Naval Station Ocean 75 Years: 1943-2018

N AVA L A I R S T A T I O N

OCEANA 75 Y EAR S

1943-2018

FREEDOM, SHAPED

BY SKILL John F. Kennedy (CVN 79) under construction at Newport News Shipbuilding

Newport News Shipbuilding salutes Naval Air Station Oceana on its 75th anniversary.

We’re proud of NAS Oceana’s contributions to our nation and we’re proud of our talented and skilled craftsmen and women who build the greatest ships in the world for the United States Navy.

75 YEARS

Congratulations, NAS Oceana On Your 75th Anniversary VHDA is pleased to celebrate with NAS Oceana on this important milestone, and we thank you for your great service to our nation. This year also marks our 20th year of partnership with the U.S. military.

Working together, we’re able to offer programs to service members, veterans and their families, designed to help them attain homeownership or make their homes more accessible.

VHDA began offering our free homebuyer class to service members and their families back in 1998.

The class combines the expertise of military financial educators and VHDA’s housing education team, and covers the entire homebuying process plus how to stay on track as a responsible homeowner. vhda.com/Military

Grants of up to $6,000 per residence or rental unit are currently available for eligible Virginia veterans and service members who sustained a line-of-duty injury resulting in a disability. Grant funds can be used to install wheelchair ramps, grab bars, stair lifts or other modifications recommended by the VA. vhda.com/GrantingFreedom

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LIVE, LEARN & ADVANCE It’s more than a degree, it’s a career enhancement.

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Steve Gonzalez

Operations Master Chief, US Navy (Ret.) B.S. in Strategic Studies and Defense Analysis, 2016

Use of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement.

Norwich is an Equal Opportunity Employer Privacy Policy: online.norwich.edu/about-us/privacy-policy Critical Information: www.norwich.edu/consumerdata

Contact Norwich today to see how far you can go. online.norwich.edu/OCEANA 866-684-7237

FOREWORD As dedicated supporters of the naval community in Hampton Roads for more than 50 years, the Navy League of Hampton Roads is proud to recognize Naval Air Station Oceana’s 75 years of exemplary service to the country with the Naval Air Symposium, an anniversary gala, and the commemorative publication Naval Air Station Oceana: 75 Years.

Commemorating the 75th anniversary of NAS Oceana is part and parcel of the mission of Hampton Roads Navy League: to educate the public about the importance of the sea services to our maritime nation’s defense and economic livelihood, as well as advocate for and support the extraordinary men and women who serve.

The story of the Master Jet Base is one the Navy League is excited to share here. While the longstanding ties between Oceana and the community have never been stronger, increasing public awareness of the vital role NAS Oceana has played – and continues to play – in generating, training, and supporting the core of the Navy’s striking power has never been more important.

Navy League Hampton Roads supports events like the Naval Air Symposium and ship commissionings not only to honor and increase awareness of those who serve, but to increase public understanding of the need for a strong Navy. Those who attend such events learn that we as citizens must do our part to ensure the continued strength and capability of our maritime defense. That means supporting decision-makers who understand the incalculable value of our Navy and who therefore work to provide the resources necessary to expand the fleet, train and support the highest caliber sailors and their families, and strengthen our sea service to be ready to face any challenges to come.

The future of NAS Oceana and naval aviation is bright, but we must always remember that the future depends upon each of us supporting those who go in harm’s way.

Jim Monroe

Maryellen Baldwin

Chairman of the Board

President and CEO

Navy League of Hampton Roads

Navy League of Hampton Roads

NAS Oceana: Three-quarters of a Century and “On and On” This year we celebrate the 75th anniversary of Naval Air Station Oceana. Far more than just an airbase, Oceana has been the home to countless aviation squadrons across various type, model, and series aircraft, carrier air wings, and a myriad of other commands and organizations over the course of its rich and welldocumented history of equipping, training, and supporting naval aviation.

While the past tells a wonderful and compelling story, it is the future that we now look to, a future that will require rapid change and a sense of urgency in order to keep pace with emerging technologies in this age of digital transformation. It is that future and the challenges NAS Oceana will face that I address here.

During this symposium, we have had the opportunity to hear from naval aviation leadership on current and future aircraft and systems as well as the demands facing naval aviation in the coming years. We have been updated on the plans and vision for our aircraft carriers, both the Nimitz class as well as the Ford class. However, we also need to think about what additional infrastructure, education, and specialized training will be required for the military and civilian personnel based aboard NAS Oceana – nontraditional training that will enhance naval aviation readiness through the ability of our region to support the next generation of highly technical sensors, platforms, and netted communication and weapons systems that will be needed to meet the Navy’s warfighting requirements.

What is clear is that we will see a dynamic change in naval aviation – a change enabled by the digital age.

