Naval Air Station Brunswick, established in 1943 on the Maine coast near the city of Brunswick, served as a critical anti-submarine warfare aviation base throughout WWII and the Cold War. The station’s position on the North Atlantic coast made it ideal for maritime patrol operations over the North Atlantic submarine approaches to the eastern United States. NAS Brunswick operated Lockheed P-2 Neptune and later P-3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft in Cold War anti-submarine warfare (ASW) surveillance missions over the North Atlantic, monitoring Soviet submarine activity throughout the Cold War confrontation. The station’s patrol wings included VP (Patrol) squadrons conducting sustained North Atlantic ASW patrol operations throughout the Cold War period. NAS Brunswick’s Cold War-era hangars, maintenance facilities, and support infrastructure were built during the 1950s and 1960s using military construction materials that incorporated asbestos-containing products consistent with Cold War military construction specifications.

Cold War Facility Construction and Asbestos

NAS Brunswick’s Cold War construction incorporated asbestos throughout:

  • Maritime patrol aircraft hangars — the large hangars at NAS Brunswick housing P-2 Neptune and P-3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft used Cold War military construction with asbestos-containing roofing products, asbestos floor tile in the hangar deck areas, and asbestos pipe insulation in the hangar mechanical systems. Aviation maintenance ratings performing P-2 and P-3 maintenance in these hangars worked in the asbestos-containing hangar construction throughout their NAS Brunswick tours
  • Aircraft maintenance and overhaul shops — the engine test facilities, avionics shops, and aircraft maintenance shops at NAS Brunswick used Cold War military construction with asbestos-containing building materials in the shop construction. P-3 Orion maintenance involved working in and around the aircraft’s Allison turboprop engines, with shop facilities providing the asbestos-containing environmental background exposure
  • Support facilities and administrative buildings — the administrative buildings, operations facilities, and support infrastructure at NAS Brunswick used Cold War military construction with asbestos floor tile, asbestos ceiling products, and asbestos pipe insulation in the facility mechanical systems

Barracks and Residential Construction

NAS Brunswick residential facilities used asbestos-containing materials:

  • Barracks and family housing — Cold War-era barracks and family housing at NAS Brunswick used military construction with asbestos-containing floor tile, ceiling materials, and pipe insulation in the residential facility mechanical systems. Aviation personnel assigned to VP squadrons at NAS Brunswick for shore duty tours lived in these asbestos-containing residential facilities

VA Claims for NAS Brunswick Veterans

VA presumptive service connection under 38 CFR § 3.309(d) covers asbestos exposure at naval air stations. Navy and Marine Corps personnel who served at NAS Brunswick and have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, or asbestos-related lung cancer may qualify for VA disability benefits.