Naval Station Roosevelt Roads — located at Punta Santiago on the northeastern coast of Puerto Rico near Ceiba — was established in 1943 as a WWII naval complex and grew through the Cold War into the largest US Navy base in the world by acreage. The station served as the home of the Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Center (AUTEC), hosted major Atlantic Fleet exercises and UNITAS exercises with South American naval forces, and supported Caribbean operations during the Cold War and post-Cold War periods. Roosevelt Roads closed in 2004 following the cessation of Vieques Island training range operations. The station’s WWII construction and extensive Cold War expansion used asbestos-containing building materials throughout the hangars, ship berthing facilities, barracks, and support buildings that housed Navy personnel throughout the station’s sixty-year operational life.

WWII Construction and Asbestos

Roosevelt Roads’ original WWII construction created the foundational asbestos-containing facility stock:

  • Pier and ship support facilities — the pier facilities and ship tender support buildings at Roosevelt Roads used WWII military construction with asbestos-insulated pipe systems in the steam and hot water distribution systems serving the pier area. Sailors and repair personnel working in and around these pier support facilities accumulated asbestos exposure from the mechanical system insulation in the ship support buildings
  • Naval aviation facilities — the aviation support hangars and maintenance buildings at Roosevelt Roads used WWII-era construction with asbestos-containing roofing, asbestos insulation board in hangar construction, and asbestos floor tile throughout the aviation maintenance and support spaces
  • Administrative and command facilities — the headquarters buildings, barracks, and administrative facility stock at Roosevelt Roads used WWII tropical military construction with asbestos-containing building materials including asbestos floor tile, asbestos ceiling products, and asbestos pipe insulation throughout

Cold War Expansion and Atlantic Fleet Exercise Support

The Cold War expansion of Roosevelt Roads added additional asbestos-containing facility stock:

  • AUTEC and submarine support facilities — the Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Center facilities and submarine support buildings at Roosevelt Roads used Cold War military construction specifications that included asbestos-containing thermal insulation, asbestos fire protection products, and asbestos building materials in the specialized test and evaluation facility construction
  • Weapons storage and ordnance facilities — the weapons storage and ordnance maintenance facilities supporting Roosevelt Roads’ role as a Caribbean exercise and combat support base used military construction with asbestos-containing materials in the storage and handling building stock

VA Claims for Naval Station Roosevelt Roads Veterans

VA presumptive service connection under 38 CFR § 3.309(d) covers asbestos exposure at naval stations. Navy and Marine Corps personnel who served at Naval Station Roosevelt Roads during any period from the station’s WWII establishment through its 2004 closure and have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, or asbestos-related lung cancer may qualify for VA disability benefits.