The History of the US Department of Defense Programs for the Testing, Evaluation, and Storage of Tactical Herbicides

Abstract : Early in 2006, the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) requested that the Department of Defense (DoD) provide: "an official compilation of locations and dates outside of Vietnam where the Department used herbicide agents, including Agent Orange, as well as locations and dates where DoD personnel were likely exposed to these agents." The intent of this request was to obtain information that may be important in evaluating the merits of many veterans' disability claims. Various estimates have circulated on the Internet as to the number of sites where veterans may have been exposed to Agent Orange and "other herbicides" used in Vietnam. There is, however, significant confusion by veterans and by the Department of Veterans Affairs as to the distinction between "commercial herbicides" used by the DoD and "tactical herbicides" used by the DoD. The belief that commercially available herbicides were simply purchased from the chemical companies and deployed directly to Vietnam is incorrect and contrary to historical records. Tactical Herbicides were herbicides developed specifically by the United States Department of Defense to be used in "combat operations." The history of the military development and use of tactical herbicides dates to World War II. During the Korean Conflict, the DoD developed the first major tactical herbicide, Herbicide Purple, although never deployed. Subsequently, for Vietnam the DoD developed, tested, evaluated, and deployed five additional tactical herbicides, Herbicide Pink, Herbicide Green, Herbicide Blue, Herbicide Orange, and Herbicide White. This report discusses the history of the development of the tactical herbicides, how they differed from commercial herbicides, and where they were tested, evaluated, stored, used (in the case of Korea in 1968) OUTSIDE of Vietnam. Additionally, the report discusses the final disposition of Herbicide Orange after Vietnam.