Like Agent Orange during the Vietnam War and post-traumatic stress disorder throughout the twentieth century, Gulf War syndrome (also known as Gulf War illness or Persian Gulf War syndrome), remains a significant area of general confusion and military medical controversy.

The Gulf War of 1991 involved hundreds of thousands of US and allied coalition troops, united against Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait on 2 August 1990. While Australia's involvement was small, at 1,872 personnel, it was nevertheless an important strategic commitment. Consisting of mostly RAN men and women, Australia deployed six ships in total, with two rotations of three ships each. They were HMA Ships Success, Adelaide, Darwin, Brisbane, Sydney (IV) and Westralia. Australian personnel spent most of late 1990 to early 1991 patrolling the Gulf of Oman, intercepting ships of interest. In December 1990 Brisbane, Sydney and Success moved into the Persian Gulf and operated there during the war. An RAN clearance diving team, a detachment from the Army's 16th Air Defence Regiment, Defence Intelligence Organisation analysts, four medical teams and personnel on exchange with American and British units also served in the Gulf War.

After a five-month build-up of forces from August 1990, the war itself consisted of only thirty-nine days of air war and a four-day ground war before Iraqi forces surrendered and hostilities ended on 27 February. Among US personnel, mortality rates were a very low 0.04 per cent, with more than half the deaths resulting from illness and accidents.