No longer can we afford to wait a decade or more to see new platforms, systems, or weapons introduced for fleet use. The increasing use of modeling and simulation, to include artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and big data analytics, will drive that change and therefore our approach to product, platform, and system development. New, innovative technologies will have a direct impact on how we train our men and women to operate and maintain increasingly more complex and netted sensors, systems, and platforms. This is at the very heart of Sailor 2025 and the concept of Ready Relevant Learning (RRL). Future weapons systems development will move rapidly away from the traditional design-build-test methodology to a model-analyze-build methodology. Digital engineering and the rapid insertion of technology from both small and large businesses will require further investments in information technology infrastructure within a connected digital end-to-end naval and Department of Defense enterprise.

Finally, the future of NAS Oceana depends heavily on the continued growth and support of our entire region. It is imperative that the communities surrounding Oceana draw upon each other’s strengths and collectively develop a clear plan that commits the region to supporting the health, educational, and professional training needs of the very highly skilled military and civilian workforce that will be pivotal in keeping NAS Oceana on glide path and on course going forward.

VADM David Architzel, USN (Ret.) Senior Strategic Advisor, Fairlead Integrated

1943 - 2018

NAV Y LE AGU E O F TH E U N ITE D S TATES

HAM PT O N ROADS EXECUTIVE BOARD AND BOARD OF DIRECTORS 2018 CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD FORCM Jim Monroe USN (RET) PRESIDENT & CEO Maryellen Baldwin EXECUTIVE BOARD CAPT Bill Crow, USN (RET) RADM Charles J. Beers, USN (RET) Mrs. Julie A. Gifford VADM James D. McArthur, Jr., USN (RET) CDR Mark E. Newcomb, JACG, USN (RET) FLTCM Jon Thompson, USN (RET) CAPT Christopher Chope, USN (RET) CAPT Robert N. Geis, USN (RET) BOARD OF DIRECTORS The Honorable David H. Adams VADM David Architzel, USN (RET) CDR Charles S. Arrants, USN (RET) CAPT Douglas J. Beaver, USN (RET) CAPT Robert E. Clark, USN (RET) MajGen Jon A. Gallinetti, USMC (RET) Mr. Joseph Gianascoli Mr. John Griffing ADM Bill Gortney, USN (RET) CAPT Cameron Ingram, USN (RET) RADM Jack Kavanaugh, SC, USN (RET) Mr. Kevin F. King CAPT Louis P. Lalli, USN (RET) Mrs. Elizabeth Mayo Mr. Jay W. McGovern Mrs. Christina Murray CAPT Michael O’Hearn, USN (RET) LtCol John A. Panneton, USMC (RET) CAPT S. Robert Roth, USN (RET) CAPT Louis J. Schager, Jr., USN (RET) Ms. Feba Thomas Ms. Jordan A. Watkins

NAS OCEANA 75TH COMMITTEE FORCM Jim Monroe, USN (RET), Chairman of the Board Navy League of the United States, Hampton Roads Maryellen Baldwin, President and CEO Navy League of the United States, Hampton Roads CAPT Chad Vincelette, USN, Commanding Officer, NAS Oceana CAPT John Hewitt, USN, USN Executive Officer, NAS Oceana CMDCM Lee Salas, USN, Command Master Chief, NAS Oceana VADM David Architzel, USN (RET) CAPT Doug Beaver, USN (RET) CAPT Christopher Chope, USN (RET) CAPT Gavin Duff, USN CAPT Robert Geis, USN (RET) CAPT Steve Laukaitis, USN (RET) CAPT Kevin McLaughlin, USN FORCM Huben Phillips, USN CAPT Lou Schager, USN (RET) FORCM Bill Smalts, USN Linda Ermen Bre Kingsbury Gayle Lemieux

75 YEARS OF

GREATNESS

The Navy Exchange is proud to celebrate the 75TH

Anniversary of Naval Air Station Oceana alongside the brave men and women who serve our great nation.

N AVA L A I R S T A T I O N

OCEANA 75 YEARS

Published by Faircount Media Group 4915 W. Cypress St. Tampa, FL 33609 Tel: 813.639.1900 www.defensemedianetwork.com www.faircount.com

CONTENTS LETTERS..............................................1 Naval Air Station Oceana..............12 Celebrating 75 Years

By Amy Waters Yarsinske

EDITORIAL Editor in Chief: Chuck Oldham Managing Editor: Ana E. Lopez Editor: Rhonda Carpenter Contributing Writers: Craig Collins, Eric Tegler, Jan Tegler, Amy Waters Yarsinske DESIGN AND PRODUCTION Art Director/Project Designer: Robin K. McDowall Ad Traffic Manager/Designer: Rebecca Laborde

Power Forward, Reach Back.........28 What NAS Oceana Means to Atlantic Fleet Carriers

By Eric Tegler

ADVERTISING Ad Sales Manager: Steve Chidel Account Executives: Beth Hamm, Adam Kerrigan

INTERVIEW..........................................38 Capt. Chad Vincelette Commanding Officer, Naval Air Station Oceana

