Kuwait VA claims: burn pits, Gulf War illness and what the Board grants

Is there a burn pit presumption for service in Kuwait?

Yes. Kuwait is part of the Southwest Asia theater of operations, and VA presumes exposure to burn pits and other airborne hazards for any service there, including the airspace above it, since August 1990, with no minimum time (38 CFR 3.320(a); M21-1 VIII.ii.2.A). Asthma, rhinitis and sinusitis are presumed at any time after service, to any degree. Since the PACT Act took effect in August 2022, the list also covers chronic bronchitis, COPD, emphysema, constrictive bronchiolitis, granulomatous disease, interstitial lung disease, pleuritis, pulmonary fibrosis and sarcoidosis, and many cancers: head, neck, respiratory, gastrointestinal, reproductive, kidney, brain and pancreatic cancers, lymphoma, melanoma and glioblastoma (38 U.S.C. 1120). Bladder and ureter cancers, leukemias, multiple myeloma, myelodysplastic syndromes and myelofibrosis were added in January 2025 (38 CFR 3.320a and 38 CFR 3.320b).

How the Board decided Kuwait claims

5,645 Board decisions from 2020 to 2025 with a service-connection claim name Kuwait or a base there, such as Camp Arifjan, Camp Doha or Camp Buehring. The decision records burn pit exposure in 1,154 of them (20.4%). The list below shows every burn pit list condition and Gulf War illness condition claimed by 15 or more veterans, and the other conditions claimed by 100 or more.

Bar: share granted for Kuwait veterans

Red mark: all veterans with the same condition

On the burn pit list (PACT Act)

VA presumes these for veterans who served in Kuwait since August 1990, at any time after service.

• Sinusitis DC 6510 / 6511 / 6512 / 6513 / 6514

  46.1% · 219 of 475

  all veterans 22.0%On the burn pit list

• Rhinitis DC 6522 / 6523 / 6524

  59.1% · 192 of 325

  all veterans 25.8%On the burn pit list

• Asthma DC 6602

  55.0% · 116 of 211

  all veterans 24.3%On the burn pit list

• COPD DC 6604

  29.8% · 59 of 198

  all veterans 12.2%On the burn pit list

• Prostate, bladder or kidney cancer DC 7528

  54.7% · 35 of 64

  all veterans 32.5%On the burn pit list

• Interstitial lung disease DC 6825

  21.3% · 10 of 47

  all veterans 20.5%On the burn pit list

• Digestive cancers DC 7343

  48.7% · 19 of 39

  all veterans 22.0%On the burn pit list

• Leukemia DC 7703

  50.0% · 15 of 30

  all veterans 32.6%On the burn pit list

• Lung cancer DC 6819

  20.7% · 6 of 29

  all veterans 19.0%On the burn pit list

• Chronic bronchitis DC 6600

  9.1% · 2 of 22

  all veterans 7.7%On the burn pit list

• Emphysema DC 6603

  28.6% · 6 of 21

  all veterans 11.5%On the burn pit list

• Sarcoidosis DC 6846

  65.0% · 13 of 20

  all veterans 24.1%On the burn pit list

Other conditions Kuwait veterans claimed most

The most common other claims, and the Gulf War illness conditions.

