Check where and when you served, and see every VA presumption that applies to you — PACT Act burn pits, Agent Orange, Gulf War illness, Camp Lejeune, and radiation — with the full condition list and the regulation behind each one.
Check every line that matches your service — locations and windows come straight from VA.gov. Multiple lines can apply.
A presumption is not an automatic grant. You still need a current diagnosis, military records proving you served in the qualifying place and window, and a discharge that isn't dishonorable — and the VA can rebut a presumption with evidence of another cause (38 CFR §3.307(d)). Locations, windows, and condition lists on this page are from VA.gov and eCFR, checked 2026-08-16. Not legal advice; VetAid is not VA-accredited.
VetAid's AI reads your conditions and C&P exams, flags missed presumptives and secondary conditions, and drafts the statements to fight a lowball rating.
Analyze my claim free →Every VA disability claim has to prove three things: (1) a current diagnosed disability, (2) something that happened in service, and (3) a "nexus" — a medical link showing the in-service event caused the current disability. The nexus is where most claims die: it usually takes a doctor's opinion connecting a condition that appeared years later to something that happened decades ago.
A presumption deletes elements (2) and (3). If a law or regulation says your condition is presumptive for an exposure, and your records show you served in the qualifying place during the qualifying window, the VA must presume the exposure happened and that it caused your condition — no nexus letter, no medical-literature fight. As VA puts it: "you don't need to prove that your service caused the condition. You only need to meet the service requirements for the presumption."
What a presumption does not remove:
The PACT Act (Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act of 2022) added more than 20 burn pit and toxic-exposure presumptive conditions for Gulf War era and post-9/11 veterans, codified at 38 CFR §3.320.
| Service window | Locations (airspace above them included) |
|---|---|
| On or after September 11, 2001 | Afghanistan · Djibouti · Egypt · Jordan · Lebanon · Syria · Uzbekistan · Yemen |
| On or after August 2, 1990 | Bahrain · Iraq · Kuwait · Oman · Qatar · Saudi Arabia · Somalia · United Arab Emirates (UAE) |
| On or after August 2, 1990 (waters) | Arabian Sea · Gulf of Aden · Gulf of Oman · Neutral zone between Iraq and Saudi Arabia · Persian Gulf · Red Sea |
Source: va.gov/resources/the-pact-act-and-your-va-benefits/ (VA page last updated Jun 2, 2026) and va.gov · specific-environmental-hazards — checked 2026-08-16.
| Cancer | Notes |
|---|---|
| Brain cancer | Including glioblastoma and other brain cancers |
| Gastrointestinal cancer of any type | Includes anal, colorectal, esophageal, liver, pancreatic, small intestine, spleen, stomach cancers |
| Genitourinary cancer | Includes renal cell and non–renal cell carcinoma, urinary bladder, ureter cancers |
| Glioblastoma | Primary and secondary |
| Head cancer of any type | Including cancers of the scalp, face, mouth, aural areas, lips, hard or soft palate |
| Hematologic and lymphatic cancers | Includes acute and chronic leukemias, multiple myeloma (incl. MGUS), myelodysplastic syndromes, myelofibrosis |
| Kidney cancer | |
| Lymphoma of any type | Hodgkin's and non-Hodgkin's, B-cell and T-cell types |
| Melanoma | Of the skin, eye, and mucosa |
| Neck cancer of any type | Including cancers of the neck, pharynx, and larynx |
| Pancreatic cancer | Exocrine and neuroendocrine |
| Reproductive cancer of any type | Breast, cervical, ovarian, uterine, vaginal, vulvar; penile, prostate, testicular, urethral |
| Respiratory (breathing-related) cancer of any type | Any cancer from the nose to the pleural space: bronchus, larynx, lung, pharynx, trachea |
Sources: va.gov · the-pact-act-and-your-va-benefits and va.gov · specific-environmental-hazards; subtype detail from va.gov · presumptive-cancers-related-to-burn-pit-exposure (VA page last updated Apr 8, 2025) — checked 2026-08-16. VA notes these are not complete lists of every cancer subtype.
Brain: primary and secondary glioblastoma; anaplastic, diffuse, and pilocytic astrocytoma; brain stem glioma; pineal astrocytic tumors; subependymal giant cell astrocytoma; ependymomas; malignant pineal gland; mixed gliomas (oligoastrocytoma); oligodendrogliomas; pituitary carcinoma.
