711th Human Performance Wing The 711th Human Performance Wing ( 711 HPW ) is a wing of the United States Air Force based out of the Wright - Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton , Ohio . The 711 HPW merges the Air Force Research Laboratory Human Effectiveness Directorate with the mission organizations of the 311th Human Systems Wing currently located at Brooks City - Base . Mission . The wing ' s primary mission areas are aerospace medicine , science and technology and human systems integration . Subordinate organizations . Human Effectiveness Directorate United States Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine ( USAFSAM ) Human Performance Integration Directorate Bases stationed . Controversial Research : In 2011 USAF School of Aerospace Medicine ( USAFSAM ) was tasked to investigate Agent Orange exposure concerns raised by former crewmembers who flew the Fairchild C - 123 " Provider " between the years 1972 - 1982 . Tests completed in 1994 by AF Armstrong Laboratories had established the Agent Orange contamination of the Museum of the United States Air Force ' s C - 123 resulting from the warplane ' s service during the Vietnam War , spraying Agent Orange . Results indicated the aircraft " heavily contaminated on all test surfaces . While the 1994 report was accepted as requiring all personnel entering the aircraft for whatever purpose to first don HAZMAT protection , no record exists of any question being raised by Air Force authorities concerning veterans who ' d flown the aircraft in earlier years of their exposure . The contaminated C - 123 , famous as " Patches , " was decontaminated in 1996 and placed in the Museum of the Air Force Southeast Asia War display . The multidisciplinary team formed by USAFSAM to investigate the contamination issues concluded in May 2012 that no harmful level of exposure existed for the veterans who ' d flown C - 123 aircraft . The report ( Consultative Letter , AFRL - SA - WP - CL - 2012 - 0052 , UC - 123 Agent Orange Exposure Assessment , Post - Vietnam [ 1972 - 1982 ] ) was released over the signature of the commander , USAF School of Aerospace Medicine . The report was distributed to the Department of Veterans Affairs by the Deputy Surgeon General of the Air Force with his conclusion there was " limited benefit " in informing the concerned veterans , and such notification would only cause to " undue distress . " The USAFSAM Consultative Letter was quickly challenged by expert toxicologists citing several faults . In particular , experts were alarmed with the contrast between the Consultative Letter ' s dismissal of veterans ' exposure to dioxin and the conclusion reached by the Center for Disease / Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry ( ATSDR ) . The ATSDR finding , written by their Deputy Director , was " I believe aircrews operating in this , and similar , environments were exposed to TCDD . " ATSDR also found a greatly increased risk of cancer to veterans who ' d flown or maintained these aircraft . Other Federal agencies , such as the National Institutes of Health / NEIHS and the US Public Health Service reached similar conclusions that C - 123 aircrews and maintenance personnel were exposed . Also challenging the Air Force results were Dr . Jeanne Stellman , Professor Emerita of the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health , Dr . Fred Berman of Oregon Health Sciences University , and Dr . Arnold Schecter of the University of Texas Medical School , and many of their colleagues . On 29 November 2012 , fifteen of these experts submitted their joint letter challenging both the Air Force Consultative Letter and the VA ' s acceptance of it , to General Allison Hickey , Under Secretary for Benefits . C - 123 veterans have continued to present Agent Orange exposure claims to the Department of Veterans Affairs , but without success as the VA ' s Compensation and Pension Service relies on the finding of the VA ' s Health Benefits Administration holding C - 123 exposure risks to have been minimal , secondary and not harmful to human health .