alleged aircraft attack and Styx missile attack;
• The rewritten narrative now identifies the warhead contents of the Scud missile that impacted in Al Jubayl harbor;
• References to new source documents enhance the narrative’s accuracy;
• A medical issues section addresses the medical problems of Gulf War veterans; and,
• The rewritten environmental section provides a more detailed discussion of Al Jubayl’s environment.