Hospital Corpsmen (HM) — the Navy’s medical technician rating providing healthcare at the individual and unit level throughout the fleet and Marine Corps — served in a wide variety of billets that created asbestos exposure across both shipboard and shore environments. Shipboard Corpsmen, typically assigned to sick bay and ship’s medical department billets on larger vessels, were present in the same asbestos-containing hull environment as all other crew. Corpsmen serving with Marine units underwent infantry training and served in field medical billets, but also spent significant time at shore medical facilities where asbestos was present in building infrastructure.

Shipboard Asbestos Exposure

Hospital Corpsmen assigned to ship’s medical departments on destroyers, cruisers, carriers, and amphibious vessels lived and worked in vessels built with asbestos-containing materials throughout their interior construction:

  • Sick bay and medical spaces aboard ships built before the mid-1970s used the same asbestos floor tile, overhead lagging, and bulkhead insulation as the rest of the ship’s interior
  • Crew berthing where all shipboard personnel including Corpsmen slept used asbestos construction materials standard in pre-1975 vessel interiors
  • Carrier and large ship medical departments were major shipboard medical facilities with laboratory, pharmacy, and ward spaces built within the carrier’s asbestos-containing hull
  • Shipyard availability periods placed all crew including Corpsmen in proximity to insulation removal and replacement work being performed by shipyard trades during overhaul periods

Hospital Corpsmen assigned to naval hospitals and shore medical facilities operated in aging government buildings with asbestos-containing mechanical infrastructure:

  • Steam heating systems in older naval hospital buildings used asbestos-insulated pipe in boiler rooms and building distribution systems throughout the facility — major naval hospitals at Portsmouth (Virginia), Bethesda (Maryland), Oakland (California), and Camp Lejeune (North Carolina) all occupy buildings constructed during the WWII and postwar era
  • Asbestos floor tile and ceiling tile in older naval hospital patient wards, corridors, and administrative areas, where renovation and maintenance work could disturb asbestos-containing materials
  • Naval hospital laundry and mechanical spaces — the industrial laundry, boiler plant, and mechanical rooms serving large naval hospitals used asbestos-insulated equipment and pipe in their construction
  • Older training facilities at Field Medical Service School (FMSS) and other Corpsman training commands occupied older building infrastructure with asbestos-containing construction materials

Fleet Marine Force (FMF) Corpsman Exposure

Hospital Corpsmen serving with Marine infantry units in Fleet Marine Force billets were assigned to Marine barracks and facilities on Marine Corps installations — Camp Lejeune (North Carolina), Camp Pendleton (California), Camp Butler (Okinawa) — where older barracks and facility buildings contained asbestos in building construction and mechanical systems.

VA Claims for HM Rating Veterans

VA presumptive service connection under 38 CFR § 3.309(d) covers asbestos exposure for Navy veterans who served aboard ships or at shore facilities with documented asbestos. Hospital Corpsmen who served aboard vessels built before the mid-1970s asbestos phase-down or at older naval hospital facilities and have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, or asbestos-related lung cancer may qualify for VA disability benefits.