Naval Air Station North Island, located on the northern tip of Coronado Island in San Diego Bay, is recognized as the birthplace of US naval aviation — the site of the Navy’s first aviation training in 1911. NAS North Island serves as the Pacific Fleet’s primary carrier aviation hub, homeporting Pacific Fleet carriers (currently USS Theodore Roosevelt) and hosting Pacific Fleet carrier air wings between deployments. The station’s building complex spans over 110 years of construction, from early 20th century structures through modern facilities, with older buildings containing asbestos-containing materials throughout their construction.

Century-Plus Building Heritage and Asbestos

NAS North Island’s oldest buildings and hangars reflect construction from multiple eras:

  • Pre-WWII and WWII-era hangars — the large aircraft maintenance hangars at NAS North Island built in the 1930s-1942 period used structural steel with asbestos fireproofing on interior structural framing and asbestos insulation in hangar mechanical systems. Aviation maintenance personnel working in these older hangars accumulated ambient asbestos exposure from the building structure throughout their assignments
  • WWII-era barracks and support buildings — the station’s WWII-era barracks and support infrastructure used asbestos-containing floor tile, ceiling materials, and building mechanical system insulation throughout the 1940s-era construction
  • Pre-WWII administrative buildings — the original station administration buildings from the 1920s-1930s used construction materials from that era, with asbestos-containing mechanical system materials in the older administrative building stock

Carrier Aviation Maintenance and NADEP

NAS North Island hosts the Naval Air Depot (NADEP) North Island — one of the Navy’s primary carrier aircraft depot maintenance facilities:

  • NADEP carrier aircraft overhaul — NADEP North Island performs comprehensive overhaul of carrier aircraft, with aviation maintenance and civilian NADEP workers maintaining aircraft with asbestos-containing insulation in engine compartments and fire protection systems in older aircraft types worked at the depot
  • Aviation maintenance in older hangars — maintenance operations in the station’s older WWII-era hangars generate ambient asbestos exposure from the hangar building construction for aviation maintenance personnel working in these structures

Carrier Air Wing Personnel

Pacific Fleet carrier air wings homeporting at NAS North Island between deployments bring large numbers of aviation personnel to the station’s facilities — using the station’s older buildings and hangars throughout their between-deployment shore periods.

VA Claims for NAS North Island Veterans

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