Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, established in 1941 on the Texas Gulf Coast near Corpus Christi, was developed as a major Navy primary aviation training installation as the Navy rapidly expanded its aviation training infrastructure in preparation for WWII. The station trained naval aviators during WWII — including future president George H.W. Bush — and continued as a major training base throughout the Cold War. NAS Corpus Christi operates in partnership with Naval Air Training Command and has trained tens of thousands of Navy and Marine Corps naval aviators and naval flight officers. The station’s WWII-era construction expanded rapidly in 1941–1942 using wartime military construction materials that incorporated asbestos-containing products throughout the hangars, technical training buildings, and support infrastructure built during the WWII naval aviation training expansion.

WWII and Cold War Facility Construction and Asbestos

NAS Corpus Christi’s construction incorporated asbestos throughout:

  • WWII-era primary training hangars — the large primary training hangars built at NAS Corpus Christi during the 1941–1942 WWII construction expansion used wartime military construction with asbestos-containing roofing materials, asbestos floor tile in hangar deck areas, and asbestos pipe insulation in the hangar mechanical systems. Student naval aviators and their instructors accumulated asbestos background exposure from the WWII-era hangar construction during the primary flight training program
  • Aviation technical training school facilities — the ground school and technical training buildings at Corpus Christi where student naval aviators received ground instruction in aviation subjects, instrument flying, and airmanship used WWII-era military construction with asbestos-containing building materials in the school facility construction
  • Cold War facility construction — Cold War-era facility upgrades and new construction at NAS Corpus Christi used military construction specifications with asbestos floor tile, asbestos ceiling products, and asbestos pipe insulation in the Cold War building stock. Aviation training personnel assigned to NAS Corpus Christi for shore duty tours accumulated asbestos exposure from the Cold War-era facility construction

Support Infrastructure and Residential Facilities

Support facility construction incorporated asbestos-containing materials:

  • Barracks and BOQ construction — WWII-era and Cold War barracks and bachelor officer quarters at NAS Corpus Christi used military construction with asbestos floor tile, ceiling products, and pipe insulation in the residential facility mechanical systems. Student naval aviators in the primary training program and assigned personnel lived in these asbestos-containing residential facilities

VA Claims for NAS Corpus Christi 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 Corpus Christi and have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, or asbestos-related lung cancer may qualify for VA disability benefits.