By Eric Tegler

OPERATIONS AND ADMINISTRATION Chief Operating Officer: Lawrence Wayne Roberts VP, Business Development: Robin Jobson Business Development: Damion Harte Business Analytics Manager: Colin Davidson Accounting Manager: Joe Gonzalez

“BROAD AND FAR-SIGHTED PATRIOTISM�.......................................44 The Navy League of the United States

By Craig Collins INTERVIEW..........................................51 Capt. Kevin McLaughlin, Commodore, Strike Fighter Wing Atlantic

By Eric Tegler Observe, Orient, Decide, and Act.... 62 A Look at the Future of Naval Aviation

By Jan Tegler 11

FAIRCOUNT MEDIA GROUP Publisher, North America: Ross Jobson

Copyright Faircount LLC. All rights reserved. Reproduction of editorial content in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. Faircount LLC and the Navy League of the United States, Hampton Roads, do not assume responsibility for the advertisements, nor any representation made therein, nor for the quality or deliverability of the products themselves. Reproduction of the articles and photographs, in whole or in part, contained herein is prohibited without written permission of the publisher, with the exception of reprinting for news media use.

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1943 - 2018

N A V A L A I R S T AT I O N OCEANA CELEBR ATING 75 YE ARS

By Amy Waters Yarsinske

E

ugene Burton Ely successfully flew a Curtiss pusher from the deck of the light cruiser USS Birmingham (CL 2) on November 14, 1910, in Hampton Roads, Virginia, and two months later, on Jan. 18, 1911, reversed his good fortune and landed his small Curtiss aircraft on a platform on the armored cruiser USS Pennsylvania (ACR 4) anchored in San Francisco Bay. Ely’s landing was also the first-ever use of a tailhook system, one designed and built by circus performer and aviator Hugh Robinson. Historical record informs that Ely later told a reporter that his feat was easy enough: “I think the trick could be successfully turned nine times out of ten.”

Ely wanted the U.S. Navy to hire him, but there was no such thing just then as naval aviation, and he was turned down. Ely would continue daring flights until his death less than a year later, on Oct. 19, 1911, flying an exhibition in Macon, Georgia.

Two years after Ely’s takeoff from the Birmingham, Navy Capt. Washington Irving Chambers looked upon the beginnings of naval aviation with understandable reservations.

Not unlike today, he faced familiar challenges, from funding and aircraft acquisition to selection and training of pilots to fly them. Though surely convinced aircraft had a vital role to play in the naval warfare mission, his provisos, caveats, and praises for naval aviation could be encapsulated in one phrase: “airplanes […] could extend the eyes of the fleet.” A little more than a year into their first year of operation with the fleet, aircraft proved easily carried, stowed, and used by the ships that took them to sea.

In the age of nuclear aircraft carriers and supersonic jet aircraft, it is easy enough to put aside naval aviation’s growing pains. More than a century ago, the buzzword was “vision.”

The word still applies today. The beginnings of Naval Air Station (NAS) Oceana came less than three decades after Ely’s arrested landing on the Pennsylvania. In 1938, with the threat of war on America’s doorstep and the U.S. Navy limited to one air station and two grass auxiliary fields for aviation practice in the Norfolk, Virginia, operating area, the service decided to locate four additional airfields in proximity of Naval Air Station Norfolk. Farmhouses, dependencies, country stores, and a couple of schoolhouses and other public buildings dotted the landscape. Near Tunis – the next-to-last rail stop

to the oceanfront – a small community had sprung, growth that prompted residents to give it a name more fitting to the train’s ultimate destination along Virginia’s golden shore. The hamlet of Tunis was rebranded Oceana in 1891. The Navy’s pick of farmland around the whistle stop enclave at Oceana met all the requirements. The community had only one small sawmill operation and thousands of acres of farmed and forested land. The commercial development consisted of two or three small neighborhood food stores, a restaurant, and three service stations, with a local post office located inside one of the grocery stores. The town had little economic importance other than its few stopping-off points for local residents. The five thousand sprawling acres between the Oceana community and Princess Anne County courthouse looked like the best place for a military airfield. With low population density and plenty of elbow room, the tract made the perfect location for a military airfield. From auxiliary airfield to master jet base, Oceana would become a significant example of an air station that had a city grow around it, not the other way around.

The effort to secure auxiliary airfields had been a work in progress for nearly three years when the worst that could have happened did. On Dec. 8, 1941, the U.S. Congress declared war on the Empire of Japan in response to that country’s surprise attack on the American naval base at Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii, the prior day. The declaration was drafted an hour after President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered his remarkable “Day of Infamy” speech. Following the United States’ declaration, on Dec. 11, Japan’s allies, Germany and Italy, declared war on the United States, and the United States reciprocated, bringing the nation fully into World War II. With a new sense of urgency, naval personnel descended quickly on the mud flats of auxiliary landing field Oceana, hastily building a series of 19 Quonset huts to accommodate 32 officers and 172 enlisted men. For the first year-and-ahalf of the war, Oceana remained an auxiliary landing field.

