Electrical and structural changes in GaAs are monitored using electron beam induced current (EBIC) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) measurements after irradiation by protons and silicon ions. It has been determined that higher energy protons (E >= 10 MeV) and silicon ions disordered regions that are electrically and structurally different than those produced by lower energy protons. The data suggest that these disordered regions are responsible for causing the deviations between experimental data and NIEL. From analyses of the recoil spectra, high energy recoils appear to be responsible for the formation of these disordered regions.