Naval Station Great Lakes, located in Great Lakes, Illinois on the west shore of Lake Michigan north of Chicago, has served as the US Navy’s sole Recruit Training Command since 1911 — the only Navy boot camp in the United States. Great Lakes is the largest naval shore installation in the US by active duty population during periods of high training volume, processing hundreds of thousands of Navy recruits through basic training since its establishment. The station’s WWII-era construction — rapidly expanded to handle the enormous wartime training demands — incorporated standard 1940s construction materials including asbestos throughout the barracks, classroom, and technical training facilities that housed Navy training operations for decades.

WWII-Era Training Building Infrastructure

Naval Station Great Lakes was massively expanded during WWII and its building complex reflects that era’s construction:

  • WWII barracks construction — the multiple barracks complexes at Naval Station Great Lakes built during the 1941-1945 period used standard wartime Navy construction with asbestos floor tile, ceiling tile, and asbestos-containing pipe insulation in the building heating and mechanical systems serving the barracks. Navy recruits and school-of-the-fleet students living in these barracks for weeks or months during training accumulated ambient asbestos exposure from the building’s deteriorating construction materials over the decades these facilities were in service
  • WWII-era classroom and technical school buildings — the technical training buildings at NS Great Lakes used for Navy school training in mechanical, electrical, and construction skills used asbestos-containing construction throughout, including asbestos in the demonstration and laboratory areas where working examples of naval equipment were installed in training environments
  • Base steam heating distribution — the base steam heating system serving the extensive WWII-era building complex used asbestos-insulated steam distribution piping serving the barracks and training buildings throughout the base

Recruit Training Command Operations

Recruit training at NS Great Lakes exposed both recruits and permanent party personnel:

  • Recruit basic training — Navy recruits living in WWII-era barracks during the 8-week basic training program were in continuous proximity to the asbestos-containing building construction materials in these aging facilities
  • Permanent party instructor exposure — Navy instructor and administrative personnel assigned to Recruit Training Command as permanent party personnel spent extended assignments working and potentially living in the base’s asbestos-containing facility infrastructure

School of the Fleet Technical Training

NS Great Lakes hosted multiple Navy technical training schools in addition to basic training:

  • Service school technical training — the technical service schools at Great Lakes (including electrician’s mate, hull technician, and other rating schools) trained Navy personnel in spaces using demonstrator equipment and laboratory environments with the same period construction as the base’s other training buildings

VA Claims for NS Great Lakes Veterans

VA presumptive service connection under 38 CFR § 3.309(d) covers asbestos exposure at naval training facilities. Navy personnel who lived or worked in WWII-era building facilities at Naval Station Great Lakes and have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, or asbestos-related lung cancer may qualify for VA disability benefits.