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Herbicidal Warfare Vietnam 1961-1971

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Herbicidal Warfare Vietnam 1961-1971

Herbicidal warfare is a form of warfare in which the objective is to destroy the plant-based ecosystem of an area for the purpose of disrupting agricultural food production or destroying plants which provide cover to an enemy. In contrast to other forms of chemical warfare, its use is not prohibited by international agreement.

The military use of herbicides in Vietnam began in 1961, was expanded during 1965 and 1966, and reached a peak from 1967 to 1969. It involved spraying an estimated 19 million US gallons of defoliants over rural areas of South Vietnam

The code name for the overall herbicide program was TRAIL DUST. The code name RANCH HAND specifically referred to the C-123 herbicide-spraying project.

This map is a representation of herbicide spray missions in Vietnam. The dark areas represent concentrated spraying areas. This map only represents fixed-wing aircraft spraying, and does not include helicopter spraying of perimeters, or other spray methods.

The III Corps area received the heaviest concentrations of spraying, followed by I Corps, II Corps and IV Corps.