Masters-at-Arms — MAs — provided law enforcement, security, and force protection functions for the Navy aboard ships and at shore installations. MA billets aboard surface ships placed these personnel throughout the ship’s interior during security patrol, watch standing, and law enforcement functions — moving through all areas of the ship’s interior as part of their security duties. Surface ships built before the mid-1970s asbestos phase-down used asbestos-containing materials throughout their interior construction, placing MA personnel in spaces with structural asbestos during every patrol rotation aboard the vessel.

Shipboard Security Patrol and Asbestos Exposure

MAs patrolling surface ships built with asbestos construction were in spaces with asbestos-containing materials throughout each security watch rotation:

  • Interior ship patrol routes — shipboard security patrol covered the ship’s interior spaces from the waterline to the main deck — bilge spaces, engineering spaces, berthing compartments, mess decks, administrative spaces, and cargo areas. The ship’s interior in vessels built before the mid-1970s phase-down had asbestos-containing materials in structural overhead insulation, deck tile, and mechanical system piping throughout all patrol spaces
  • Engineering space access — shipboard security functions sometimes brought MAs into the ship’s engineering spaces during watch, where asbestos-insulated boiler casings, steam piping, and auxiliary equipment in firerooms and engine rooms represented the most asbestos-intensive compartments aboard the vessel
  • Brig and detention area — MAs operating the ship’s brig (crew detention facility) in below-deck detention spaces were in spaces with asbestos-containing construction materials in the overhead and bulkhead construction of the brig compartment

Shore Installation Security

MAs assigned to shore duty at naval bases and naval stations performed security patrol in older naval installation buildings:

  • Security patrol duties at naval stations covering older WWII-era barracks, administrative buildings, and support facilities brought shore duty MAs through buildings with asbestos-containing construction materials in floor tile, ceiling tile, and mechanical systems throughout the installation
  • Gatehouse and security checkpoint facilities at naval stations often occupied older buildings with asbestos-containing construction materials from the WWII-era or postwar building stock

Prolonged Shipboard Residency

Unlike ratings with limited shipboard space access, MAs lived aboard ship and patrolled throughout the vessel:

  • MAs assigned to shipboard billets lived in the ship’s berthing compartments — spaces with asbestos-containing deck tile and overhead materials in older vessel construction — throughout their tour
  • The combination of berthing in asbestos-containing spaces and conducting regular security patrol through all ship’s compartments created sustained ambient asbestos exposure for MAs throughout their shipboard duty

VA Claims for MA Veterans

VA presumptive service connection under 38 CFR § 3.309(d) covers asbestos exposure aboard Navy vessels and at naval installations. Masters-at-Arms who served in security billets aboard surface ships built before the mid-1970s asbestos phase-down and have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, or asbestos-related lung cancer may qualify for VA disability benefits.