Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay — located on the windward coast of Oahu at Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii — was established in 1939 as Naval Air Station Kaneohe Bay and was among the first U.S. military installations attacked on December 7, 1941, when Japanese aircraft destroyed 33 of the 36 PBY Catalinas based at the station. The station was rebuilt and expanded throughout WWII and postwar periods, transitioning to Marine Corps command as MCAS Kaneohe Bay in 1952. The WWII reconstruction and Cold War expansion of the base used asbestos-containing construction materials consistent with military building specifications of the period. Marines and Navy personnel stationed at Kaneohe Bay from the rebuilt WWII-era facilities through the 1980s accumulated asbestos exposure from the base construction stock.

WWII Reconstruction and Asbestos

The WWII rebuilding of Kaneohe Bay created the asbestos-containing facility stock that persisted for decades:

  • Post-attack reconstruction hangars — the hangars rebuilt after the December 1941 attack used WWII-era construction with asbestos-containing roofing materials, asbestos fire-barrier construction, and asbestos insulation board in the hangar superstructure. Aviation maintenance personnel working in these rebuilt hangars through the postwar decades worked in proximity to this asbestos-containing construction
  • Flight line and support facilities — the extensive flight-line support facilities constructed during WWII expansion at Kaneohe used standard military specification construction with asbestos floor tile, asbestos ceiling materials, and asbestos pipe insulation in the mechanical spaces of these tropical-climate military buildings
  • Seaplane ramp facilities — the original station’s seaplane patrol facilities, built for PBY and later seaplane operations, used WWII military construction with asbestos-containing materials in the patrol aircraft maintenance buildings and ramp facilities

Cold War Expansion Facilities and Asbestos

MCAS Kaneohe Bay’s Cold War-era expansion added more asbestos-containing facility stock:

  • Jet aircraft hangars — as MCAS Kaneohe Bay transitioned from propeller to jet aircraft operations, new and expanded hangar construction in the 1950s and 1960s used construction materials including asbestos-containing insulation, fire protection systems, and building products consistent with Cold War military construction specifications
  • Enlisted and officer quarters — the barracks, BOQ, and BEQ facilities at Kaneohe Bay built during WWII and expanded during the Cold War used asbestos floor tile, asbestos ceiling tile, and asbestos-containing mechanical system insulation throughout the residential building stock

VA Claims for MCAS Kaneohe Bay Veterans

VA presumptive service connection under 38 CFR § 3.309(d) covers asbestos exposure at Marine Corps air stations. Marines and Navy personnel who served at MCAS Kaneohe Bay during any period from the WWII reconstruction through the asbestos abatement era of the 1980s and have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, or asbestos-related lung cancer may qualify for VA disability benefits.