Naval Air Station Norfolk, located adjacent to Naval Station Norfolk on the Sewell’s Point peninsula in Hampton Roads, Virginia, is the world’s largest naval air station by air operations. NAS Norfolk serves as the operational airfield for Atlantic Fleet carrier air wings returning from deployment and between deployments, hosts the Atlantic Fleet aircraft intermediate maintenance departments (AIMDs), and houses the fixed and rotary wing squadrons of the Atlantic Fleet naval air forces. The station’s extensive WWII-era hangar and building infrastructure created significant asbestos exposure pathways for the large Navy and civilian workforce assigned to this major installation.

WWII-Era Hangar Infrastructure

NAS Norfolk’s primary aircraft maintenance hangars were built in the WWII era with asbestos-containing construction:

  • WWII-era carrier aircraft hangars — the large maintenance hangars at NAS Norfolk built in the 1942-1945 period to support Atlantic Fleet carrier air operations used structural steel with asbestos spray-on fireproofing on interior framing and asbestos insulation in hangar mechanical systems. Aviation maintenance ratings and civilian NADEP workers performing aircraft maintenance in these hangars accumulated ambient asbestos exposure from the hangar building structure throughout their assignments
  • WWII-era administrative and support buildings — the original station support infrastructure built during WWII used asbestos-containing floor tile, ceiling tile, and building mechanical system insulation throughout the 1940s-era construction

AIMD and Aviation Maintenance Operations

The Atlantic Fleet AIMDs at NAS Norfolk performed intermediate-level maintenance on aviation components from carrier air wing squadrons returning from deployment:

  • Aviation maintenance ratings — Aviation Machinist’s Mates (AD), Aviation Structural Mechanics (AM), and associated maintenance ratings — working in AIMD shops and in the WWII-era maintenance hangars accumulated asbestos exposure from both the older aircraft with asbestos-containing insulation and from the hangar building construction

Carrier Air Wing Operations

Atlantic Fleet carrier air wings homeported at NAS Norfolk during their between-deployment periods — with carrier air wing personnel living and working in NAS Norfolk facilities between deployments to the Mediterranean and Atlantic operational areas.

VA Claims for NAS Norfolk Veterans

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