Ear and eye: ceruminous adenoma; rhabdomyosarcoma; carcinoid and neuroendocrine tumors of the orbit; eye and ocular adnexa cancers; melanomas of the eye (choroidal, conjunctival, iris).
Mouth, neck, and throat: hypopharyngeal, jaw, laryngeal, oropharyngeal cancers; oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma; pharyngeal cancer; salivary gland cancer; thyroid cancer (anaplastic, follicular, medullary, papillary); tongue cancer; plus basal cell carcinoma, melanoma, and squamous cell carcinoma of the skin of the mouth and neck.
Nose: nasopharyngeal carcinomas; paranasal sinus and nasal cavity cancers (adenocarcinoma, adenoid cystic, lymphoma, neuroendocrine carcinoma, olfactory neuroblastoma, plasmacytoma, squamous cell); skin cancers of the nose; fibrosarcoma, leiomyosarcoma, rhabdomyosarcoma, undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma.
Sarcomas (head/neck): fibromatosis, liposarcoma, malignant ganglioma/mesenchymoma/schwannoma, osteosarcoma; rare: dermatofibrosarcoma, ectomesenchymoma, Ewing sarcoma, fibrosarcoma, leiomyosarcoma, low-grade fibromyxoid sarcoma, rhabdomyosarcoma; blood-vessel sarcomas: angiosarcoma, hemangioendothelioma, hemangiopericytoma, solitary fibrous tumor, vascular sarcoma.
Spinal cord (cervical spine): lymphoma, malignant schwannoma, multiple myeloma, osteosarcoma, solitary plasmacytoma; rare: chondrosarcoma, chordoma, Ewing's sarcoma, malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor.
Gastrointestinal: anal, colorectal/colon, esophageal, liver, pancreatic, salivary gland, small intestine, spleen, stomach, and tongue cancers.
Genitourinary: renal cell carcinoma (all types); non–renal cell carcinoma (renal sarcoma, Wilms tumor); urinary bladder cancer; ureter cancer.
Hematologic and lymphatic: acute leukemias; chronic leukemias; multiple myelomas including MGUS; myelodysplastic syndromes; myelofibrosis.
Lymphomas: B-cell lymphoma; Hodgkin's lymphoma; rare: anaplastic large cell, Burkitt, lymphoblastic, mantle-cell, mycosis fungoides, non-Hodgkin's, T-cell lymphoma.
Melanoma: of the eye, of the skin (acral lentiginous, lentigo maligna, nodular, superficial spreading), and mucosal melanoma.
Pancreatic: exocrine pancreatic cancers; neuroendocrine pancreatic cancer.
Reproductive: breast, paraurethral gland, cervical, ovarian, uterine, vaginal, vulvar; penile, prostate, testicular, urethral.
Respiratory: bronchial cancers; laryngeal cancers; non-small cell and small cell lung cancers; nasopharyngeal cancer; paranasal sinus and nasal cavity cancer; pharyngeal cancers; throat (oropharyngeal) cancers; trachea cancers.
Source: va.gov · presumptive-cancers-related-to-burn-pit-exposure — checked 2026-08-16. VA marks every one of these groups "not a complete list."
| Illness | Notes |
|---|---|
| Asthma | Must have been diagnosed after service |
| Chronic bronchitis | |
| Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) | |
| Chronic rhinitis | |
| Chronic sinusitis | |
| Constrictive bronchiolitis or obliterative bronchiolitis | |
| Emphysema | |
| Granulomatous disease | |
| Interstitial lung disease (ILD) | |
| Pleuritis | |
| Pulmonary fibrosis | |
| Sarcoidosis |
Source: va.gov · the-pact-act-and-your-va-benefits and va.gov · specific-environmental-hazards — checked 2026-08-16.
If you have a diagnosis on this list and qualifying herbicide-exposure service, the condition is presumptive. The PACT Act added hypertension and MGUS in 2022; bladder cancer, hypothyroidism, and Parkinsonism were added in 2021 (the VA says it automatically re-reviews claims it previously denied for those three).
