Established in 1941 as Tyndall Field, Tyndall Air Force Base near Panama City, Florida, has served as one of the Air Force's premier training installations for more than 80 years. Originally created as an aerial gunnery school during World War II, the base later became an important center for fighter pilots, weapons controller, and fire protection training, and it remains home to the 325th Fighter Wing today. Because the installation dates back to World War II, many older facilities were originally constructed with asbestos-containing materials, while firefighters historically trained with AFFF to extinguish fuel fires.
Tyndall Air Force Base has long maintained an active fire protection mission. Air Force firefighters historically trained to extinguish aircraft and petroleum-based fuel fires using AFFF because it could rapidly suppress flammable liquid fires encountered on military flight lines. Training commonly involved live-fire exercises, aircraft fire simulations, fuel spill fire scenarios, emergency response drills, fire suppression equipment training, and foam application exercises. For a long stretch of time, older AFFF formulas contained PFAS chemicals like PFOS and PFOA, and firefighters worked directly with this foam over and over during training throughout their careers.
Firefighters ran into AFFF during routine training in a bunch of ways, mixing foam concentrates, charging and running foam lines, spraying foam in live-fire drills, cleaning hoses and nozzles, servicing foam proportioning systems, and cleaning up equipment afterward. All that hands-on work often meant direct skin contact and breathing in aerosolized foam during exercises.
Personnel who may have faced AFFF exposure at Tyndall include:
- Air Force Fire Protection Specialists
- aircraft rescue and firefighting personnel
- fire instructors
- fire academy trainees
- civilian firefighters assigned to Tyndall
- fire equipment maintenance personnel
AFFF exposure has been linked to an increased risk of kidney cancer and testicular cancer. In 2024, Tyndall became the first Air Force installation to transition its fire departments to fluorine-free foam, marking the end of decades of reliance on AFFF. If you trained or worked as a firefighter at Tyndall and developed one of these cancers, you may be eligible for compensation.
Like many installations built during World War II, Tyndall incorporated asbestos-containing materials throughout its infrastructure for fire resistance and insulation. Common asbestos-containing materials at the base included:
- pipe insulation
- boiler insulation
- steam distribution systems
- roofing materials
- floor tile
- ceiling tile
- fireproof wallboard
- HVAC insulation
- mechanical equipment insulation
- gaskets and packing materials
Current Air Force environmental planning documents acknowledge that older Tyndall buildings may have asbestos-containing materials. Before renovation or demolition, buildings are surveyed, and these materials are managed or removed in accordance with federal regulations. Personnel whose duties disturbed asbestos-containing materials during routine maintenance or construction generally faced the greatest exposure risk, including:
- civil engineers
- construction personnel
- electricians
- plumbers, pipefitters
- boiler technicians
- HVAC mechanics
- welders
- building maintenance personnel
- demolition crews
- civilian contractors
Among the diseases linked to asbestos exposure, mesothelioma and lung cancer stand out as the most serious, with mesothelioma attacking the lining of the lungs, abdomen, heart, or testes, and lung cancer developing in the lung tissue itself. Both often carry a long latency period, sometimes 20 to 50 years, meaning many veterans don't connect a diagnosis to their time at Tyndall until decades later. Compensation may be available if your lung cancer or mesothelioma diagnosis traces back to asbestos exposure at Tyndall Air Force Base.