Located in Natick, Massachusetts, about 18 miles west of Boston, the installation began as the Quartermaster Research Facility, authorized by Congress in 1949, with construction starting in 1952. It evolved through several reorganizations before becoming the Natick Soldier Systems Center in 1998 and remains the Army's only active installation east of the Hudson River dedicated exclusively to research, development, and testing of military equipment, including body armor, MREs, shelters, airdrop systems, and cold-weather gear. Roughly 2,000 personnel work across the compact campus, supported by engineering laboratories, materials science labs, boiler rooms, and steam distribution systems largely built between the 1950s and 1970s.
Natick Soldier Systems Center was never an airfield, and it never ran the kind of large-scale Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting program that generates decades of live-fire burn pit training. What it did maintain was fire protection for its laboratories, warehouses, and research buildings, and Army PFAS investigations have identified several Areas of Potential Interest tied to potential historical storage or use of AFFF on the installation, reflecting the presence of firefighting capabilities even without a dedicated training area.
Firefighters and fire protection personnel assigned to Natick Soldier Systems Center handled AFFF as part of occupational fire protection duties rather than routine crash rescue drills, including:
- responding to fuel-related fires
- testing foam proportioning systems
- inspecting firefighting vehicles
- servicing foam storage systems
- performing emergency response training
- maintaining firefighting equipment
Personnel most likely to have been involved include Army Fire Protection Specialists, installation firefighters, fire inspectors, emergency response personnel, and staff responsible for maintaining firefighting equipment and foam storage containers.
Kidney cancer and testicular cancer have been linked to PFAS chemicals found in AFFF among people with this kind of occupational exposure. If you worked in fire protection, emergency response, or equipment maintenance tied to firefighting operations at Natick Soldier Systems Center and were later diagnosed with one of these cancers, our team can help you find out whether you're eligible to file.
Construction of the Natick Soldier Systems Center began in the early 1950s, when asbestos was standard throughout federal and military buildings for its durability, insulating properties, and fire resistance. Materials commonly used throughout its laboratories, boiler rooms, and administrative buildings included:
Although most personnel on campus performed research rather than industrial work, the trades responsible for keeping the facility running faced the greatest exposure risk, including:
Most of the Natick Soldier Systems Center was built during the decades when asbestos-containing products were standard in military and federal construction, and maintenance personnel, utility workers, and contractors responsible for servicing laboratories, steam systems, and mechanical equipment faced the greatest opportunity for exposure. A diagnosis of mesothelioma or lung cancer, the two conditions most strongly tied to this kind of exposure, often doesn't surface until 20 to 50 years after the original exposure, meaning someone who serviced Natick's buildings decades ago may only now be learning of the connection. If your work at Natick Soldier Systems Center included that kind of maintenance and you've since received one of these diagnoses, contact our team to find out whether you're eligible to file an asbestos claim.