Naval Air Station Fallon, located in the remote high desert of central Nevada near Fallon, has served as the Navy’s primary air combat and strike warfare training installation since the 1940s. NAS Fallon is home to the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center (NSAWC), which encompasses the former TOPGUN (Naval Fighter Weapons School) program that relocated from NAS Miramar to Fallon in 1996. Navy and Marine Corps strike fighter pilots train at NAS Fallon using the station’s extensive restricted airspace and weapons range complex, with aviation support and maintenance personnel supporting the training operations at the station.

WWII-Era and Cold War Building Infrastructure

NAS Fallon was established during WWII and the station’s building complex includes older construction:

  • WWII-era and 1950s-era base buildings — the primary base support buildings at NAS Fallon built during WWII and the postwar period used construction materials standard to military construction of the era, with asbestos-containing floor tile, ceiling materials, and asbestos in building mechanical systems in older station construction
  • Base steam heating and utility systems — the steam heating distribution serving older NAS Fallon buildings used asbestos-insulated piping in the base heating plant distribution system serving the high-desert climate installation

Strike Fighter Maintenance and Asbestos

Aviation maintenance personnel supporting TOPGUN and NSAWC training at NAS Fallon maintained F-14 Tomcat, F/A-18 Hornet, and other strike fighter aircraft:

  • F-14 Tomcat maintenance — the F-14 Tomcat’s TF30 engines and aircraft systems used asbestos-containing insulation in engine hot section areas and in aircraft fire protection zones in earlier-production aircraft. Aviation Machinist’s Mates (AD) maintaining F-14 aircraft at NAS Fallon worked on aircraft with asbestos-containing engine compartment insulation in the TF30-powered variants
  • Aircraft carrier aviation training — strike fighter pilots cycling through NAS Fallon for TOPGUN and strike training deployed from and returned to carrier assignments, with their primary asbestos exposure coming from the carrier environment rather than the NAS Fallon training period

Training Support Personnel

Aviation support personnel — Aviation Boatswain’s Mates, Aviation Ordnancemen, and ground support personnel — supporting NAS Fallon training operations lived and worked in the station’s older building infrastructure throughout their Fallon shore duty assignments.

VA Claims for NAS Fallon Veterans

VA presumptive service connection under 38 CFR § 3.309(d) covers asbestos exposure at naval aviation installations. Veterans who served at NAS Fallon in older base buildings or maintained aircraft with asbestos-containing construction and have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, or asbestos-related lung cancer may qualify for VA disability benefits.