Naval Air Station Ford Island occupies the central island of Pearl Harbor, Oahu, Hawaii. On December 7, 1941, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor opened with strikes on Ford Island, with the first bombs falling on the hangars before the first torpedo planes struck Battleship Row along the island’s south shore. The devastating attack killed 2,403 Americans, destroyed 169 aircraft, and sank or damaged 21 ships including the loss of USS Arizona, USS Oklahoma, and six other battleships. Ford Island was rebuilt after the attack and served as a major Pacific Fleet naval air facility throughout WWII, hosting patrol aviation, carrier aircraft operations, and training activities. The station’s pre-war and WWII-era construction used asbestos-containing building materials in the hangars and support facilities, and the wartime rebuilding and expansion added construction with asbestos-containing materials throughout the new facility stock.

Pre-Attack and WWII Facility Construction and Asbestos

Ford Island’s pre-attack and WWII rebuilding construction incorporated asbestos:

  • Pre-1941 hangar construction — the hangars and aviation support buildings on Ford Island that existed prior to the December 1941 attack used pre-war Navy construction with asbestos-containing materials in the hangar building construction. The destruction and rebuilding of these facilities in 1941–1942 involved removing debris from asbestos-containing buildings and constructing replacement facilities with WWII-era military construction using asbestos-containing building products
  • WWII reconstruction hangars — the hangars and aviation maintenance buildings rebuilt after the Pearl Harbor attack used WWII-era military construction with asbestos-containing roofing, asbestos insulation board in hangar construction, and asbestos floor and ceiling materials in the aviation support buildings
  • Battleship Row support facilities — the support facilities along Battleship Row on Ford Island’s south shore, used for ship repair and tending operations, used WWII military construction with asbestos-containing materials in the pier-side support building stock

Cold War NAS Ford Island Operations

Ford Island continued in naval aviation service through the Cold War:

  • Cold War aviation training facilities — the aviation training facilities at Ford Island used Cold War military construction with asbestos-containing materials in the training facility building stock, with Navy aviation trainees and permanent party personnel accumulating asbestos exposure from the facility construction throughout Cold War duty assignments at this historically significant Pearl Harbor facility

VA Claims for NAS Ford Island Veterans

VA presumptive service connection under 38 CFR § 3.309(d) covers asbestos exposure at naval air stations. Navy and Marine Corps personnel who served at NAS Ford Island during any period from its pre-war establishment through the Cold War era and have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, or asbestos-related lung cancer may qualify for VA disability benefits.