Commander, Naval Air Force, US Pacific Fleet (COMNAVAIRPAC) was the type command headquartered at Naval Air Station North Island, Coronado, California, responsible for all Pacific Fleet naval aviation forces — including aircraft carriers, carrier air wings, and the Pacific Fleet network of Naval Air Stations. COMNAVAIRPAC’s carrier force included the largest concentration of fleet carriers in the Navy, operating from homeports at San Diego and Naval Air Station Alameda. Personnel assigned under COMNAVAIRPAC — from ship’s company aboard Pacific Fleet carriers to shore-based aviation ratings — served in environments built with asbestos-containing materials through the Cold War era.

Pacific Fleet Carriers Under COMNAVAIRPAC

COMNAVAIRPAC operated major carriers including USS Midway (homeported at Alameda then Yokosuka), USS Coral Sea, USS Hancock, USS Oriskany, USS Ranger, USS Constellation, USS Kitty Hawk, and USS Enterprise. These vessels were built or extensively modernized during the peak asbestos use period (1940s–1960s) and contained asbestos throughout their engineering and habitability spaces:

  • Engineering propulsion spaces with asbestos-insulated boilers, steam turbine casings, and steam distribution piping serving the carrier propulsion plant
  • Flight deck and hangar deck areas with asbestos thermal materials in fire suppression and blast deflector equipment
  • Interior ship construction including crew berthing, officer country, and working spaces using asbestos floor tile, overhead lagging, and bulkhead materials standard in Navy vessel construction of the period
  • Aviation systems infrastructure including asbestos-packed valves and joints in aviation fuel distribution, aircraft arresting gear fluid systems, and catapult steam systems

NAS North Island and Pacific Fleet Shore Installations

COMNAVAIRPAC’s shore establishment centered on NAS North Island — the largest Naval Air Station on the West Coast — with subordinate facilities including NAS Alameda, NAS Lemoore, NAS Whidbey Island, NAS Barbers Point, and NAS Cubi Point in the Philippines. Shore facilities under COMNAVAIRPAC had asbestos in hangar building construction, heating systems, and shore-based maintenance infrastructure consistent with their construction era. Aviation intermediate maintenance departments (AIMD) at these installations operated in hangar environments with asbestos in structural fireproofing and utility systems.

Japan and Western Pacific Deployments

Pacific Fleet carriers under COMNAVAIRPAC conducted extended WestPac deployments and operated from Japanese homeports including Yokosuka. The enclosed environments of Pacific Fleet carriers on deployment — with personnel spending months aboard in spaces with degrading asbestos insulation — concentrated cumulative asbestos exposure for career aviation and engineering personnel.

VA Claims for COMNAVAIRPAC Veterans

VA presumptive service connection under 38 CFR § 3.309(d) covers asbestos exposure aboard Navy vessels and at Navy installations. Veterans who served in COMNAVAIRPAC-assigned billets aboard Pacific Fleet carriers or at Pacific Fleet air stations before the early 1980s and have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, or asbestos-related lung cancer may qualify for VA disability benefits.