Constructed in 1941 and operating as a training facility over a span of 52 years, Williams Air Force Base in Mesa, Arizona, has played a critical role in America’s aviation history. The site, which quickly became the U.S. Army Air Corp’s foremost pilot training facility, has been credited with supplying 25 percent of the U.S. Air Force’s pilots each year. Unfortunately, because the base’s years of operations straddled the time when asbestos was most frequently in use by the military, individuals who served, worked, and trained on the base were put at risk of inhaling toxic fibers that would later cause serious illnesses, including malignant mesothelioma, asbestos-related lung cancer, and asbestosis.
The History of Williams Air Force Base
Williams Air Force Base was initially named the Mesa Military Airport when it opened in December of 1941 after residents of Mesa lobbied for an Air Corps facility to be located near their town. After offering vacant land within the Gila River Indian Reservation and adding a railroad spur line, and electric, water, telephone, and gas service, the War Department approved the site, and construction began in July 1941. Its name was changed a few months later to Williams Field in honor of 1st Lt. Charles Linton Williams, an Arizona native who’d died in 1927 in a plane crash in Hawaii.[1]
The base was established as a flying school, and several runways and auxiliary airfields were added along with blacktop landing areas. During World War II, the base was responsible for training thousands of P-38 Lightning pilots, who originally learned on Beech AT-10 Wichita planes, which were replaced because their wooden construction was vulnerable to drying out in the desert heat. The AT-10s were initially replaced with Cessna AT-17 Bobcat twin-engine trainers and then by Curtiss-Wright AT-9s.[1]
The flying school at Williams taught four different courses, with the most popular being a single-engine advanced course where cadets learned to fly the AT-6 Texan, then advanced to the twin-engine AT-9, and then the RP-322 training version of the P-38 Lightnings. This course prepared pilots for photo-reconnaissance missions. Another course taught experienced pilots to switch to flying twin-engine aircraft, and a night fighter training program was offered so pilots could transition to the P-61 Black Widow. By late 1944, Williams began offering training on four-engine Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bombers. By April 1945, the four-engine program had graduated over 600 officers. The base also trained for flexible gunnery and radar observation, and after the U.S. entered the war, it also developed a pilot training program for the Chinese Air Force. [1]
When World War II ended, Williams was one of very few training bases that remained open and continued operating. It provided a P-80 Shooting Star jet pilot school and continued offering fighter gunnery training, bombing, and rocketry. After pilots were trained on P-51 Mustangs and P-47 Thunderbolts, they were fully converted to training pilots on flying jet aircraft. That same year, the U.S. Air Force became its own branch of the military, and the base was redesignated Williams Air Force Base, taking on the 3525th Pilot Training Wing. Over the years, it took on training for crew training, discontinued its single-engine basic pilot school, and replaced it with an advanced fighter school flying T-33s. Pilot training continued throughout the 1960s, with the T-33s being replaced by T-38 Talons as the primary jet training aircraft. Students were offered both academic classroom and simulator instruction, then trained on Cessna T-41s offsite before moving on to train in their primary weapon system aircraft. Some graduates were selected to remain as instructors.[1]
At the same time that this training was going on, Williams was going through significant expansion. Field facilities were extended to permit radar observer training in 1945, and a 500-unit housing project was completed in 1951. Buildings to accommodate the fighter-gunnery school were added in 1953 and 1954, an undergraduate pilot training school in 1961, and a housing improvement project was completed in 1962. In 1972, a medical facility was built, and in 1973, the base added a family housing project. The last notable building constructed was a flight simulator facility, which was completed in 1976.[2] All of these structures were built using asbestos-containing materials.
In its later years, Williams supported the Military Assistance Program by providing pilots and maintenance training personnel to nations that purchased the F-5 Freedom Fighters, which were not programmed for use by the U.S. Air Force but were eventually used in the Vietnam War. In 1976, Williams became the first Undergraduate Pilot Program to train female student pilots. Finally, in the 1990s, Williams was included in the 1993 Base Realignment and Closure Commission’s closure orders. Operations were inactivated, and the site was closed in September 1993. Today, the site serves as an industrial park and commercial airport.[1]
How Was Asbestos Used at the Williams Air Force Base?
Asbestos is a mineral that has been valued for centuries due to its durability and fire-resistant properties. Unfortunately, its connection to serious health risks, including malignant mesothelioma and other illnesses, was not widely recognized until 1980. Without knowing how dangerous the material was, the military chose to use asbestos extensively across all branches, including the Air Force, for constructing buildings, housing units, and infrastructure, as well as in parts and maintenance of aircraft.
