The Foreign Service Journal, December 2010

D uring the Vietnam War, Foreign Service employees served side by side with their military counter- parts in a joint civilian/military command. The Civil Operations and Revolutionary Development Support programcombined counterinsurgency and nationbuilding programs run by the military, U.S. Agency for International Development and the Central Intelligence Agency throughout Vietnam. As a result, civilian andmilitary personnel faced the samewar- zone dangers and hazards. One of these was exposure to dioxin, commonly known as Agent Orange. According to theDepartment ofVeter- ansAffairs, about 20million gallons of the herbicide was sprayed across South Vietnaminanattempt todestroy crops and trees and foliage that concealed enemy forces. A Presumptive Policy The VApresumes that all military per- sonnel who served in Vietnam were exposed toAgent Orange, and federal law presumes that certain illnesses are a result of that exposure. This “presump- tive policy” simplifies the process of award- ing compensation for these diseases, since the VA forgoes the normal require- ments of proving that an illness began or was worsened during military service. However, there was no similar provision for civilian employees in Vietnam. Recently, three retired Foreign Service employees who served with CORDS in Vietnam have reported developing ill- nesses that would have qualified them for health care benefits and compensationhad they served in the military. No Recourse for Civilians Because the State Department has no authority or resources to cover treatment of these illnesses, the only alternative open to these former FSOs is an application for disability benefits under the Federal Employee’s Compensation Act, which is administered by the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs in the Depart- ment of Labor. Any benefits under FECA, however, would be less generous than those under theVAprogram, and the applicantswould have to showa causal connection between their service inVietnamand their diseases. They would also have to prove to the satisfaction of OWCP that they filed time- ly applications. Through no fault of the applicant, the causal connection and timelinessmay be difficult to demon- strate. Will the Department Step Up? We hope that the department, which already forwards FECA applications from its employees to DOL, will make a force- ful supporting argument that assumptions similar to that of the VA should apply to Foreign Service employees who partici- pated in CORDS. Additionally, the department should informretirees in gen- eral about the possibility of AgentOrange– related illnesses stemming from partici- pation inCORDS and provide themassis- tance with any claims. Finally, we believe the department should ask for the same level of diagnos- tic and health care for civilian employees assigned to combat zones as is provided for the military. This would be a timely way for civilian leaders to show the same commitment to their employees that the military does. ❏ A F S A N E W S DE C EMB E R 2 0 1 0 / F OR E I GN S E R V I C E J OU R N A L 57 Agent Orange and the Foreign Service BY BONNIE BROWN, RETIREE COORDINATOR The department should inform retirees in general about the possibility of Agent Orange–related illnesses stemming from participation in CORDS and provide them assistance with any claims. than reunifying. Ridgway commented that the fate of reunification depended almost wholly on Presidents Reagan, Bush andGorbachev, and also noted British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s role. But Scowcroft andRidgwayagreed that Soviet Union Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze was one of the more influ- ential players, guiding his boss Gorbachev down the path of liberalization. When Shevardnadze left the administration, Scowcroft said, Gorbachev became much more resistant to reform. “It was notice- able, thedifferencewhenhe left,”Scowcroft said. Is the American Foreign Service Prepared? Kalb concluded by asking the two life- long diplomats to assess the Foreign Service in terms of how it dealt with German reunification and how it is han- dling the challenges that face the United States today. Ridgway noted that she met many ForeignService officerswhowereprepared for the task during her travels to the new Eastern European countries during the 1990s. And it wasn’t just FSOs, she said. “I found spouses picking uppart of the effort in a way that was vastly underap- preciated,” she said, recalling a diplomat- ic reception in Estonia during which the power cut out. Ridgway found the ambas- sador’s wife in the kitchen, trying tomake hors d’oeuvres in the dark. Together, Ridgway said, teams of spouses helped establish relationships with these new countries. But while Ridgway believes Foreign Service officers are doing their jobs admirably and responding well to crises, she doubts that it is appreciated. “We never had enough people, never hadenoughmoneyor resources,”Ridgway said. “And in a post-9/11worldwhere the demands are even greater I would say the shortages are monumental.” Scowcroft agreed, urgingCongress not to starve the StateDepartment. “Most of our problems in theworld are going to be dealt with by diplomacy,” he said. ❏