| Condition | Notes |
|---|---|
| Bladder cancer | Added 2021 |
| Chronic B-cell leukemia | |
| Hodgkin's disease | |
| Multiple myeloma | |
| Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma | |
| Prostate cancer | |
| Respiratory cancers | Including lung cancer |
| Some soft tissue sarcomas | VA excludes osteosarcoma, chondrosarcoma, Kaposi's sarcoma, and mesothelioma |
| AL amyloidosis | |
| Chloracne (or similar acneiform disease) | Must be at least 10% disabling within 1 year of herbicide exposure |
| Diabetes mellitus type 2 | |
| High blood pressure (hypertension) | PACT Act addition |
| Hypothyroidism | Added 2021 |
| Ischemic heart disease | |
| Monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) | PACT Act addition |
| Parkinsonism | Added 2021 |
| Parkinson's disease | |
| Peripheral neuropathy, early onset | Must be at least 10% disabling within 1 year of herbicide exposure |
| Porphyria cutanea tarda | Must be at least 10% disabling within 1 year of herbicide exposure |
| Location | Window |
|---|---|
| Republic of Vietnam; U.S. vessels on its inland waterways; vessels within 12 nautical miles seaward of the Vietnam/Cambodia demarcation line | Jan 9, 1962 – May 7, 1975 |
| Any U.S. or Royal Thai military base in Thailand PACT | Jan 9, 1962 – Jun 30, 1976 |
| Laos PACT | Dec 1, 1965 – Sep 30, 1969 |
| Cambodia at Mimot or Krek, Kampong Cham Province PACT | Apr 16, 1969 – Apr 30, 1969 |
| Guam or American Samoa, or their territorial waters PACT | Jan 9, 1962 – Jul 31, 1980 |
| Johnston Atoll, or a ship that called at Johnston Atoll PACT | Jan 1, 1972 – Sep 30, 1977 |
| In or near the Korean DMZ | Sep 1, 1967 – Aug 31, 1971 |
| Air Force units with C-123 aircraft that carried Agent Orange residue (repeated contact via flight, ground, or medical duties) | — |
| Transporting, testing, storing, or other uses of Agent Orange during service | — |
Source: va.gov · hazardous-materials-exposure/agent-orange (VA page last updated Sep 16, 2025) — checked 2026-08-16.
For Gulf War veterans, the VA presumes three groups of conditions. The undiagnosed-illness group is unusual: it covers chronic problems no doctor can fully diagnose — normally impossible to service-connect at all.
| Condition |
|---|
| Chronic fatigue syndrome |
| Fibromyalgia |
| Functional gastrointestinal disorders |
| Medically unexplained chronic multisymptom illness (MUCMI) |
| Other undiagnosed illnesses — e.g. cardiovascular signs and symptoms, muscle and joint pain, headaches |
| Condition |
|---|
| Brucellosis |
| Campylobacter jejuni |
| Coxiella burnetii (Q fever) |
| Malaria (or sooner in some cases) |
| Nontyphoid salmonella |
| Shigella |
| West Nile virus |
| Condition |
|---|
| Mycobacterium tuberculosis |
| Visceral leishmaniasis |
| Presumption | Locations |
|---|---|
| Undiagnosed illness / MUCMI | Afghanistan* · Bahrain · Egypt* · Iraq · Israel* · Jordan* · Kuwait · Neutral zone between Iraq and Saudi Arabia · Oman · Qatar · Saudi Arabia · Syria* · Turkey* · UAE · the waters of the Arabian Sea, Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Oman, Persian Gulf, and Red Sea. *Airspace not included for the starred countries; included for the rest. |
| Infectious diseases | Afghanistan (only service after Sep 19, 2001; airspace not included) · Bahrain · Iraq · Kuwait · Neutral zone between Iraq and Saudi Arabia · Oman · Qatar · Saudi Arabia · UAE · the waters of the Arabian Sea, Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Oman, Persian Gulf, and Red Sea |
Source: va.gov · gulf-war-illness-southwest-asia and va.gov · gulf-war-illness-afghanistan (VA pages last updated May 15, 2024) — checked 2026-08-16.
Veterans, reservists, and National Guard members who served at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune or MCAS New River, North Carolina, for at least 30 days total between August 1, 1953, and December 31, 1987, have eight presumptive conditions for disability compensation.
| Condition |
|---|
| Adult leukemia |
| Aplastic anemia and other myelodysplastic syndromes |
| Bladder cancer |
| Kidney cancer |
| Liver cancer |
| Multiple myeloma |
| Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma |
| Parkinson's disease |
| Condition |
|---|
| Bladder cancer |
| Breast cancer |
| Esophageal cancer |
| Female infertility |
| Hepatic steatosis |
| Kidney cancer |
| Leukemia |
| Lung cancer |
| Miscarriage |
| Multiple myeloma |
| Myelodysplastic syndromes |
| Neurobehavioral effects |
| Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma |
| Renal toxicity |
| Scleroderma |
Source: va.gov · camp-lejeune-water-contamination (VA page last updated Jul 28, 2025) — checked 2026-08-16. The Camp Lejeune Justice Act (PACT Act §804) is a separate relief route through the Navy/courts and does not change these VA benefits.
