Question:

Jim, My question is that I was assigned to a reconnaissance squadron (VQ-1) from 1966 through Aug. 1968. VQ-1 flew hundreds of recon missions in Vietnam in search of SAM Sites. VQ-1 served as a direct support services for ground and air services in Vietnam and surrounding areas. My duty was to interpret data coming back from all missions and put it into readable format (longitude/latitude coordinates) to destroy the SAM sites. I was one of the few squadron guys who did not fly. Our home base was Atsugi, Japan. Nobody at the VA can tell if I am qualified to wear Vietnam Ribbon. Does direct high security back room intelligence processing for VQ-1 qualify me for the Medal also? I and only few others handled high security data as off shore support. This question has been bothering me for years. I have three of the presumptive conditions associated with agent orange. All of our coordinates data came directly from Vietnam flights. Thanks for listening.

Jim's Reply:

The requirements for eligibility are pretty clear. See Vietnam Service Medal It sounds to me as if you meet the eligibility requirements and then some.
 

Requirements

Individuals must meet one of the following requirements: Be attached to or regularly serve for 1 or more days with an organization participating in or directly supporting military operations.
 

This isn't the same as being eligible for agent orange benefits though so your comment threw me off just a bit.
 

To be eligible for agent orange benefits generally requires that the servicemember has set foot on the soil of Vietnam or served in some other capacity deemed eligible for those presumptive benefits. If you had flown there may have been a link to agent orange but if you didn't leave your station in Japan, I don't see a link to AO.
 

Wear the ribbon proudly!