Puerto Rico and Vieques VA claims: what the Board grants

Is there an exposure presumption for Puerto Rico or Vieques?

No. VA's herbicide and toxic exposure presumptions do not name Puerto Rico, Vieques or Culebra. A claim based on exposure there has to prove the exposure as a fact (M21-1 VIII.i.1.A).

Vieques held a Navy training range, and Camp Garcia was the Marine camp there. Claims about exposure on Vieques are decided as direct claims: proof of the exposure, a current diagnosis and a medical link.

How often does the Board grant claims from Puerto Rico veterans?

Less often than for veterans overall, for most conditions. On the herbicide-list conditions, the Board granted 6.4% of claims in decisions that name Puerto Rico, against 25.0% for all veterans; diabetes 2 of 68. Knee claims were granted 9.7%, against 16.3% overall.

583 Board decisions from 2020 to 2025 with a service-connection claim name Puerto Rico, Vieques, Culebra or a base there (Roosevelt Roads, Fort Buchanan, Ramey, Camp Santiago and others). The chart compares each condition with all veterans who claimed it.

Bar: share granted for Puerto Rico veterans

Red mark: all veterans with the same condition

Conditions on the Agent Orange list

VA presumes these for herbicide exposure at listed places, not for Puerto Rico.

• Diabetes DC 7913

  2.9% · 2 of 68

  all veterans 24.0%On the Agent Orange list

• Hypertension DC 7101

  7.9% · 5 of 63

  all veterans 19.0%On the Agent Orange list

• Coronary artery disease DC 7005

  8.3% · 2 of 24

  all veterans 34.1%On the Agent Orange list

• Prostate, bladder or kidney cancer DC 7528

  9.5% · 2 of 21

  all veterans 33.7%On the Agent Orange list

Other conditions Puerto Rico veterans claimed

• Knee DC 5257

  9.7% · 7 of 72

  all veterans 16.3%

• Hearing loss DC 6100

  22.5% · 16 of 71

  all veterans 23.5%

• Shoulder DC 5201

  10.5% · 6 of 57

  all veterans 16.7%

• PTSD DC 9411

  19.3% · 11 of 57

  all veterans 27.1%

• Back or neck strain DC 5237

  13.5% · 7 of 52

  all veterans 15.8%

• Back (degenerative arthritis) DC 5242

  13.5% · 7 of 52

  all veterans 28.1%

• Tinnitus DC 6260

  40.8% · 20 of 49

  all veterans 52.8%

• Nerve damage, legs DC 8520

  13.0% · 6 of 46

  all veterans 23.0%

• Sleep apnea DC 6847

  9.3% · 4 of 43

  all veterans 26.2%

• Back (disc disease) DC 5243

  8.1% · 3 of 37

  all veterans 20.0%

• Migraine DC 8100

  31.3% · 10 of 32

  all veterans 24.6%

• Depression DC 9434

  20.0% · 6 of 30

  all veterans 39.0%

• Anxiety DC 9400

  8.0% · 2 of 25

  all veterans 21.4%

• Nerve damage, arms DC 8513

  12.0% · 3 of 25

  all veterans 18.0%

• Acid reflux (GERD) DC 7206

  17.4% · 4 of 23

  all veterans 19.2%

• Ankle DC 5271

  9.1% · 2 of 22

  all veterans 16.6%

• Degenerative arthritis (other joints) DC 5003

  23.8% · 5 of 21

  all veterans 32.5%

One count per veteran per condition; a remand counts as not granted. Conditions with at least 20 veterans.

Conditions off the list were granted 16.7%, against 24.6% for the same mix of conditions overall. Hearing loss (22.5%) was close to the national share; PTSD (19.3%, against 27.1%) and degenerative arthritis of the back (13.5%, against 28.1%) were well below it.

Why does National Guard and reserve service matter here?

Of 1,157 decisions that name Puerto Rico, 554 (47.9%) mention the National Guard or reserves, against 7.0% of all Board decisions. For guard and reserve members, only certain periods of duty count as service, and a disease generally counts only if it began or worsened during active duty for training. That makes these claims harder to prove.

Camp Santiago is a Puerto Rico National Guard training site, and Fort Buchanan supports reserve units. The data does not show each veteran's type of service, so the gap is a likely reason, not a proven one.

Why are Puerto Rico claims denied?

For 381 denials, the Board's note named a medical link in 65.9% of them.

In the denial below, the claim tied osteopenia to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune and Camp Garcia; osteopenia is not on the Camp Lejeune list, and the Board found no direct link.

Read the decisions

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

• A25100402, November 2025: bilateral hearing loss granted for a veteran who served in Puerto Rico; despite a negative VA opinion and no hearing tests from service, the Board credited consistent statements of hearing loss since service.
• A25100860, November 2025: both knees granted, tied to helicopter jumps and marching in service, with the benefit of the doubt; knee surgery scars granted as secondary.
• A25105315, December 2025: osteopenia claimed from contaminated water at Camp Lejeune and Camp Garcia on Vieques, denied; it is not a presumptive Camp Lejeune condition and no direct link was shown.

What the data cannot tell you

The Puerto Rico group comes from the places each decision names; a mention is not proof of service there or of exposure, and many veterans also served elsewhere. Service-connection claims only; rating appeals are left out. The National Guard and reserve share is a text match on each decision's summary and places, compared with a small random sample of all decisions. These are historical outcomes, not predictions.

For representatives

• For guard and reserve members, pin down the dates of each period of active duty for training and whether the condition began or worsened then.
• For exposure on Vieques or elsewhere in Puerto Rico, build the exposure as a fact: unit, duties, dates and any records of what was there.
• Get a medical opinion that addresses the period of service that counts.