Naval Air Station Atlanta served as the Navy’s aviation installation for the southeastern interior United States, supporting Navy Reserve aviation units and active-duty commands in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The installation operated facilities at Chamblee, Georgia before consolidating operations near Dobbins Air Reserve Base in the Marietta area. Like Navy Reserve air stations nationwide, NAS Atlanta’s hangar and maintenance infrastructure were built and maintained using construction materials that included asbestos insulation and building components standard in Navy shore construction of the postwar era.

Shore Facility Asbestos Sources

NAS Atlanta’s facilities were constructed in the postwar period using materials consistent with Navy aviation base construction standards of the era. Aircraft maintenance hangars, steam heating systems, and administrative buildings at Navy air stations of this type typically incorporated:

  • Hangar structural systems with asbestos fireproofing on steel framing and asbestos-containing roofing materials
  • Heating systems serving base facilities with asbestos pipe insulation and boiler lagging
  • Maintenance shops and technical facilities where asbestos gaskets, packing, and insulation were used in aircraft and ground support equipment maintenance
  • Barracks and administrative buildings with asbestos floor tile, ceiling tile, and pipe insulation standard in Navy construction through the mid-1970s

Regional Construction Context

Federal environmental records document military facilities throughout the Atlanta and northern Georgia area — including Fort Gordon, Fort Stewart, and Navy-adjacent installations — with asbestos-containing building systems. Navy aviation installations in this region shared the same construction materials and contractor trades that performed asbestos insulation work throughout the southeastern military complex.

VA Claims for NAS Atlanta Veterans

VA presumptive service connection under 38 CFR § 3.309(d) covers asbestos exposure at shore installations including NAS Atlanta. Veterans who served at Naval Air Station Atlanta in aviation maintenance, engineering, or shore duty billets during the asbestos era and have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, or asbestos-related lung cancer should document their assignment through DD-214 or reserve service records listing NAS Atlanta, Chamblee GA, or Dobbins ARB, GA.