I spent four years serving our country at one of the world’s most secretive military installations. Today, the federal government acknowledges that the Nevada Test and Training Range (NTTR) contains contamination.

But there is a catch. It’s only considered contaminated if you worked for the Department of Energy (DOE). Department of Defense (DOD) personnel who served at the same location are not eligible for the veterans' benefits they have earned.

Both cannot be right. 

I served in the U.S. Air Force from 1983 to 1989, including four years supporting highly classified programs on the NTTR. I am proud of that service and consider it an honor.

This is not an attack on the Defense Department. The Nevada Test and Training Range remains vital to America's national security, and the people serving there today do extraordinary things. 

This is about what happens after our service, to us and our families. 

Why should military veterans be treated less than energy employees?

There should no longer be a debate over whether contamination exists on the NTTR. The federal government has already answered that question. The Energy Department's own records document radiological and chemical contamination on the testing range.

Nuclear weapons testing in Nevada occurred from 1951 to 1992, and DOE continues environmental restoration and long-term monitoring today. Some radioactive contaminants can persist in the environment for thousands of years. 

The Department of Defense cannot claim this is someone else's history. DOD itself participates in the federal framework governing investigation, remediation and monitoring of contaminated sites. Yet when veterans become........

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