During this time, it was often in competition with Naval Auxiliary Air Station (NAAS) Pungo for money, men and aircraft.

Twenty-four Navy squadrons used the 441-acre Pungo auxiliary air station during World War II, including TBF and TBM Avenger torpedo and F4F and FM Wildcat fighter squadrons.

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NAVAL HISTORY AND HERITAGE COMMAND

Most – not all – of these squadrons were bound for escort carriers. While Pungo drew resources away from Oceana during the war, the Navy shut it down in 1946 and sold the property to Atlantic Flight Services, because the location was perceived too remote to be practical. One of the earliest proposals for the Oceana auxiliary landing field was put forward by Capt. J.M. Shoemaker, who recommended the Navy share the field with army fighter squadrons. The cost of Shoemaker’s proposal approached $3 million.

The Bureau of Yards and Docks approved this expansion and, on Jan. 18, 1943, released funding to begin work. While facilities construction had started, on Feb. 15, command of the auxiliary landing field was assigned to Naval Air Cen-

Eugene Burton Ely in his Curtiss pusher airplane takes off from the deck of USS Birmingham (CL 2), in Hampton Roads, Virginia, during the afternoon of Nov. 14, 1910. USS Roe (DD 24), serving as plane guard, is visible in the background.

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ter Hampton Roads. This reassignment changed everything.

A March 6, 1943 memorandum from the Bureau of Aeronautics planning division urged Secretary of the Navy approval of funds for the construction of facilities to increase Oceana’s capacity. Under this revamped expansion plan, Oceana would be able to support 64 aircraft, the equivalent of three squadrons, and enough barracks space to accommodate 132 officers and 824 enlisted men. At the time this proposal was made, Oceana was only able to handle 18 airplanes. To achieve much of this expansion, it was clear that acquisition of additional farmland was the first stepping stone to a larger air station.

The Navy surveyed land around the existing

UNITED STATES NAVY

Ely was photographed in his flying gear and standing by his Curtiss pusher biplane in 1911. Note the rubber bicycle tire inner tubes worn as a life preserver in case of a forced water landing.

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UNITED STATES NAVY

airfield for acquisition, and more acreage was appraised as early as 1940. The land, some of which continued to be farmed long after the Navy acquired it, was best suited to general farming and truck cultivation. To the appraisers, it was clear that the absence of a marketing cooperative had cost truck farmers in the area a fair price for their produce at market. Many of the fields were unharvested, because the anticipated price for the crop was too low. Appraisers took notice.

While truck farming had waned, hog raising and fattening, a more recent use of the land just then, was showing greater profit.

The remote and largely inaccessible auxiliary landing field was commissioned Naval Auxiliary Air Station Oceana on Aug. 17, 1943, at the peak of the war. This was just the beginning. In the decades that followed World War II, the air station and the community around it grew with naval aviation. The nascent auxiliary air station grew so fast that less than a decade after the war, the Navy built additional runways and training

Naval Auxiliary Air Station (NAAS) Oceana North Station’s enlisted barracks were awash in mud when this picture was taken March 1, 1945. An assortment of inverted gull wing Vought F4U Corsairs, Curtiss SB2C Helldivers, and other types are parked on the flight line.

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facilities. The evolution of Oceana postwar sent a clear message that it could no longer function as a subordinate to any other air station. The Secretary of the Navy redesignated Oceana a naval air station on April 1, 1952, a move that ultimately laid the foundation for development of the master jet base. But as the Navy pondered and planned this master jet base, it was clear that Oceana did not, indeed, have enough jets.

At the sunset of the 1940s, what it did have was the Douglas AD-1 Skyraider, with a radial piston engine, that had become the primary attack aircraft and it, at that point, shared the carrier deck with the propeller-driven Grumman F8F1/-1B/-2 Bearcat and the Vought F4U-4/-5 Corsair, which rounded out the workhorses of the Navy’s fighter and attack aircraft. Jets were just beginning to subsume them. Jet aircraft like the McDonnell FD-1 Phantom, McDonnell F2H-2/-3 Banshee, Vought F6U-1 Pirate, North American FJ-1 Fury, and Grumman F9F-2/-3/-5 Panther had begun showing up for duty and the Panther

The establishment of NAAS Oceana in the salad days of World War II drew the attendance of Rear Adm. Patrick Nieson Lynch Bellinger (far right), naval aviator number eight and commander, Naval Air Force, Atlantic, to the ceremony. Lt. Jesse Arthur Fairley, the air station’s first commanding officer, is standing center.

The officer to the left is Lt. Lee, base executive officer. The photograph was taken in August 1943.

