Agent Orange Locations On Va Sites

[JT24usn]

http://www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/agentorange/tests-storage.asp

[Computer Tech]

This list is the DOD "official" list but it is not complete as it doesn't show AO being used on the perimeter of the air bases and Army camps in Thailand nor along the DMZ in Korea. This list is also what the VA based their denial of AO exposure for everybody outside of Vietnam.

Rick

[JT24usn]

Look at the hyperlink on the page where it says outside. It shows Laos, cbodia, Korea, Thailand....

http://www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/agentorange/outside_vietnam.asp

Edited October 29, 2012 by T8r (see edit history)

[JT24usn]

10. Service Connection for Disabilities Resulting From Exposure to Herbicides or Based on Service in the Republic of Vietnam (RVN), Continued

PRIVATE INFOTYPE="PRINCIPLE"

p. Exposure to Herbicides Along the Korean DMZ

Under 38 CFR 3.307(a)(6)(iv), effective February 24, 2011, extend the presumption of herbicide exposure to any Veteran who served

• between April 1, 1968, and August 31, 1971, and

• in a unit that VA or the Department of Defense (DoD) has determined to have operated in an area in or near the Korean DMZ.

The table below shows the units or other military entities that DoD has identified as operating in or near the Korean DMZ during the qualifying time period.

Note: Before the amendment of 38 CFR 3.307(a)(6)(iv), effective February 24, 2011, VA conceded exposure to herbicides on a direct basis for Veterans who served between April 1968 and July 1969 in one of the groups listed below.

Combat Brigade of the 2nd Infantry Division

Division Reaction Force

3rd Brigade of the 7th Infantry Division

1st Battalion, 38th Infantry

4th Squadron, 7th Cavalry, Counter Agent Company

1st Battalion, 17th Infantry

2nd Battalion, 38th Infantry

1st Battalion, 31st Infantry

1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry

1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry

2nd Battalion, 23rd Infantry

2nd Squadron, 10th Cavalry

3rd Battalion, 23rd Infantry

2nd Battalion, 17th Infantry

2nd Battalion, 31st Infantry

Note: Service records may show assignment to either the 2nd or the 7th Infantry Division.

2nd Battalion, 31st Infantry

Note: Service records may show assignment to either the 2nd or the 7th Infantry Division.

2nd Battalion, 32nd Infantry

3rd Battalion, 32nd Infantry

Note: Service records may show assignment to either the 2nd or the 7th Infantry.

3rd Battalion, 32nd Infantry

Note: Service records may show assignment to either the 2nd or the 7th Infantry.

1st Battalion, 9th Infantry

1st Battalion, 73rd Armor

2nd Battalion, 9th Infantry

1st Battalion, 72nd Armor

2nd Battalion, 72nd Armor

10. Service Connection for Disabilities Resulting From Exposure to Herbicides or Based on Service in the Republic of Vietnam (RVN), Continued

p. Exposure to Herbicides Along the Korean DMZ (continued)

Combat Brigade of the 2nd Infantry Division

Division Reaction Force

3rd Brigade of the 7th Infantry Division

1st Battalion, 12th Artillery

1st Battalion, 15th Artillery

7th Battalion, 17th Artillery

5th Battalion, 38th Artillery

6th Battalion, 37th Artillery

Other Qualifying Assignments

2nd Military Police Company, 2nd Infantry Division

13th Engineer Combat Battalion

United Nations Command Security Battalion-Joint Security Area (UNCSB-JSA)

Crew of the USS Pueblo

Important: Send a request to the JSRRC for verification of exposure to herbicides when a Veteran claims exposure in Korea, and his/her service was not

• between April 1, 1968, and August 31, 1971, and

• in a unit or entity listed in the table above.

Edited October 29, 2012 by T8r (see edit history)

[JT24usn]

10. Service Connection for Disabilities Resulting From Exposure to Herbicides or Based on Service in the Republic of Vietnam (RVN), Continued

PRIVATE INFOTYPE="PROCEDURE"

q. Herbicide Exposure in Thailand During the Vietnam Era

The Compensation Service has determined that a special consideration of herbicide exposure on a factual basis should be extended to Veterans whose duties placed them on or near the perimeters of Thailand military bases.

Follow the steps in the table below to verify exposure to herbicides when a Veteran with service in Thailand during the Vietnam Era claims a disability based on herbicide exposure.

