Fort Sam Houston (JBSA) Fort Sam Houston, now part of Joint Base San Antonio, is home to the Army's medical training and Brooke Army Medical Center. Historic buildings dating to the late 1800s and mid-20th century construction contained asbestos in insulation, flooring, and medical facility infrastructure.
Last verified: 2026-03-09Fort Sam Houston was established in 1876 and became a center for military medicine. The installation includes some of the oldest military buildings in the country alongside World War II and Cold War-era construction. Brooke Army Medical Center (BAMC) and the Army Medical Department Center and School operated from buildings that used asbestos materials extensively. The fort became part of Joint Base San Antonio in 2010.
Medical personnel and patients at BAMC and other facilities were exposed to asbestos in building insulation, floor tiles, and pipe lagging. Historic buildings on the post contained aging asbestos materials that deteriorated over decades. Facility maintenance workers who repaired plumbing, heating, and electrical systems in older buildings handled asbestos-containing materials directly.
The following job categories at Fort Sam Houston (JBSA) had the highest risk of asbestos exposure:
Military personnel, civilian employees, and even patients at Fort Sam Houston medical facilities have been exposed to airborne asbestos fibers from deteriorating building materials. Cases of mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases have been linked to service at the installation.
Health information is based on established medical research on asbestos exposure. Asbestos is classified as a known human carcinogen by the National Cancer Institute, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Consult a physician for medical advice specific to your situation.
Workers exposed to asbestos at Fort Sam Houston (JBSA) may be entitled to compensation through asbestos trust funds, personal injury lawsuits, or veterans benefits. Mesothelioma patients and their families have recovered billions in compensation from companies that manufactured or used asbestos products.
Find Out If You QualifyWorkers who were employed at Fort Sam Houston (JBSA) between 1940s–1980s may have been exposed to asbestos-containing materials. If you've been diagnosed with mesothelioma, lung cancer, or asbestosis, you may have legal options including trust fund claims and lawsuits.
If you were exposed to asbestos at Fort Sam Houston (JBSA) and have been diagnosed with mesothelioma, these specialized treatment centers in Texas may be able to help.
Yes. Medical training facilities and hospital buildings at Fort Sam Houston contained asbestos in insulation, floor tiles, and other building materials. Personnel who trained or worked at Brooke Army Medical Center and other medical facilities were exposed during their service.
Many of the installation's historic structures, some dating to the late 1800s and early 1900s, were built or renovated using asbestos-containing materials. The Army has conducted abatement programs, but some historic buildings retain managed asbestos due to preservation requirements.
The 2010 consolidation into Joint Base San Antonio does not change veterans' eligibility for asbestos-related claims. Veterans who served at Fort Sam Houston before or after the consolidation may file VA disability claims based on their exposure during service at the installation.
No. Missing paperwork is normal after this long, and it is not what decides a claim. A Social Security earnings statement lists every employer you had, by year, and can usually be requested directly. Union records, W-2s and a DD-214 for military service do similar work. Coworkers who were there can also confirm conditions. What matters most is what you remember, written down in your own words.
Yes. A wrongful death claim can be brought by the estate or eligible family members, and it is a separate route from a claim the patient would have brought themselves. It also runs on a different clock: the deadline generally starts at the date of death rather than the date of diagnosis, which means families are sometimes still in time when they assume they are not. Deadlines are set by each state, so confirm the one that applies to yours.
Possibly. Asbestos fibres travelled home on work clothes, in hair and in vehicles, and household members were exposed while washing laundry or greeting someone at the end of a shift. This is called secondhand or take-home exposure and it is a recognised route to a claim in its own right, not an exception. If you are documenting a family member's work history, write down your own contact with their work clothing as well.
You do not need a lawyer, a diagnosis, or a decision to do this. You need a piece of paper. Memory is the part of a claim nobody else can reconstruct for you, and it is the part that fades.
If you are doing this for a relative who has died, write down what you remember too, including work clothes brought home to be washed. Household exposure is a real claim, not an edge case.
That is usually enough to work out which claims are open to you — trust funds, a lawsuit, or VA benefits if the exposure happened in service. You do not need records, dates you are certain of, or the name of a product. If you are asking on behalf of someone who has died, a family member can file and the deadline runs differently. No cost, no obligation, and no pressure to decide anything today.
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