Located in Meridian, Mississippi, the installation started as Naval Auxiliary Air Station Meridian before becoming a full Naval Air Station in 1968 and a major shore command in 1982. Today it's home to Training Air Wing ONE, along with technical training through the Naval Technical Training Center. Much of the base was developed during the 1960s through the 1980s, supporting runways, aircraft hangars, fire stations, boiler plants, and steam distribution systems built while asbestos-containing materials were still standard in military construction.
AFFF exposure at Naval Air Station Meridian
Naval Air Station Meridian's firefighter training history splits cleanly into two chapters. The first, known as Site 1, ran from 1961 until 1969, where firefighters ignited JP-4 and JP-5 jet fuel, aviation gasoline, waste oil, and solvents in a circular burn pit to simulate aircraft fuel fires. When that site closed, training moved to Site 6, a more developed facility with three concrete-lined burn pits, drainage systems, and an oil-water separator built to support repeated live-fire exercises, which operated from roughly 1969 through 1987.
Across both sites, firefighters trained through aircraft crash rescue exercises, aviation fuel fire suppression, live-fire certification, foam application drills, emergency response exercises, and fire suppression equipment testing. That training meant handling AFFF directly:
- mixing concentrate before drills
- applying foam to knock down live fires
- testing proportioning systems
- cleaning vehicles and gear afterward
- maintaining the foam storage systems
Navy firefighters and Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting personnel were most exposed, joined by fire instructors, firefighter trainees, fire apparatus operators, and the staff who maintained firefighting vehicles and foam delivery systems. Firefighters with this kind of hands-on foam exposure face a documented risk of two cancers linked to the PFAS chemicals found in AFFF:
It doesn't matter whether that exposure happened at Site 1 during the 1960s or Site 6 two decades later. The underlying risk is the same for anyone who regularly handled the foam at Naval Air Station Meridian. If you've been diagnosed with one of these cancers and your service fits that pattern, our team can review your history and let you know if you're eligible to file an AFFF claim.
Asbestos exposure at Naval Air Station Meridian
During the construction and expansion of Naval Air Station Meridian, asbestos was widely built into military buildings for its durability, insulating properties, and resistance to heat and fire. Materials commonly used throughout its hangars, boiler plants, and administrative buildings included:
Occupational exposure at Naval Air Station Meridian was especially likely among:
- aviation ordnanceman
- electrician's mate
- pipefitter/utilitiesman
- boiler technician/watertender
- machinist's mate/machinery repairman
- structural mechanic
Because the installation was developed during decades when asbestos remained a standard construction material, personnel maintaining aircraft facilities, utility systems, steam plants, and older buildings likely faced the greatest opportunity for exposure. Mesothelioma and lung cancer are the two conditions most strongly tied to this kind of exposure, and both can take 20 to 50 years to surface after the fibers are first inhaled, which means a diagnosis today may connect back to maintenance work performed decades earlier without any clear link at the time. If your service included that kind of maintenance work at Naval Air Station Meridian and you've since received one of these diagnoses, contact our team to find out whether you're eligible to file an asbestos claim.