Cambodia VA claims: Agent Orange, the PACT Act and what the Board grants

Is there an Agent Orange presumption for service in Cambodia?

Yes, but a narrow one. Since the PACT Act took effect in August 2022, VA presumes herbicide exposure for service in Cambodia at Mimot or Krek, Kampong Cham Province, in the second half of April 1969 (38 U.S.C. 1116; M21-1 VIII.i.1.A). Service elsewhere in Cambodia, or at other times, is not covered by the presumption; exposure there has to be shown on the facts.

The presumption covers two weeks and two places. Most veterans whose service involved Cambodia were elsewhere: flying over it, crossing the border from Vietnam, at a Thai base nearby, or offshore. For them the claim rests on other service or on the facts.

How the Board decided Cambodia claims

137 Board decisions from 2020 to 2025 with a service-connection claim name Cambodia. The decision records herbicide exposure in 83 of them (60.6%). Only 4 conditions came up for 15 or more veterans, so the numbers below are small.

Bar: share granted for Cambodia veterans

Red mark: all veterans with the same condition

Conditions on the Agent Orange list

VA presumes these for veterans who served at Mimot or Krek, Kampong Cham Province, in the second half of April 1969.

• Diabetes DC 7913

  31.6% · 12 of 38

  all veterans 24.0%On the Agent Orange list

• Hypertension DC 7101

  26.7% · 4 of 15

  all veterans 19.0%On the Agent Orange list

Other conditions these veterans claimed

• PTSD DC 9411

  25.5% · 12 of 47

  all veterans 27.1%

• Nerve damage, legs DC 8520

  23.8% · 5 of 21

  all veterans 23.0%

One count per veteran per condition; a remand counts as not granted. Conditions with at least 15 veterans.

How did Cambodia claims do at the Board?

On herbicide-list conditions, the Board granted 33.7% of claims in decisions about service involving Cambodia (31 of 92), against 25.0% for all veterans with the same conditions. Every one of the 25 decisions that granted one of those conditions also names Vietnam, Thailand or another place with its own presumption.

Diabetes was granted for 12 of 38 veterans (31.6%, against 24.0% overall), and PTSD for 12 of 47 (25.5%, against 27.1%).

Grants came with other service

Of 25 decisions that granted a herbicide-list condition, all 25 also name Vietnam, Thailand or another place with its own presumption, and 19 name Vietnam. That service can carry the claim on its own.

How often do Board decisions place a veteran at Mimot or Krek?

Rarely, in these decisions. Of the 143 decisions we could read in full, 8 name Mimot, Krek or Kampong Cham. In 7 of them the name appears only where the Board quotes the law, and in the other only in the title of an article the veteran submitted.

Herbicide-list conditions	Granted	Claims
Decisions from 2020 and 2021	36.1%	36
Decisions from 2023 to 2025	32.6%	43

Decisions from 2022 are left out of the comparison, because the law changed partway through that year. The grant share did not rise after the PACT Act.

Why are Cambodia herbicide claims denied?

For 23 denials of herbicide-list conditions, the Board's note named the exposure or the service in 87.0% of them: service in Cambodia, or in Vietnam, not shown by the records, or no exposure established.

Read the decisions

Recent decisions, with the Board's reasoning as summarized by AI:

• A24050052, August 2024: the cause of a veteran's death, Parkinson's disease, granted under the PACT Act presumption from August 2022; the service records did not show a station in Thailand or Cambodia, but the Board gave the benefit of the doubt that the veteran flew rescue missions in Cambodia.
• A24003783, January 2024: diabetes granted on presumed herbicide exposure in Thailand, for a veteran whose records showed service in Thailand and Cambodia.
• A24014717, March 2024: an acquired psychiatric disorder granted; VA had conceded a mortar attack in Cambodia in 1970, and a VA examiner linked the condition to events in service.
• A25068656, August 2025: diabetes and heart failure denied; records research did not support the claimed temporary duty in Vietnam or Cambodia, and no herbicide exposure was established.

What the data cannot tell you

The group comes from the places an AI tagged in each decision, checked against the decision's text. Of 195 tagged decisions, 37 (19.0%) name Cambodia only in a quote of the law or in a finding that the veteran was not there, and are left out. That check is automatic and misses some. A mention is still not proof of service in Cambodia, or at Mimot or Krek within the dates. The group is small, so a few decisions move the shares. Service-connection claims only; rating appeals are left out. The herbicide flag and denial notes are AI-extracted. These are historical outcomes, not predictions.

For representatives

• Check whether the veteran was at Mimot or Krek, Kampong Cham Province, in the second half of April 1969. Unit records, operation reports and award citations can show it.
• Check for service in Vietnam, at a Thai air base or in Laos, which may carry the claim on its own; every grant decision here also named such a place.
• For service in Cambodia outside those places or dates, build exposure on the facts: what the veteran did, where, and when.
• A veteran denied before the PACT Act can file a supplemental claim under the new presumption.