Step

Action

1

Did the Veteran serve in the U.S. Air Force in Thailand during the Vietnam Era

• at one of the Royal Thai Air Force Bases (RTAFBs) at

- U-Tapao

- Ubon

- Nakhon Phanom

- Udorn

- Takhli

- Korat, or

- Don Muang, and

• as an Air Force

- security policeman

- security patrol dog handler

- member of the security police squadron, or

- otherwise near the air base perimeter as shown by evidence of daily work duties, performance evaluation reports, or other credible evidence?

• If yes, concede herbicide exposure on a direct/facts-found basis.

• If no, go to Step 2.

Notes:

• Also concede herbicide exposure on a direct or facts-found basis for Veterans who served on RTAFBs in Thailand, while a member of the U.S. Army, if the claimant

- provides a statement that he was involved with perimeter security duty, and

- there is additional credible evidence supporting this statement.

• U.S. Army personnel may have provided RTAFB security early in the war before the base was fully operational.

Continued on next page

10. Service Connection for Disabilities Resulting From Exposure to Herbicides or Based on Service in the Republic of Vietnam (RVN), Continued

q. Herbicide Exposure in Thailand During the Vietnam Era (continued)

Step

Action

2

Did the Veteran serve at a U.S. Army Base in Thailand during the Vietnam Era

• as a member of a military police (MP) unit, or

• with a military police occupational specialty?

• If yes, concede exposure to herbicides on a facts-found or direct basis if the Veteran states his duty placed him at or near the base perimeter.

• If no, go to Step 3.

3

Place in the Veteran’s claims file a copy of the Compensation Service’s “Memorandum for the Record” shown in M21-1MR, Part IV, Subpart ii, 2.C.10.r.

4

Ask the Veteran for the approximate dates, location, and nature of the alleged exposure.

5

Did the Veteran furnish this information within 30 days?

• If yes, go to Step 4.

• If no

- refer the case to the JSRRC coordinator to make a formal finding that sufficient information required to verify herbicide exposure does not exist. (Note: For a sample of a formal finding, see M21-1MR, Part IV, Subpart ii, 1.D.16.c.), and

- decide the claim based on the evidence of record.

6

Review the information provided by the Veteran together with the “Memorandum for the Record.”

Continued on next page

10. Service Connection for Disabilities Resulting From Exposure to Herbicides or Based on Service in the Republic of Vietnam (RVN), Continued

q. Herbicide Exposure in Thailand During the Vietnam Era (continued)

Step

Action

7

Can exposure to herbicides be acknowledged on a direct or facts-found basis as a result of this review?

• If yes, proceed with any other necessary development, such as scheduling a VA medical examination, before referring the claim to the rating activity.

• If no, go to Step 8.

8

Has the Veteran provided sufficient information to permit a search by the JSRRC?

• If yes, send a request to the JSRRC for verification of exposure to herbicides.

• If no

- refer the case to the JSRRC coordinator to make a formal finding that sufficient information required to verify herbicide exposure does not exist. (Note: For a sample of a formal finding, see M21-1MR, Part IV, Subpart ii, 1.D.16.c.),

- decide the claim based on the evidence of record.

Continued on next page

10. Service Connection for Disabilities Resulting From Exposure to Herbicides or Based on Service in the Republic of Vietnam (RVN), Continued

PRIVATE INFOTYPE="STRUCTURE"

r. Memorandum for Record – Herbicide Use in Thailand

Shown below is the Compensation Service’s “Memorandum for the Record” on herbicide use in Thailand during the Vietnam Era.

Memorandum for the Record

Subject: Herbicide use in Thailand during the Vietnam Era

The Compensation Service has reviewed a listing of herbicide use and test sites outside Vietnam provided to our office by the Department of Defense (DoD). This list contains 71 sites within the U.S. and in foreign countries where tactical herbicides, such as Agent Orange, were used, tested, or stored. Testing and evaluations of these tactical herbicides were conducted by or under the direction of the U.S. Army Chemical Corps, Fort Detrick, Maryland. The list does not contain names of individuals. Additionally, it does not contain any references to routine base maintenance activities such as range management, brush clearing, weed killing, etc., because these vegetation control activities were conducted by the Base Civil Engineer and involved the use of commercial herbicides approved by the Armed Forces Pest Control Board. The application of commercial herbicides on military installations was conducted by certified applicators. DoD has advised us that commercial herbicides were routinely purchased by the Base Civil Engineer under federal guidelines and that records of these procurements were generally kept no longer than two years. We have also reviewed a series of official DoD monographs describing in detail the use, testing, and storage of herbicides at various foreign and domestic locations. In addition, the Project CHECO Southeast Asia Report: Base Defense in Thailand, produced during the Vietnam era, has been reviewed.

