Naval Air Station Jacksonville, located on the south bank of the St. Johns River in Jacksonville, Florida, was commissioned in October 1940 and developed into the Atlantic Fleet’s primary base for maritime patrol and anti-submarine warfare aviation throughout the Cold War. NAS Jacksonville hosted Atlantic Fleet VP (patrol) squadrons operating Lockheed P-3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft on anti-submarine warfare patrol missions over the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean throughout the Cold War, providing the airborne ASW component of the barrier defense against Soviet submarine operations in the Atlantic. The station also supported helicopter ASW squadrons and fleet composite squadrons, and served as a major naval aviation training facility. Naval Air Station Jacksonville was constructed beginning in 1940 using military construction materials that incorporated asbestos-containing products throughout the aircraft hangars, patrol squadron maintenance facilities, aviation training buildings, enlisted barracks, and administrative facilities built during the WWII and Cold War construction periods. Naval aviation personnel — aviators, Aviation Machinist’s Mates, Aviation Electronics Technicians, Aircrewmen, and aviation support ratings — assigned to Jacksonville-based squadrons and the station’s maintenance facilities lived and worked in the WWII and Cold War-era facility construction and accumulated background asbestos exposure from the asbestos-containing building materials throughout their Jacksonville assignments.

WWII-Era and Cold War Facility Asbestos

NAS Jacksonville’s extensive patrol aviation facilities incorporated asbestos:

  • Aircraft maintenance hangars — the large patrol aircraft maintenance hangars at NAS Jacksonville used to support VP squadron P-3 Orion maintenance were constructed using military construction specifications incorporating asbestos-containing fireproofing on hangar structural steel, asbestos-containing insulation board on interior wall construction, and asbestos pipe insulation on utility systems in the hangar buildings. Aviation Machinist’s Mates and aviation support personnel performing patrol aircraft maintenance in NAS Jacksonville hangars accumulated background asbestos exposure from the hangar building construction throughout their Jacksonville squadron assignments
  • VP squadron operations and maintenance facilities — the patrol squadron operations buildings, ready rooms, and maintenance offices at NAS Jacksonville were constructed with asbestos-containing building materials in the facility construction. Patrol aviation officers, aircrew, and maintenance personnel working in VP squadron facilities accumulated background asbestos exposure from the squadron facility construction during their NAS Jacksonville assignments
  • Barracks and residential facilities — the enlisted barracks and junior officer quarters at NAS Jacksonville constructed during the WWII base establishment and Cold War expansion used military construction specifications with asbestos-containing floor tile, ceiling materials, and pipe insulation in the residential facility construction. Naval aviation personnel living in Jacksonville barracks accumulated background asbestos exposure from the residential facility construction during their NAS Jacksonville assignments

NADEP Jacksonville’s aircraft overhaul facilities incorporated asbestos:

  • Aircraft overhaul shop construction — the Naval Aviation Depot at NAS Jacksonville — one of the Navy’s primary aircraft airframe and engine overhaul facilities — operated extensive overhaul shops and industrial maintenance facilities constructed with asbestos-containing building materials. NADEP workers performing aircraft structural, engine, and avionics overhaul in the NADEP Jacksonville shops accumulated background asbestos exposure from the overhaul shop facility construction in addition to any direct asbestos contact from aircraft components containing asbestos-based materials

VA Claims for NAS Jacksonville Veterans

VA presumptive service connection under 38 CFR § 3.309(d) covers asbestos exposure at naval air stations. Naval aviation personnel, patrol aviators, aircrew, and shore-assigned ratings who served at Naval Air Station Jacksonville and have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, or asbestos-related lung cancer may qualify for VA disability benefits.