Ranch Hand

Operation Ranch Hand was a United States Air Force military unit and operation during the Vietnam War, active from 1962 to 1971. Its primary mission was to conduct aerial herbicide spraying, most famously using Agent Orange, to defoliate forests and destroy crops used by Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces. Ranch Hand aircraft, mostly C-123 Providers, flew over 20,000 sorties, dispersing millions of gallons of chemical defoliants across South Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. The operation had significant environmental and long-term health impacts on both local populations and U.S. military personnel.