Regarding your Veteran claimant with Thailand service, the DoD list indicates only that limited testing of tactical herbicides was conducted in Thailand from 2 April through 8 September 1964. Specifically, the location identified was the Pranburi Military Reservation associated with the Replacement Training Center of the Royal Thai Army, near Pranburi, Thailand. The Report of these tests noted that 5 civilian and 5 military personnel from Fort Detrick, Maryland conducted the spray operations and subsequent research. This location was not near any U.S. military installation or Royal Thai Air Force Base.

Tactical herbicides, such as Agent Orange, were used and stored in Vietnam, not Thailand. We received a letter from the Department of the Air Force stating that, other than the 1964 tests on the Pranburi Military Reservation, there are no records of tactical herbicide storage or use in Thailand. There are records indicating that commercial herbicides were frequently used for vegetation control within the perimeters of air bases during the Vietnam era, but all such use required approval of both the Armed Forces Pest Control Board and the Base Civil Engineer. In Vietnam, tactical herbicides were aerially applied by UC-123 aircraft in Operation RANCH HAND or by helicopters under the control of the U.S. Army Chemical Corps. Base Civil Engineers were not permitted to purchase or apply tactical herbicides.

Continued on next page

10. Service Connection for Disabilities Resulting From Exposure to Herbicides or Based on Service in the Republic of Vietnam (RVN), Continued

r. Memorandum for Record – Herbicide Use in Thailand (continued)

There are no records of tactical herbicide spraying by RANCH HAND or Army Chemical Corps aircraft in Thailand after 1964, and RANCH HAND aircraft that sprayed herbicides in Vietnam were stationed in Vietnam, not in Thailand. However, there are records indicating that modified RANCH HAND aircraft flew 17 insecticide missions in Thailand from 30 August through 16 September 1963 and from 14 –17 October 1966. The 1966 missions involved the spraying of malathion insecticide for the “control of malaria carrying mosquitoes.” These facts are not sufficient to establish tactical herbicide exposure for any Veteran based solely on service in Thailand.

While the Thailand CHECO Report does not report the use of tactical herbicides on allied bases in Thailand, it does indicate sporadic use of non-tactical (commercial) herbicides within fenced perimeters. Therefore, if a Veteran’s MOS (military occupational specialty) or unit is one that regularly had contact with the base perimeter, there was a greater likelihood of exposure to commercial pesticides, including herbicides. Security police units were known to have walked the perimeters, especially dog handlers. However, as noted above, there are no records to show that the same tactical herbicides used in Vietnam were used in Thailand. Please consider this information when you evaluate the Veteran’s claim.

If the Veteran’s claim is based on servicing or working on aircraft that flew bombing missions over Vietnam, please be advised that there is no presumption of “secondary exposure” based on being near or working on aircraft that flew over Vietnam or handling equipment once used in Vietnam. Aerial spraying of tactical herbicides in Vietnam did not occur everywhere, and it is inaccurate to think that herbicides covered every aircraft and piece of equipment associated with Vietnam. Additionally, the high altitude jet aircraft stationed in Thailand generally flew far above the low and slow flying UC-123 aircraft that sprayed tactical herbicides over Vietnam during Operation RANCH HAND. Also, there are no studies that we are aware of showing harmful health effects for any such secondary or remote herbicide contact that may have occurred.

If the Veteran’s claim is based on general herbicide use within the base, such as small-scale brush or weed clearing activity along the flight line or around living quarters, there are no records of such activity involving tactical herbicides, only the commercial herbicides that would have been approved by the Armed Forces Pest Control Board and sprayed under the control of the Base Civil Engineer. Since 1957, the Armed Forces Pest Control Board (now the Armed Forces Pest Management Board) has routinely provided listings of all approved herbicides and other pesticides used on U.S. Military Installations worldwide.

The Compensation Service cannot provide any additional evidence beyond that described above to support the Veteran’s claim. Therefore, unless the claim is inherently incredible, clearly lacks merit, or there is no reasonable possibility that further VA assistance would substantiate the claim [see 38 CFR 3.159(d)], regional offices should send a request to JSRRC for any information that this organization can provide to corroborate the Veteran’s claimed exposure.

Continued on next page

[JT24usn]

http://www.benefits.va.gov/WARMS/docs/admin21/m21_1/mr/part4/subptii/ch02/M21-1MRIV_ii_2_secC.doc