Parachute Riggers (PR) — Navy enlisted ratings responsible for maintaining aviator parachutes, ejection seat survival kits, life vests, emergency equipment, and aviation personal protective equipment — served aboard aircraft carriers and Naval Air Stations maintaining the survival equipment issued to naval aviators. PR ratings packed and inspected parachutes, maintained ejection seat drogue parachutes, serviced life raft assemblies, and ensured the serviceability of the survival equipment upon which naval aviators depended for escape and survival following aircraft mishaps. Parachute Riggers worked in dedicated survival equipment lofts and parachute packing rooms typically located within the ship’s hull on aircraft carriers or in shore facility buildings at Naval Air Stations. PR ratings working in survival equipment spaces aboard Cold War-era aircraft carriers and at NAS facilities accumulated background asbestos exposure from the asbestos-containing construction materials present in the carrier hull and shore facility construction where PR workspaces were located.

Carrier Survival Equipment Loft Asbestos

PR ratings in carrier survival equipment spaces accumulated background asbestos:

  • Carrier hull survival equipment loft construction — the survival equipment lofts, parachute packing rooms, and PR work spaces aboard aircraft carriers were constructed within the carrier hull using construction materials consistent with the carrier’s construction period. Aircraft carriers commissioned in the 1950s and 1960s incorporated asbestos-containing pipe insulation and construction materials in the hull interior spaces, including the below-deck and intermediate-deck compartments where survival equipment lofts were located. PR ratings working in carrier survival equipment spaces accumulated background asbestos exposure from the carrier hull construction materials present in the overhead and bulkheads of their work spaces throughout their carrier assignments
  • Carrier below-deck passageway and adjacent compartment construction — the passageways and adjacent compartments throughout the carrier hull areas where PR ratings worked incorporated asbestos-containing construction materials consistent with the carrier’s construction period. PR ratings moving through the carrier’s interior spaces during their daily work routines accumulated background asbestos exposure from the carrier’s hull construction throughout their carrier assignments

Shore Station Survival Equipment Facility Asbestos

PR ratings at NAS survival equipment facilities accumulated facility construction asbestos:

  • NAS parachute loft facility construction — the parachute lofts and survival equipment facilities at Naval Air Stations where PR ratings maintained aviator survival equipment were constructed using military construction specifications incorporating asbestos-containing building materials in the facility floor tile, ceiling tile, and pipe insulation consistent with the construction period of each facility. PR ratings working in NAS parachute loft facilities accumulated background asbestos exposure from the shore facility construction during their NAS shore duty assignments

VA Claims for Navy Parachute Rigger Veterans

VA presumptive service connection under 38 CFR § 3.309(d) covers asbestos exposure from Navy aircraft carrier and air station service. Parachute Riggers who served aboard aircraft carriers or Naval Air Stations and have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, or asbestos-related lung cancer may qualify for VA disability benefits.