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air show, headlined by the Navy’s flight demonstration team, the Blue Angels. “Of the many fine qualities possessed by Vice Adm. Soucek,” said Russell, “one of the greatest was the capacity for making good and lasting friendships wherever he went.” He went on to tell the gathering of family, friends and colleagues that “to many people who knew Apollo only ashore, or in shoreside jobs, he seemed so unassuming and so quietly polite that this was slightly misleading. The steel beneath did not show. I know,” he continued, “from having served with him at sea that the man was as tough a battle commander as ever sat on a carrier’s bridge.” Russell spoke also of the importance of Soucek’s early aviation career, when: “[A]n additional few thousand feet in altitude was a real advancement in the art of aviation.” He also cared about aviators’ personal safety and coming up with mechanisms to safeguard them in the air. “I remember,” said Russell, “his telling me about one of his high-altitude flights in which he rigged his throttle with a bungee cord which could shut off the engine in case he blacked out.” Paul E.

UNITED STATES NAVY

and Banshee would soon dominate naval air squadrons deployed to the Korean conflict and beyond. The transition to jet operations took charge, and it came in Oceana’s favor when the Navy ultimately designated Naval Air Station Norfolk the regional support industrial airfield and Oceana a master jet base. Former landing fields at Fentress in Princess Anne County, Chincoteague on Virginia’s Eastern Shore, and Edenton and Weeksville in North Carolina were designated auxiliaries.

Ground was broken for the relocation of the air station to the south side of the field – where it is today – on Aug. 24, 1952. This redevelopment spelled the end of the old north station, of which only a couple of Quonset huts remain. With the introduction of jet aircraft, Oceana’s relative isolation and lengthy runways made it well positioned to become the home station of the Navy’s tactical air squadrons. Plans to designate Oceana the Navy’s East Coast master jet base were put into full effect in 1953 after the Navy determined that airspace and airfield facility restrictions precluded Naval Air Station Norfolk from serving that role. Numerous contracts were awarded for the erection of buildings on the south side of the air station, including a hangar, parachute loft, administration building, line shacks, crash and salvage buildings, magazines, supply facilities, transportation garage, operations building, heating plant, infirmary, galley, high-speed jet refueling pits and an enlisted man’s club.

Even today, Oceana has the longest runways in Hampton Roads, and thus remains capable of handling emergency traffic during periods of extreme inclement weather. In its history, particularly at various times in the 1950s during a weather-driven emergency, Oceana’s runway was the only military landing field open between Charleston, South Carolina, and Dover, Delaware.

Dedication ceremonies were held on June 4, 1957, naming the field after Vice Adm. Apollo Soucek, who was a record-breaking high-altitude test pilot who set a series of flight altitude records in 1929 and 1930 – earning him the title of “the Navy’s test pilot admiral.” Soucek also served in World War II, receiving the Silver Star, and was commander of Carrier Division Three during the Korean conflict, ending his career as the chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics.

Rear Adm. James S. Russell, a naval aviator and Soucek’s successor in the Bureau of Aeronautics, delivered his remarks that day ahead of the

U.S. NAVY PHOTO

Garber, first head curator of the National Air Museum (later renamed the National Air and Space Museum), told Russell he remembered Soucek visiting the Smithsonian Institution in the late 1920s. “Apollo wanted to find out the secret of Eskimo clothing and how skins could keep a man warm at low temperatures. After a week of study at the Smithsonian,” Garber continued, “the young lieutenant figured out that by putting the fur side next to the skin, a blanket of warm air gave added protection from the cold.”

The next step was Soucek designing a flight suit with fleece lining.

“I suggest that there is a deeper meaning to these early high-altitude flights in addition to the obvious one of perfecting the airplanes of the time,” Russell said, as he concluded his dedication day remarks. “I suggest that United States naval aviation is great as a service because junior officers such as Lt. Soucek have always been willing to make personal sacrifices. Much of the real progress has been made,” he offered, “because such men exerted that extra effort, that flair for experimentation, and that taste for personal risk to prove their points.” As he looked out on Oceana’s airfield that day, Russell could not help but observe, more than ever, that naval aviation was “a young man’s game. I am reminded that our naval aviation, which leads the world, is in that position largely because of the unflinching and devoted work of junior officers.”

Russell’s timeless message: the Apollo Souceks are still with us.

Under the Navy’s master jet base concept, all type/model/series (T/M/S) aircraft were homebased at one field, with associated intermediate maintenance and training facilities. In June 1960, NAS Oceana was designated the home to all East Coast based McDonnell F-4 Phantom II squadrons, and on April 26, 1961, the first squadron of F-4B Phantom IIs landed on Soucek Field. Fighter Squadron One Hundred One (VF-101) Grim Reapers established Detachment A at NAS Oceana to continue the squadron’s role as the fleet readiness squadron (FRS), formerly known as the Replacement Air Group or “RAG,” that trained aircrews and maintainers to operate the Phantom (at that time VF-101 operated out of Naval Air Station Key West, Florida). A little more than a year later, the squadron moved from NAS Key West to NAS Oceana under the command of Commander Fighter Wing One. A detachment remained at Key West until the 2000s. From July 6 to Dec. 16, 1971, VF-101 Detachment 66 was assigned to Carrier Air

An SB2C-5 of Torpedo Squadron 74 (VT-74) pictured in flight over NAAS Oceana, Virginia.

