Aviation Maintenance Administrationmen — AZ ratings — maintained the maintenance records, publication libraries, and administrative functions supporting Navy and Marine Corps aviation squadron maintenance organizations and Aircraft Intermediate Maintenance Departments (AIMD). AZ billets were aboard aircraft carriers (in the ship’s aviation maintenance department and embarked squadron administrative spaces) and at naval air stations in squadron administrative and maintenance production control offices.

Administrative and Office Space Asbestos

AZ personnel working in production control and administrative spaces accumulated secondary asbestos exposure from the construction of WWII-era and early Cold War facilities:

  • Hangar building office construction — the squadron administrative and production control offices located within or adjacent to the large aircraft hangars at naval air stations were built as part of the hangar complex during the WWII and early postwar construction periods. These hangar building interior offices used standard period construction materials including asbestos floor tile, ceiling tile, and building mechanical system insulation throughout the office spaces where AZ ratings worked
  • AIMD production control spaces — the Aircraft Intermediate Maintenance Department production control and administrative spaces at major naval air stations used the same WWII-era and postwar construction with asbestos-containing building materials that characterized all shore facility construction of the period
  • Carrier administrative spaces — AZ ratings working in carrier aviation department administrative spaces were present in the same asbestos-containing ship interior as all other embarked squadron personnel, with the carrier’s 1950s-1960s-era construction materials throughout

Carrier-Embarked AZ Operations

Carrier-embarked AZ ratings serving with deployed carrier air wings accumulated shipboard asbestos exposure:

  • Carrier ship interior — AZ ratings working in carrier administrative and maintenance control spaces were present in the asbestos-containing interior of WWII-era and 1950s-1960s-built carriers throughout their sea duty, with the ship’s interior construction using asbestos-containing materials throughout the accommodation and working spaces
  • Proximity to maintenance operations — production control AZ ratings working in close proximity to aircraft maintenance operations in the hangar bay were secondary bystanders to aircraft maintenance work involving asbestos brake lining and engine insulation materials

VA Claims for AZ Veterans

VA presumptive service connection under 38 CFR § 3.309(d) covers asbestos exposure at naval air station and carrier aviation maintenance facilities. Aviation Maintenance Administrationmen who served at WWII-era and early Cold War naval air station facilities or aboard pre-1980 aircraft carriers and have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, or asbestos-related lung cancer may qualify for VA disability benefits.