The Electronics Technician (ET) rating maintained, calibrated, and repaired the Navy’s shipboard electronic systems — radar, navigation equipment, sonar support electronics, communications, and fire control systems. ETs worked in the Combat Information Center (CIC) and throughout the ship’s electronics spaces, where asbestos-containing insulation board and asbestos-backed electrical panels were standard construction materials through the 1970s.

Documented Exposure Sources

Combat Information Center — Direct Asbestos Exposure

ET and the Radarman Rate — Documented Asbestos Lineage

The Electronics Technician rating absorbed the Radarman (RD) rate in 1948. Personnel who served as Radarmen — working in CIC radar spaces with asbestos-containing insulation and electrical panels — were redesignated ETs and continued the same work in the same spaces.

Electronics Equipment — Asbestos-Containing Components

Asbestos in Electronics Spaces — Physical Environment

The CIC and associated electronics spaces aboard Navy vessels were designed with electromagnetic and thermal insulation requirements that made asbestos-containing materials particularly prevalent — insulation board on all bulkheads, overhead, and equipment mounting panels; asbestos-backed fire resistance behind the electronics equipment racks; and asbestos-insulated wiring in high-temperature applications.

Former Navy Electronics Technician — Civil Claims

Rating History and Training

The ET rating absorbed the Radarman (RD) rate and was consolidated with the Fire Control Technician (FT) designation in some periods. ETs underwent extensive A School training at shore-based electronics schools — NTC San Diego, NTC Great Lakes, or NTTC Pensacola — before fleet assignment. These shore-based school facilities contained the same asbestos-containing construction materials as comparable Navy building stock from the era.

The Electronics Technician rating qualifies for VA service connection under VA asbestos-claim guidance based on documented asbestos exposure in Combat Information Centers and electronics spaces aboard Navy vessels.

Key documents for an ET claim:

  • DD-214 Block 11 — primary specialty showing ET rate (or prior RD rate)
  • Ship assignments — duty stations confirming sea duty aboard vessels with CIC and electronics spaces
  • Shore assignments — electronics school or shore electronics facility duty
  • Diagnosis — mesothelioma, asbestos-related lung cancer, asbestosis, or pleural disease

Civil claims may run against manufacturers of asbestos-containing insulation board used in CIC construction, and against manufacturers of asbestos-insulated radar, fire control, and communications equipment.

Free, confidential case evaluation: Speak with O’Brien Law Firm — (314) 936-2956

All consultations are free. No fee unless a financial recovery is made on your behalf.

Documented asbestos exposure information derived from publicly filed asbestos litigation records. This does not constitute legal or medical advice.