• Sleep apnea DC 6847

  23.8% · 318 of 1,337

  all veterans 24.8%

• PTSD DC 9411

  38.0% · 251 of 661

  all veterans 26.6%

• Migraine DC 8100

  32.1% · 192 of 599

  all veterans 24.9%

• Hearing loss DC 6100

  11.5% · 61 of 531

  all veterans 21.0%

• Knee DC 5257

  23.6% · 115 of 487

  all veterans 16.7%

• Tinnitus DC 6260

  62.7% · 247 of 394

  all veterans 51.7%

• Hypertension DC 7101

  14.4% · 54 of 374

  all veterans 19.1%

• Back or neck strain DC 5237

  19.6% · 73 of 373

  all veterans 15.2%

• Chronic fatigue syndrome DC 6354

  14.2% · 53 of 373

  all veterans 8.8%Gulf War illness

• Acid reflux (GERD) DC 7206

  18.4% · 60 of 326

  all veterans 18.3%

• Irritable bowel syndrome DC 7319

  41.9% · 135 of 322

  all veterans 23.7%Gulf War illness

• Shoulder DC 5201

  22.1% · 64 of 290

  all veterans 16.7%

• Back (disc disease) DC 5243

  25.1% · 65 of 259

  all veterans 19.9%

• Back (degenerative arthritis) DC 5242

  37.4% · 95 of 254

  all veterans 27.8%

• Ankle DC 5271

  28.1% · 59 of 210

  all veterans 16.9%

• Nerve damage, legs DC 8520

  24.5% · 49 of 200

  all veterans 23.6%

• Erectile dysfunction DC 7522

  21.7% · 34 of 157

  all veterans 19.0%

• Depression DC 9434

  47.4% · 74 of 156

  all veterans 40.0%

• Dermatitis or eczema DC 7806

  20.8% · 32 of 154

  all veterans 16.7%

• Fibromyalgia DC 5025

  30.3% · 44 of 145

  all veterans 15.0%Gulf War illness

• TBI DC 8045

  16.0% · 23 of 144

  all veterans 12.3%

• Hip or thigh DC 5253

  24.3% · 33 of 136

  all veterans 15.5%

• Flat feet DC 5276

  27.8% · 37 of 133

  all veterans 20.0%

• Anxiety DC 9400

  36.0% · 45 of 125

  all veterans 20.9%

• Diabetes DC 7913

  12.0% · 15 of 125

  all veterans 22.3%

• Degenerative arthritis (other joints) DC 5003

  39.3% · 46 of 117

  all veterans 31.5%

• Plantar fasciitis DC 5269

  21.7% · 25 of 115

  all veterans 20.7%

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

How did Kuwait veterans do at the Board on burn pit claims?

On conditions on the burn pit list, the Board granted 46.8% of claims in decisions that name Kuwait (705 of 1,505), against 22.2% for all veterans with the same conditions. Rhinitis was granted for 192 of 325 (59.1%), against 25.8% for all veterans, and asthma for 116 of 211 (55.0%), against 24.3%.

Sinusitis was granted for 219 of 475 veterans (46.1%, against 22.0% overall) and COPD for 59 of 198 (29.8%, against 12.2%).

Kuwait veterans did better on most conditions

PTSD was granted for 38.0% of Kuwait veterans, against 26.6% for all veterans, and migraine for 32.1%, against 24.9%. The decisions do not show why the shares are higher. Hearing loss went the other way (11.5%, against 21.0%), and so did diabetes (12.0%, against 22.3%) and hypertension (14.4%, against 19.1%).

To compare fairly, each group's share is set against what all veterans' rates for the same conditions would predict:

Conditions in decisions that name Kuwait	Granted	Expected from all veterans	Times as often
On the burn pit list	46.7%	22.1%	2.1 times
Gulf War illness (fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, IBS)	27.6%	15.6%	1.8 times
All other conditions	26.0%	22.1%	1.2 times

The burn pit list stands out well beyond the general lift, and the Gulf War illness conditions stand out too: irritable bowel syndrome was granted for 135 of 322 veterans (41.9%, against 23.7% overall), fibromyalgia for 44 of 145 (30.3%, against 15.0%) and chronic fatigue syndrome for 53 of 373 (14.2%, against 8.8%).

Do Kuwait veterans qualify for the Gulf War illness presumption?

Yes. A veteran who served in the Southwest Asia theater, Kuwait included, during the Persian Gulf War is a Persian Gulf veteran (38 CFR 3.317(e)). That covers undiagnosed illnesses and medically unexplained chronic multisymptom illnesses such as fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome and irritable bowel syndrome. The PACT Act removed the deadline: the illness can now appear at any time, to any degree (38 U.S.C. 1117; M21-1 VIII.ii.1.A.1.c). The regulation still shows the old end-of-2026 date until it is updated, and the statute governs. The same service carries a presumption for nine infectious diseases, such as malaria and tuberculosis (38 CFR 3.317(c)). On fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue and IBS together, the Board granted 27.6% of claims in these decisions (232 of 840), against 15.9% for all veterans.

The 1991 Gulf War and the deployments since 2001

Kuwait has two generations of veterans: those who served in the 1990 to 1991 Gulf War, and those who served or staged there during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Using the service dates each decision records, 732 decisions point to the Gulf War only and 3,928 to service from 2001 on; 985 span both or record neither.

1990-1991 Gulf War serviceService from 2001 on

Burn pit list

44.4%

46.4%

Gulf War illness (fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, IBS)

27.2%

30.2%

Share of decided claims granted; a remand counts as not granted. One count per veteran. Service period from the service era and dates each decision records; decisions that span both periods or record neither are left out of this chart.

On the burn pit list, the Board granted 44.4% of claims for the Gulf War group (205 claims) and 46.4% for the later group (1,030 claims). On the Gulf War illness conditions it was 27.2% and 30.2%. Both presumptions reach back to August 1990, so the older veterans get the same rules.

