Navy reaffirms commitment to Oceana Naval Air Station

By Dale Eisman
The Virginian-Pilot

WASHINGTON - Navy leaders on Thursday signaled their satisfaction with Virginia Beach's plans to restrict development around Oceana Naval Air Station, telling lawmakers they expect to retain the base so long as nearby commercial and residential growth are kept in check.

Adm. Mike Mullen, the chief of naval operations, and Navy Secretary Donald Winter - prodded by U.S. Rep. Thelma Drake, R-2nd District - praised local moves to roll back some existing development and give the service a larger voice in decisions about future projects around the base.

The service is committed to staying at Oceana "as long as these things continue to go well," Mullen said.

The Navy leader had earlier voiced his preference for keeping Oceana open; a new base could cost up to $2 billion.

Drake said the Navy statements, made during a House Armed Services Committee hearing, offer assurance that a two-year struggle to preserve Oceana is over "as long as Virginia Beach does what Virginia Beach says they're going to do.... The ball is in our court."

The sprawling base just west of the Oceanfront is an economic powerhouse for Virginia Beach, employing 12,000 people with an annual payroll of more than $700 million. More than 200 Navy fighter planes are based at Oceana, making it the service's East Coast "master jet base."

But subdivisions, strip malls and other development, much of it approved by the city over the Navy's objections, have sprung up in high-risk "accident potential zones" near the end of Oceana's runways.

Eighteen months ago, a federal base-closing commission concluded that development around the base was hazardous to pilots and residents, and was hampering the Navy's ability to properly train pilots.

The commission urged that hundreds of F/A-18 Hornets and Super Hornets be relocated from Oceana to Cecil Field, a former Navy base just outside Jacksonville, Fla.

While local opposition in Jacksonville derailed that plan, Virginia Beach and state officials embraced most of a long list of commission recommendations aimed at controlling growth around Oceana.

"This is a very serious long-term commitment by the city" and the state, Drake said Thursday.

Reach Dale Eisman at (703) 913-9872 or dale.eisman@pilotonline.com.

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Again?

Submitted by davidj37901 on Sun, 03/04/2007 at 11:40 am.

This is classic newspaper de'ja' Vu? This is also the same thing restructuring companies say to employees, so as to not have a mass exodus of people leaving. There was and article in the Pilot a few weeks ago about the North Carolina deal going a head, and how pilots can't perform "touch and go" procedures at Fentress as needed because of all the stray light from the city. The smart thing (rarely does the Government do so) is Beaufort South Carolina air base, has FA-18s already, and plenty of room for more. This is in all likelihood where they will end up in 5 years. To illustrate the stupidity of the Navy, they have city Beaufort asking for them to come on in, and yet they "twiddle their fingers" about staying here in Virginia Beach where they aren't wanted or needed.

Where's the Beef?

Submitted by michaelb40247 on Sat, 03/03/2007 at 9:11 am.

Actually, as I read the article, I kept looking for the punch line; that is, the official statement that indicates that the Navy will keep the MJB at NAS Oceana. Of course, it was not there. While I do not discount the statement by Representative Thelma Drake, this should not be construed as anything more than the intention of the Navy on this day in time. What really caught my eye was the continued information, provided as background in all the stories by the Pilot on this topic, that the city allowed the encroachment in spite of Navy policy. Actually, again, that is not totally the case. In fact, since the AICUZ program was put in place in the 1970's, residential and commercial development was allowed in both the noise zones and the accident potential zones, subject to certain restrictions. It was only in 2002 that the Navy changed the regulation. That is, they closed the barn door after all the horses had left. The Pilot continues to provide inaccurate background. Too bad.

Submitted by franklinh15075 on Fri, 03/02/2007 at 7:34 pm.

The Hampton Roads prices shot through the roof and now are over prices, therefore, your most likely see and decline in price driving more people to rent vice purchase a home. It will be 5+ years before you see any significant growth in your home price, just in time for the FA-18C's to move south to say..Beaufort, raising our property value out the roof.