Naval Station Guam, located at Apra Harbor on the island of Guam in the Mariana Islands, served as the United States Navy’s primary forward operating base in the Western Pacific throughout the Cold War. Rebuilt after its liberation from Japanese occupation in 1944, Naval Station Guam expanded significantly during the Cold War to support Pacific Fleet submarine and surface force operations across the Western Pacific. Guam homeported attack submarines — initially diesel-electric submarines and later Los Angeles class nuclear attack submarines — as well as surface combatants and the logistics ships supporting Pacific Fleet operations. The base’s WWII-era reconstruction and Cold War expansion used military construction materials that incorporated asbestos-containing building materials throughout the submarine piers, surface ship berths, ship maintenance buildings, barracks, and support infrastructure constructed during Guam’s decades of development as a forward operating base. Naval personnel serving aboard submarines and surface ships homeported at Guam, and shore support ratings stationed on Guam, accumulated asbestos exposure from both the base facility construction and from the asbestos-containing construction of Cold War-era naval vessels homeported at Apra Harbor.

Naval Station Guam’s construction incorporated asbestos-containing materials:

  • Submarine base pier and tender facilities — the submarine base pier facilities at Naval Station Guam used for homeporting and maintaining attack submarines incorporated asbestos-containing construction materials in the waterfront support buildings and pier-side facilities consistent with the Cold War construction specifications of the period. Submarine crew members and shore support ratings working in Guam submarine pier facilities accumulated background asbestos exposure from the waterfront facility construction
  • Surface ship pier and maintenance facilities — the waterfront maintenance buildings and pier-side support facilities for surface ships at Naval Station Guam incorporated asbestos-containing construction materials consistent with Cold War military construction specifications. Naval personnel working in Guam pier-side facilities accumulated background asbestos exposure from the facility construction
  • Enlisted barracks and family housing — the enlisted barracks and family housing at Naval Station Guam constructed during the WWII reconstruction and Cold War expansion used military construction incorporating asbestos-containing floor tile, ceiling materials, and pipe insulation. Naval personnel stationed on Guam accumulated background asbestos exposure from the residential facility construction

Submarines Homeported at Guam

Attack submarines at Guam brought their own engineering plant asbestos:

  • Sturgeon class submarine construction — the Sturgeon class nuclear attack submarines homeported at Naval Station Guam during the Cold War incorporated secondary steam system pipe insulation and interior construction materials consistent with their late 1960s and early 1970s construction. Engineering ratings aboard Guam-homeported Sturgeon class submarines accumulated asbestos exposure from the submarine engineering plant construction
  • Diesel-electric submarine construction — the conventional submarines homeported at Guam during the early Cold War retained WWII-era and early Cold War construction materials incorporating asbestos-containing diesel engine exhaust gaskets and interior construction materials

VA Claims for Naval Station Guam Veterans

VA presumptive service connection under 38 CFR § 3.309(d) covers asbestos exposure at naval shore installations. Navy personnel who served at Naval Station Guam and have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, or asbestos-related lung cancer may qualify for VA disability benefits.