Branches

Toxic exposure is not the story of any single installation — every branch of the U.S. armed forces has bases where hazardous substances were used, stored, or disposed of for decades. Below is a branch-by-branch overview of the exposure history this site covers. The full list of covered installations is organized by branch and state.\1

Jump to a branch: Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Joint bases. Or browse by state.

Army

The Army operates the largest number of installations covered here. Fort Bragg, Fort Campbell, Fort Hood, and Fort Benning have documented concerns involving PFAS firefighting foam, industrial solvents, PCBs, and asbestos. Anniston Army Depot and the former Fort Ord are EPA Superfund sites, and Schofield Barracks in Hawaii has faced long-running groundwater concerns. Joint Base San Antonio includes the Army’s Fort Sam Houston among its legacy installations.

Navy

Naval Air Station Jacksonville in Florida is a designated Superfund site after chlorinated solvents such as TCE reached soil and groundwater. Naval shipyards and air stations more broadly relied heavily on asbestos, degreasers, and fuels, and Navy veterans — especially those in shipboard engineering and aviation maintenance roles — are among the groups most affected by asbestos-related disease.

Air Force

The former Wurtsmith Air Force Base in Michigan and McClellan Air Force Base in California are both Superfund sites, with contamination ranging from PFAS to solvents, heavy metals, and PCBs. Air Force firefighting training made extensive use of AFFF foam, a primary source of PFAS groundwater contamination at airfields nationwide. Selfridge Air National Guard Base carries similar concerns on the Air National Guard side, and Joint Base San Antonio includes the Air Force’s Randolph and Lackland legacy bases.

Marine Corps

Camp Lejeune in North Carolina is the most widely known military contamination case in the country: from 1953 to 1987, base drinking water was contaminated with TCE, PCE, and other solvents, leading to the Camp Lejeune Justice Act of 2022 and eight VA presumptive conditions for those who served there during the contamination period.

Coast Guard

Coast Guard members are eligible for the same VA toxic-exposure benefits as the other services, including PACT Act presumptions. Coast Guard air stations used the same AFFF firefighting foam as Navy and Air Force airfields, and PFAS assessments are ongoing at several Coast Guard facilities. This site does not yet profile individual Coast Guard installations.

Space Force

The newest branch, established in 2019, inherited installations from the Air Force — and with them, the same legacy contamination concerns, particularly PFAS from decades of firefighting foam use at launch and radar facilities. Because the branch is young, long-term health data specific to Space Force service does not yet exist; guardians with prior Air Force service should review the exposure history of the bases where they served.

Wherever you served, the articles and resources sections cover the benefits and support available, including the PACT Act’s expanded presumptive conditions.