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Wing Eight (CVW-8) aboard the USS America (CV 66) for a deployment to the Mediterranean Sea. In 1972, initial logistic support planning for the introduction of the Grumman F-14 Tomcat started, and in September 1974, hangar 404 was completed to accommodate the first two Tomcat squadrons – Fighter Squadron Fourteen (VF-14) Tophatters and Fighter Squadron Thirty-Two (VF-32) Swordsmen. In January 1976, VF-101 began operating and instructing aircrews and maintainers in the F-14 Tomcat. In 1975 and 1976, the squadron was awarded the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Aviation Safety Award, and in November 1976, the unit received its fourth safety citation due to 36 continuous months without an accident. On Aug. 5, 1977, the F-4 training department of VF-101 was split

from NAS Oceana to Calverton on Long Island, New York, for permanent static display at the Northrop Grumman facilities where the Tomcat was originally built. With that departure, the VF-31 Tomcatters – the last F-14 squadron – transitioned to the Boeing F/A-18E Super Hornet, also in September 2006.

At one time, in addition to fighter aircraft, all of the Atlantic Fleet’s Grumman A-6 Intruder medium attack squadrons were also homebased at NAS Oceana, along with Attack Squadron Forty-Two (VA-42) Green Pawns as the associated fleet readiness squadron charged with training all East Coast A-6 pilots, bombardier/navigators and A-6 maintenance personnel. The A-6A Intruder was first accepted for the Navy during an Oceana ceremony in February 1963. The last A-6E Intruder squadron – Attack Squadron Seventy-Five (VA-75) Sunday Punchers – was disestablished in February 1997, thus retiring the aircraft type from the fleet at the same air station at which it had been introduced 34 years earlier. While Oceana aircraft maintained continuous involvement in the Vietnam Conflict, in May 1965, operating from USS Independence (CV 62), VA-75 was the first squadron to deploy with the A-6A Intruder and operate the aircraft in a combat environment.

In the years 1998 and 1999, Oceana welcomed 10 F/A18 Hornet squadrons, with 156 aircraft and 3,700 aircrew,

into a separate, new squadron designated Fighter Squadron One Hundred Seventy-One (VF-171) Aces, which continued to train F-4 crews until disestablishment in 1984 after the last two Oceana F-4 squadrons – Fighter Squadron Seventy-Four Be-Devilers and Fighter Squadron One Hundred Three (VF103) Sluggers – began to transition to the Tomcat. VF-101 continued to train F-14 aircrews and maintainers. NAS Oceana was host to the “Tomcat Sunset” reunion held from Sept. 21 – 23, 2006, where more than 3,000 former and current aircrew and maintainers came together to celebrate the retirement of the F-14 from active fleet service. The F-14 took off from Soucek Field for the last time for the final flight of the type, when F-14D, bureau number 164603, Modex 101, of Fighter Squadron Thirty-One (VF-31) Tomcatters was ferried

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U.S. NAVY PHOTOS

Above: Personnel from an unidentified torpedo squadron pictured in front of a TBF/TBM Avenger at NAAS Oceana, Virginia, circa 1944.

Left: Cmdr. Louis H. Bauer, commander of Carrier Air Group Three (CVG-3), is pictured on the tarmac adjacent to base operations in an F8F-1 Bearcat at NAAS Oceana in 1946.

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ground officers and enlisted personnel. Strike Fighter Squadron One Hundred Thirty-One (VFA-131) Wildcats were the first to cross the taxiway in front of a large, welcoming crowd of more than 500 family, friends and city officials. The Wildcats were closely followed by the VFA-136 Knighthawks. As Oceana’s first fleet Hornet squadrons arrived on Dec. 4, 1998, a single F-14 Tomcat took flight, making a long, slow pass over the crowd. “He wants them [the Hornet squadrons] to know who’s still king,” joked a Tomcat pilot in the audience. The last of Cecil Field’s Hornets touched down at Oceana in October 1999, making it the Navy’s largest air station at that time, with more than 13,000 active duty and civilian personnel and more than 300 aircraft on the flight line and tucked away in squadron hangars. Almost as soon as they arrived and started flying, Capt. William M. “Skip” Zobel’s telephone rang off the hook with noise complaints. Zobel, like his predecessor Capt. Eric Benson, had been a Tomcat radar intercept officer. He was also no stranger to the noise controversy that cloaked Oceana, recalling

In 1953, NAS Oceana hosted its first ever open house air show event, with the United States Navy Blue Angels performing for the crowd. Led by Blue Angels commanding officer Lt. Cmdr. Ray Hawkins, the team had only been in existence for seven years and were flying the Grumman F9F-5 Panther (shown on the flight line just below the Navy K-class blimp). This event was the first of what would become an annual tradition in Virginia Beach, and represented the beginning of a remarkable series of aerial open house events. The first show in 1953 occurred on May 21 and was an occasion to celebrate Armed Forces Day, a holiday created only three years earlier by President Harry S. Truman.

