Naval Training Center San Diego, located at the western edge of Mission Bay near the Sports Arena area, was the principal Navy recruit training command on the Pacific Coast from World War II through BRAC closure in 1997. Nearly every sailor enlisting on the West Coast completed basic training at NTC San Diego before receiving fleet assignments. The installation’s extensive shore infrastructure — barracks, classroom buildings, mechanical facilities, and boiler plants — was constructed primarily during the postwar buildup using materials that included asbestos insulation standard in Navy construction of that era.

Shore Facility Construction and Asbestos

Navy procurement and materials records document asbestos-containing products approved for use at Naval Training Center San Diego through the mid-1950s and beyond. Refractory and insulation products on Navy qualified products lists — including lightweight castable materials — were approved for use at NTC San Diego during the 1955–1957 period, consistent with postwar expansion of the installation’s heating infrastructure.

Barracks, mess halls, administrative buildings, and classroom facilities constructed at NTC San Diego during the 1940s and 1950s used asbestos-containing materials standard in Navy shore construction:

  • Boiler plants and steam distribution systems serving the training complex were insulated with asbestos block insulation and pipe lagging
  • Barracks construction of the postwar era incorporated asbestos floor tile, ceiling tile, and joint compound
  • Mechanical and maintenance facilities used asbestos gaskets, packing, and high-temperature insulation on equipment serviced by recruit and maintenance personnel

Recruit Training and Asbestos Exposure

Veterans who completed basic training at NTC San Diego before the early 1980s were present in facilities with asbestos-containing building materials during the training period. Trust fund claimant records document individual sailors listing NTC San Diego as a service site before fleet assignment, including individuals subsequently diagnosed with asbestos-related illness.

Shore duty personnel — instructors, administrative staff, and maintenance workers permanently assigned to NTC San Diego commands — accumulated more prolonged exposure in asbestos-containing facilities than recruits passing through for eight to twelve weeks of basic training.

VA Claims for NTC San Diego Veterans

VA presumptive service connection under 38 CFR § 3.309(d) covers asbestos exposure at shore installations including Naval Training Center San Diego. Veterans who completed basic training or served in shore billets at NTC San Diego before the early 1980s and have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, or asbestos-related lung cancer should document their assignment through DD-214 records listing Naval Training Center San Diego or San Diego, CA as a duty station.