The Naval War College (NWC), located on Coasters Harbor Island in Newport, Rhode Island, is the oldest continuously operating war college in the United States, having educated naval officers and national security professionals since 1884. The College serves senior military officers — typically commanders and captains in the Navy, and equivalent grades in other services — in national security strategy, joint military operations, and international law. The NWC campus includes historic buildings from the late nineteenth century alongside mid-twentieth century construction, with the older buildings representing multiple generations of renovation and maintenance that involved asbestos-containing materials.

Historic Campus and Asbestos Construction

The Naval War College’s Coasters Harbor Island campus includes Luce Hall (the historic 1892 main building) and numerous buildings added during the twentieth century. Construction and renovation cycles on this historic campus through the 1970s used materials including:

  • Steam heating infrastructure serving the extensive campus through insulated distribution systems with asbestos pipe covering and lagging on boilers and steam mains
  • Academic and office buildings built in the postwar era with asbestos floor tile, ceiling materials, and pipe insulation standard in Navy institutional construction
  • Renovation of historic buildings during the 1940s through 1960s when asbestos-containing materials were introduced into older structures during major updates
  • Housing and residential facilities for students and faculty with asbestos-containing building materials consistent with the construction period

Senior Officers and Shore Duty

Officers attending the Naval War College typically served one academic year on the Newport campus, occupying classrooms, offices, and residential facilities. Permanent faculty, staff, and administrative personnel assigned to the College accumulated longer-duration shore duty exposure in campus facilities built across multiple construction eras.

The Naval War College shares Coasters Harbor Island with Naval Station Newport, which includes additional facilities with documented asbestos-containing construction. Veterans who served at the Naval War College or Naval Station Newport — including those who attended officer education programs — were present in a larger installation complex with asbestos-containing shore facilities dating to the post-World War II construction era.

VA Claims for Naval War College Veterans

VA presumptive service connection under 38 CFR § 3.309(d) covers shore-duty asbestos exposure at Navy educational and support installations. Officers who attended or were assigned to the Naval War College before the early 1980s and have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, or asbestos-related lung cancer may qualify for VA disability benefits. DD-214 records or orders listing Naval War College, Newport, RI document the duty station.