the time his father was there as Capt. Albert Earnest’s public works officer decades earlier. “Whether we like it or not,” Zobel offered in a November 28, 1999 Virginian-Pilot report, “we’re the policeman of the world. Every flight we conduct checks a block for operational readiness.” Virginia Beach Mayor Mayera Oberndorf noted that bringing additional aircraft to Virginia Beach was the only right decision to make. “I have maintained these families [referring to the families of Hornet aircrew and ground personnel] have added to the quality of life in this city,” she told Virginian-Pilot reporter Toni Guagenti on Nov. 28, 1999. To Oberndorf and other city leaders, keeping Oceana in Virginia Beach – as a valued and irreplaceable part of the Hampton Roads community fabric – went beyond the home ownership, apartments rented, and dollars spent for everyday needs. “They really are a big part of making this economy thrive, even when other areas of the country are in a recession,” echoed William D. Sessoms Jr., then Virginia Beach’s vice mayor.

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During the 2005 deliberations of the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission (BRAC), it was decided that NAS Oceana could remain the Navy’s East Coast Master Jet Base only if certain conditions were met. The most contentious of these requirements was that the city of Virginia Beach “condemn and purchase all the incompatible use property located within the Accident Potential Zone 1 (APZ-1) areas for Naval Air Station Oceana. Absent this action, the BRAC commission proposed moving the fighters to Cecil Field, a recently deactivated naval air station located near Jacksonville, Florida. The plan was initially met with optimism by Jacksonville Mayor John Peyton, even though Cecil Field had already been converted into a joint civil-military airport used largely by the U.S. Coast Guard and the Florida Army National Guard, and where an associated commerce park dominated by major aerospace firms such as Northrop Grumman and Boeing performing major maintenance and overhaul work on a variety of military jet aircraft. The senior Navy leadership ultimately expressed disinterest in moving the Virginia Beach master jet base to the Jacksonville area, having only deactivated Cecil Field less than six years earlier and subsequently moving all of its Atlantic Fleet F/A-18 squadrons from the former Florida naval air station to NAS Oceana. In October 2005, the city of Jacksonville removed itself from the process. Shortly thereafter, on Dec. 20, 2005, the Virginia Beach City Council passed numerous ordinances enacted to satisfy the BRAC order. The city did not act to condemn any of the homes in the designated areas, but rather instituted a voluntary acquisition program available to willing sellers. In a November 2006 referendum, citizens of Jacksonville voted to leave the Cecil Airport and Commerce Center in civilian hands under the Jacksonville Aviation Authority, effectively halting any future plans of relocation.

In addition to several initiatives undertaken by the City of Virginia Beach during the 2005 Hampton Roads Joint Land Use Study (JLUS), to protect the air station, present and future, the YesOceana.com program was initiated to meet the requirements of the BRAC commission to protect Virginia Beach’s citizens and keep the Navy’s East Coast master jet base in the city.

This innovative program consists of zoning ordinances and economic incentives to foster the conversion of nonconforming businesses in the Accident Potential Zone One (APZ-1) into con-

The North American FJ-3 Fury jets in this photograph, taken at NAS Oceana in 1955, belonged to Fighter Squadron Sixty-One (VF-61) “Jolly Rogers.”

At that time, the Jolly Rogers were assigned to Carrier Air Group Eight (CVG-8).

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forming ones and relocating those that cannot be converted to another part of Virginia Beach.

The initiative, administered by the Oceana Land Use Conformity Committee (OLUCC), is a public-private partnership that includes city and NAS Oceana leadership, and residents and business owners living in the rollback area. Not only does this approach achieve the required rollback from the air station’s property line, it ensures that redevelopment follows sound planning and land use principles and that any new development is of higher quality than what currently exists. “Virginia Beach has a rich heritage as home to tens of thousands of Navy families,” according to the city of Virginia Beach YesOceana. com. “The people who work at Oceana and their families are part of the fabric of the city, as are the businesses that currently operate in APZ-1.

As dedicated partners in fashioning this community for a lifetime, we’ve all joined forces to safeguard our city and preserve our high quality of life.”

In 2016, the NAS Oceana air show delivered a new twist, with the introduction of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) to afford more than 6,000 local students and guests the opportunity to experience more than 100 exhibits and hands-on displays featuring some

of the military’s latest technologies, including robotics, flight dynamics, 3-D printing, and environmental initiatives. In addition, there were performances by some of the world’s most famous aerobatic performers, including the Navy’s Blue Angels. “We are one of the largest military-connected school divisions in the world, and we’re very proud,” offered Virginia Beach City Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Aaron Spence.