The 1991 oil well fires come up in few decisions: 78 of the Kuwait decisions mention oil fires or oil smoke in the Board's summary, against 887 that mention burn pits, smoke, dust or fumes. Oil fire smoke has no presumption of its own; on a listed condition the burn pit presumption already covers the veteran, and for any other condition the claim needs a medical link to the exposure (M21-1 VIII.ii.1.B).

Before and after the PACT Act

Decisions that name KuwaitAll veterans, same conditions

2020

21.0%

14.9%

2021

29.9%

18.7%

2022

57.7%

22.7%

2023

61.9%

24.4%

2024

59.7%

27.0%

2025

39.2%

24.1%

Share of decided claims granted; a remand counts as not granted. One count per veteran. Burn pit list: 38 U.S.C. 1120, 38 CFR 3.320, 38 CFR 3.320a and 38 CFR 3.320b. The PACT Act took effect in August 2022.

On burn pit list conditions, the Board granted 25.8% of claims in decisions from 2020 and 2021 (217 claims) and 49.5% from 2023 to 2025 (1,151 claims). For all veterans with the same conditions, the shares were 16.7% and 25.1%. Decisions from 2022 sit across the change. In 2025 decisions the share fell to 39.2%, while the number of claims rose from 313 to 599; the data does not show why. Before the PACT Act, the regulation already covered asthma, rhinitis and sinusitis for Southwest Asia service, but only within ten years of service.

Many also served in Iraq

Of 624 decisions that granted a burn pit list condition, 453 (72.6%) also name Iraq, Afghanistan or another place with the same burn pit presumption, against 63.3% of all Kuwait decisions. Many units staged in Kuwait on the way to Iraq. Either deployment can carry the claim.

Why are Kuwait burn pit claims denied?

Mostly for want of a diagnosis, not exposure. For 275 denials of burn pit list conditions, the Board's note named a missing current diagnosis in 52.7% of them, a missing medical link in 31.3% and the exposure or service in only 7.6%.

Read the decisions

Recent decisions, with the Board's reasoning as summarized by AI and checked against the decision text:

• A25109189, December 2025: asthma granted under the burn pit presumption (38 CFR 3.320) for a veteran who served in Kuwait; a VA examiner found no respiratory condition, but a private medical opinion recorded the asthma diagnosis.
• A25106470, December 2025: chronic sinusitis and allergic rhinitis granted, and irritable bowel syndrome granted under the Gulf War illness rules, for an Air Force veteran who served in Kuwait in the summer of 2000.
• A25103363, December 2025: pancreatic cancer granted under the PACT Act for an Army veteran who served from 1996 to 2000, including in Kuwait; nerve damage in both arms and both legs was granted as secondary to the cancer.
• A25064892, July 2025: chronic sinusitis denied; VA had conceded the toxic exposure from service in Kuwait and Iraq, but the record showed no chronic sinusitis during the appeal.
• A25037331, April 2025: headaches sent back for a new opinion; the veteran said they began in 1992 after flying through burning oil fields in Kuwait, and the VA opinion did not address the combined effect of all the toxic exposures.

What the data cannot tell you

The Kuwait group comes from the places each decision names (Kuwait or a base there). Decisions that name it only in a quote of the law, such as the list of countries in the Southwest Asia theater, or in a finding that the veteran was not there, are left out; 78 such decisions were left out here, and that check is automatic and misses some. A mention is not proof of service there. The service period comes from the dates each decision records, which are sometimes missing or cover a whole career. The burn pit list is matched by rating code, and a code can also hold conditions that are not on the list. Service-connection claims only; rating appeals are left out. The burn pit flag and denial notes are AI-extracted. These are historical outcomes, not predictions.

For representatives

• Confirm the Kuwait service first: discharge papers, deployment orders, the Kuwait Liberation Medal or Southwest Asia Service Medal, or the VA's toxic exposure record. No minimum time there is required.
• Get the diagnosis on record. Burn pit denials here turned on it more than anything else: a chronic sinusitis or rhinitis diagnosis from a treating provider, or lung function tests for asthma or COPD.
• For fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue or IBS, cite 38 U.S.C. 1117 and 38 CFR 3.317; the condition needs no medical link to service, and since the PACT Act it can appear at any time.
• For a condition off the list blamed on oil fire smoke, ask the examiner to address the combined effect of every exposure in the record.
• A veteran denied before August 2022 can file a supplemental claim under the new presumptions.