The characteristics of ion implantation induced damage in InAs, GaSb, and GaP, and its removal by rapid thermal annealing have been investigated by Rutherford backscattering and transmission electron microscopy. There is relatively poor regrowth of these materials if they were amorphized during the implantation, leaving significant densities of dislocation loops, microtwins, and in the case of GaSb, polycrystalline material. For implant doses below the amorphization threshold, rapid annealing produces good recovery of the lattice disorder, with backscattering yields similar to unimplanted material. The redistribution of the implanted acceptor Mg is quite marked in all three semiconductors, whereas the donor Si shows no measurable motion after annealing of InAs or GaP. In GaSb, however, where it appears to predominantly occupy the group III site, it shows redistribution similar to that of Mg.