Fort Jackson is a U.S. Army installation in the Columbia metropolitan area of South Carolina. It was created in 1917 and has continued operating uninterrupted from World War II to the present day. Today, it is used for basic combat training, but it has served several missions, including soldier support, the Chaplain Center and School, and as part of the Defense Intelligence Agency. Like many other Army bases that began operations in the 20th century, Fort Jackson was built using significant amounts of asbestos, putting those who served and worked there at risk of being diagnosed with asbestos-related diseases, including malignant mesothelioma.
The History of Fort Jackson
Fort Jackson’s history dates back to America’s involvement in World War I. Just over one month after the United States declared war on Germany in 1917, the city of Columbia, South Carolina, was designated as a site for an Army training camp. In June, final approval for the site was granted, and construction of Camp Jackson began. Named for President Andrew Jackson, who was a South Carolina native, within a few months, more than 1,500 buildings had been built on the site and another 550 were built over the next year, including officer’s quarters, enlisted barracks, bathrooms, mess halls, stables, administrative buildings, guard houses, storehouses, shops, garages, magazines, fire stations, a post office, a laundry building, a sewage disposal building, and a base hospital that itself consisted of more than 60 buildings.[1]
Built to last, Camp Jackson’s original construction also included a complete water supply and distribution system, a sewage system, an electrical system, and railroad tracks. During World War I, Camp Jackson trained the 30th and 81st Infantry divisions. Though it was deactivated as a regular Army installation in 1922, it continued being used from 1925 to 1940 as an encampment and training center for the South Carolina National Guard.[2]
Redesignated as a permanent Army Garrison before the start of World War II and renamed Fort Jackson, the site expanded by 53,000 acres and used to train recruits. After the war, it was scheduled for deactivation again, but with the rise of Cold War concerns and the Korean War, it continued providing combat training. The Army base is one of the few installations that has continued to grow over the years. In 1973, it was appointed as a U.S. Army Training Center and has added new training facilities and schools including the U.S. Army Soldier Support Institute, the Department of Defense Chaplain Center and School, and the Defense Academy for Credibility Assessment.[2]
Hundreds of thousands of recruits have passed through Fort Jackson over the past 100 years, and today it is the largest and most active Initial Entry Training facility in the country.[2] It is home to active duty soldiers and their family members, 3,500 of whom live in the area; one-third of those live on the base. Fort Jackson also employs about 3,500 civilians and provides services to tens of thousands of military retirees and their family members, while 10,000 students attend courses at the base’s many institutions. It also serves as the basic training facility for almost 50,000 recruits and provides advanced training for 12,000 more soldiers each year.[1]
How Was Asbestos Used at Fort Jackson?
Like every other military base that underwent construction or renovation in the last century, Fort Jackson was built making extensive use of asbestos-containing materials. Asbestos is a mineral that has been used globally for centuries. Prized for its ability to strengthen and fireproof other materials, asbestos has the added advantage of being readily available and inexpensive. Unfortunately, it is also highly carcinogenic – a fact that was not confirmed until the mid-1970s.
Before the toxicity of asbestos was made public, the U.S. military included it in its structures and other applications, hoping to provide additional protection for service members, as well as for the assets themselves. It was only when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released its findings about the link between asbestos and serious illnesses, including malignant mesothelioma, asbestosis, and lung cancer. The use of the material in barracks, mess halls, hospitals, and other structures exposed many service members, civilian employees, and others to the risk of breathing in microscopic particles of the mineral that would later lead to being diagnosed with these diseases.
In response to the reports about the dangers of asbestos, the military discontinued its use of the material, and over time, it removed it whenever it posed obvious dangers. It continues to be identified in a variety of applications, making it clear that those who serve, work, or live on U.S. Army bases continue to be at risk of asbestos exposure today. In 2008, inspectors identified asbestos floor coverings inside 1950s-era barracks at Fort Jackson that were still in use. At that time, Fort Jackson was in the midst of an 8-year, billion-dollar renovation, and the military indicated that improvement and safer conditions would be coming in the near future.[3] But in 2021, a watchdog report from the Army found that privatized family housing at Fort Jackson was still plagued by asbestos and lead paint, leaving the majority of residents saying they would move off base if they had the money to do so.[4]
Asbestos-containing materials and parts used at Fort Jackson over the years included:
- Adhesives
- Automobile and truck brakes
- Caulking
- Ceiling tiles
- Cement foundations
- Drywall
- Electrical wiring
- Epoxies
- Fireproofing materials
- Floor tiles
- Gaskets
- HVAC systems
- Insulation materials
- Paint
- Pipes
- Plumbing
- Roofing
- Sealants
- Siding
- Soundproofing
- Valves
- Vinyl floor tiles
- Wallboard
Who Was at Risk of Asbestos Exposure at Fort Jackson?
Fort Jackson has been in nearly continuous use by the Army for over a century and has experienced continuous growth. Much of its expansion took place in the years between the 1930s and 1980, when the use of asbestos was most prevalent, and even once asbestos stopped being specified for use, military personnel and their families who lived on the base, or those who engaged in construction, repair, maintenance, or demolition of buildings, vehicles, equipment, or infrastructure containing asbestos-contaminated materials, were at risk of exposure.
Civilian contractors and employees were exposed to the same danger, and so too were the family members of both service members and employees who suffered secondary asbestos exposure to dangerous microscopic particles carried home on their loved ones’ clothing after a day of work.
Those who were most at risk of asbestos exposure at Fort Jackson included:
- Sheet Metal Workers
- Insulation Workers
- Welders
- Automotive mechanics
- Electricians
- HVAC Workers
- Demolition Workers
- Contractors
- Construction Workers
- Roofers
- Carpenters
- Bricklayers
- Boiler Workers
- Pipefitters
- Machinists
Were You Exposed to Asbestos at Fort Jackson?
Many consider the dangers of asbestos a thing of the past, but for Army veterans who trained or worked at Fort Jackson, as well as their family members and those who worked there, the potential for being diagnosed with an asbestos-related disease is very real. Asbestos-related diseases are deadly and are notorious for having extremely long latency periods: malignant mesothelioma doesn’t begin to manifest symptoms until five or six decades after exposure. An individual exposed to legacy asbestos in family housing or barracks, in old brake linings, in infrastructure being renovated or repaired, or anywhere else on the base carries the fear of a diagnosis for the rest of their lives.
If there’s a chance you were exposed to asbestos at Fort Jackson, the most important thing you can do for yourself is to make sure that your family doctor is aware of your exposure history. Having this information in your medical records will help to guide them toward a prompt diagnosis should troubling symptoms arise.
Help for Those Diagnosed with Mesothelioma
If you’ve been diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma, asbestos-related lung cancer, or any other asbestos-related disease after having been exposed at Fort Jackson, you have several legal options, including filing a personal injury lawsuit or filing claims with asbestos trust funds that have been set up by asbestos companies that were forced into bankruptcy by years of paying asbestos liabilities. The best way for you to identify the choices available to you is by reaching out to an experienced asbestos attorney. These knowledgeable professionals have extensive resources to help you determine which companies’ products you were exposed to and what opportunities for compensation exist.
A mesothelioma attorney will tell you what to expect through the process and explain the statute of limitations that controls your timeline for filing a claim. They will also let you know about the valuable resources available to you as a veteran. You may be eligible for special disability compensation, benefits, and care available through the Department of Veterans Affairs. There are VA treatment centers all over the country, and several of them specialize in the treatment of asbestos-related diseases.
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