At Williams Air Force Base, asbestos was heavily incorporated in all phases of construction. It was used to reinforce, roof, and insulate buildings, as well as in materials like concrete for steam pipes, runways, and components supporting the base’s infrastructure. Importantly, the base’s main mission of pilot training meant that those who worked or trained on the base were exposed both in barracks and mess halls and to the materials that their planes were built from. Asbestos was part of aircraft insulation and brake linings, heat shields, and a wide range of parts integral to the planes’ integrity.
Asbestos-containing materials and parts used at Williams Air Force Base included:
- Adhesives
- Aircraft
- Aircraft Brakes
- Automobile and truck brakes
- Cargo bay insulation
- Adhesives
- Caulking
- Ceiling tiles
- Cement foundations
- Drywall
- Electrical wiring
- Epoxies
- Fireproofing materials
- Floor tiles
- Gaskets
- Heat shields for aircraft engines
- Heating systems in the cockpit
- HVAC systems
- Insulation materials
- Paint
- Pipes
- Plumbing
- Roofing
- Roofing adhesives
- Sealants
- Siding
- Soundproofing
- Valves
- Vinyl floor tiles
- Wallboard
Who Was at Risk of Asbestos Exposure at Williams Air Force Base?
Over its fifty years of operation, Williams Air Force Base trained over 26,000 pilots. The base was home to countless trainers and educators tasked with teaching these students, as well as airplane mechanics, administrators, civilian employees and contractors, and even family members. The asbestos that was part of nearly every structure and piece of equipment on the base posed a significant risk of exposure to all of them, but the risk was especially high for those individuals involved in construction, demolition, electrical work, and the maintenance or repair of aircraft and equipment.
Those who were most at risk of asbestos exposure at Williams Air Force Base included:
- Sheet Metal Workers
- Welders
- Electricians
- Contractors
- Construction Workers
- Airmen
- Boiler Workers
- Pipefitters
- Machinists
- Aircraft mechanics
- Pilots
- Carpenters
While the most obvious concern about asbestos-related disease is focused on those who suffered direct occupational exposure to the carcinogenic mineral, there are also concerns about their family members who were exposed to asbestos carried home on their clothing. There have been many cases of malignant mesothelioma attributed to what is now known as secondary asbestos exposure; it most frequently happens to wives who were responsible for laundering their husband’s work clothes after they returned home from work each day. When the wives would shake out the clothing in small laundry rooms, the asbestos fibers would lift into the air and be inhaled, later leading to diagnosis with the deadly asbestos-related disease.
Were You Exposed to Asbestos at Williams Air Force Base?
Williams Air Force Base was closed in 1993, but that doesn’t mean that the risk of being diagnosed with an asbestos-related disease after exposure there has passed. Asbestos-related diseases have latency periodsthat can last fifty or sixty years, which means that service members, employees, and their family members who feel perfectly healthy today still need to be vigilant for signs and symptoms.
To protect yourself and ensure a quick diagnosis, make sure that you are familiar with the symptoms of asbestos-related diseases and inform your healthcare professional of your history of exposure. With both of you well aware of the danger you face, you’re much more likely to spot trouble early and begin treatment faster.
Help for Williams Air Force Base Asbestos Victims
A diagnosis of an asbestos-related disease like malignant mesothelioma is life-altering. For Air Force veterans who have already devoted years to serving our country, it can feel devastating. If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with this rare form of cancer or any other asbestos-related disease after serving at Williams Air Force Base, an asbestos attorney can help explore the variety of options and resources available to you, including disability benefits and medical treatment from the Department of Veterans Affairs.
You can also take legal action against the asbestos companies responsible for supplying the military with the asbestos-containing parts that made you sick. Many of these companies were aware of the risk posed by their materials but chose to stay quiet to continue earning money. Their decision to put profits over people only benefitted them in the short term, as in recent years, they have been ordered to pay millions in compensation to victims of their negligence. A mesothelioma lawyer will be able to help you identify which of those companies were involved in your exposure and explain the process of filing a personal injury lawsuit, as well as what you can expect from the process. They’ll also tell you about the many asbestos trust funds that have been set up by asbestos companies forced into bankruptcy and which you may be eligible to file a claim with.
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