Veterans who took part in a "radiation-risk activity" have 21 presumptive diseases. The PACT Act added three cleanup/response efforts to the qualifying activities.
| Disease | Notes |
|---|---|
| Leukemia | Other than chronic lymphocytic leukemia |
| Cancer of the thyroid | |
| Cancer of the breast | |
| Cancer of the pharynx | |
| Cancer of the esophagus | |
| Cancer of the stomach | |
| Cancer of the small intestine | |
| Cancer of the pancreas | |
| Multiple myeloma | |
| Lymphomas | Except Hodgkin's disease |
| Cancer of the bile ducts | |
| Cancer of the gall bladder | |
| Primary liver cancer | Except if cirrhosis or hepatitis B is indicated |
| Cancer of the salivary gland | |
| Cancer of the urinary tract | Kidneys, renal pelves, ureters, urinary bladder, urethra |
| Bronchiolo-alveolar carcinoma | |
| Cancer of the bone | |
| Cancer of the brain | |
| Cancer of the colon | |
| Cancer of the lung | |
| Cancer of the ovary |
| Activity | Window |
|---|---|
| Onsite participation in atmospheric nuclear weapons testing | — |
| Occupation of Hiroshima or Nagasaki, Japan | Aug 6, 1945 – Jul 1, 1946 |
| Prisoner of war in Japan (WWII) with comparable exposure opportunity | — |
| Cleanup of Enewetak Atoll PACT | Jan 1, 1977 – Dec 31, 1980 |
| Cleanup of the B-52 crash off Palomares, Spain PACT | Jan 17, 1966 – Mar 31, 1967 |
| Response to the B-52 fire near Thule Air Force Base, Greenland PACT | Jan 21, 1968 – Sep 25, 1968 |
| Underground nuclear weapons testing at Amchitka Island, Alaska | — |
| Gaseous diffusion plant assignment — Paducah, KY; Portsmouth, OH; or Area K-25, Oak Ridge, TN | — |
| Department of Energy "Special Exposure Cohort"-type duties (42 U.S.C. 7384L(14)) | — |
Sources: disease list from 38 CFR §3.309(d)(2), eCFR (current); activities from va.gov · ionizing-radiation (VA page last updated Jul 18, 2023) — both checked 2026-08-16.
You can still win the claim — you just have to supply the nexus yourself: evidence the condition began or worsened in service, or medical literature tying it to an exposure. And many conditions the VA won't presume can be connected secondary to something already service-connected. See the missed secondary conditions guide, browse veteran Q&A, or check what your rating is worth with the combined rating calculator.
One the VA automatically assumes was caused by your service because a law or regulation says so. You don't have to prove causation — only that you meet the service requirements (right place, right window) for the presumption.
No. You still need a current diagnosis, records proving qualifying service, and a non-dishonorable discharge; a few conditions have timing rules, and the VA can rebut the presumption with evidence of another cause (38 CFR §3.307(d)). The rating percentage is still set by severity.
Yes. The PACT Act added high blood pressure (hypertension) and MGUS to the Agent Orange presumptive list. Any qualifying herbicide-exposure service — Vietnam, Korean DMZ, Thailand bases, and the other listed locations — supports the presumption.
Yes, if it was diagnosed after service and you served in a qualifying Gulf War or post-9/11 location. It's one of 12 presumptive illnesses alongside COPD, chronic sinusitis, chronic rhinitis, and others.
At least 30 days total at Camp Lejeune or MCAS New River between August 1, 1953, and December 31, 1987. Eight presumptive conditions: adult leukemia, aplastic anemia/myelodysplastic syndromes, bladder cancer, kidney cancer, liver cancer, multiple myeloma, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and Parkinson's disease.
File a Supplemental Claim — the VA reviews the case again under the new presumption. For the 2021 Agent Orange additions (bladder cancer, hypothyroidism, Parkinsonism), the VA says it automatically re-reviews previously denied claims.
You can still file — you'll need nexus evidence: proof it started or worsened in service, or scientific/medical evidence linking it to an exposure. Also check whether it's secondary to a condition you're already connected for.