“Teaching students about STEM […] that’s a core part of our mission as educators as we get them ready for the future, for college and for their careers.” He also observed that the school district had the opportunity, being a division so closely connected to Oceana, “to partner with them on this experience, bring all of our fifth graders here, let them see what it’s like to apply what they’re learning in the classroom to the real world.” The STEM initiative had an architect in Richard Erie, the air show director, who first explored the idea of linking the air show – already one massive STEM laboratory – to the local school district. “The real wave came when we briefed Dr. Spence and got full commitment. Full commitment by the schools enabled us to start aggressively planning six months [ahead of the air show] to make [it] happen.” What does it

mean going forward? “We think we can inspire young minds by seeing some neat technology that they don’t get a chance to see every day,” Erie continued. “Maybe in doing so, we see 5,000 fifth graders, inspire 100 and out of those 100, ten of those children turn into super-scientists who do something fantastic for industry, which does something fantastic for the country in general.”

Decades after it first rose from the mud flats of Princess Anne County, Naval Air Station Oceana has grown to become one of the largest and most advanced air stations in the world, comprising 6,820 acres, to include the Dam Neck Annex. Obstruction clearances and flight easements total an additional 3,680 acres. The air station’s four runways, three measuring 8,000 feet in length and one measuring 12,000 feet, are de-

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NATIONAL ARCHIVES

An F-4J Phantom II of VF-31 “Tomcatters” in flight over NAS Oceana in 1975. In June 1960, Oceana had been designated home to all East Coast Phantom II squadrons.

NATIONAL ARCHIVES

signed for high-performance aircraft. Aside from its military function, NAS Oceana was an alternative landing site for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA’s) space shuttle until that program ended in 2011.

Each space shuttle abort landing site was chosen because the runway was of sufficient length to provide adequate distance for the slowing-down of a returning spacecraft. Oceana aircraft regularly use Naval Auxiliary Landing Field (NALF) Fentress, located thirteen miles south of the air station in Chesapeake, Virginia, and Oceana has operational control of Chambers Field on Naval Station Norfolk [formerly Naval Air Station Norfolk]. Oceana also oversees the Dam Neck Annex.

Home to fifteen fleet strike fighter squadrons, one Fleet Replacement Squadron, and one aggressor squadron of F/A-18 Hornets and F/A-18 Super Hornets, Naval Air Station Oceana is the sole East Coast master jet base and home to all East Coast strike fighter (VFA)

An F-14 Tomcat from Fighter Squadron Thirty-One (VF-31) Tomcatters being marshaled in at NAS Oceana, the squadron’s new home. The Tomcatters moved from NAS Miramar, San Diego, California, following decisions made under the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission (BRAC) initiative.

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squadrons excluding United States Marine Corps VMFA squadrons. Training is conducted

by Strike Fighter Squadron One Hundred Six (VFA-106) Gladiators in their F/A-18A+/B/C/D Hornets and F/A-18E/F Super Hornets. Marine Aviation Training Support Group Thirty-Three (MATSG-33), a Marine Corps training administration command, supports Marine Corps aviation student and instructor staff assigned to VFA-106. In addition to the air station’s strike fighter squadrons, there are several significant tenant commands. Here are a few of them: In October 2006, Fleet Readiness Center Mid-Atlantic (FRCMA), formerly known as the Aviation Intermediate Maintenance Department (AIMD) Oceana, was established at NAS Oceana and realigned under Commander, Fleet Readiness Centers and Commander, Naval Air Forces. FRCMA is one of seven fleet readiness centers devoted to the maintenance of naval aircraft and provides full-spectrum aircraft maintenance operations, possessing

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all of the key capabilities required to maintain high-performance tactical aircraft in support of warfighter readiness. The FRCMA staff is in Oceana hangar 200. FRCMA also consists of seven sites that are dispersed across five geographical locations: FRCMA Oceana, FRCMA Norfolk, FRCMA New Orleans, FRCMA Washington, D.C., FRCMA Patuxent River, Voyage Repair Team (VRT) Norfolk and Mayport, Florida, and FRCMA Aircraft Department (Oceana and Norfolk). Also resident to the base is the Center for Naval Aviation Technical Training Unit Oceana (CNATTU Oceana), which trains Navy and Marine Corps aircraft maintainers on the F/A-18 Hornet and Super Hornet.

Strike Fighter Wing Atlantic, the command that serves as the administrative command of all East Coast Hornet and Super Hornet squadrons when not forward deployed with their respective carrier air wings, relocated to Oceana from Cecil Field in 1998. Strike Fighter Weapons School Atlantic (SFWSL), which teaches ad-

Ground crew members use NC-8A mobile powerplants to service A-4F Skyhawk aircraft of Fighter Squadron 43 (VF-43) as the planes are parked in formation on the flight line.

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vanced weapons and tactics training to Atlantic Fleet Hornet and Super Hornet squadron aircrews, moved to Oceana in 1999 from Cecil Field and is now part of Strike Fighter Wing Atlantic.

Importantly, Oceana is home to the Landing Signal Officer (LSO) School – the only institution of its kind in the world – first established at Jacksonville, Florida, in 1943 and relocated to Virginia Beach in the late 1980s. The school trains more than 200 landing signal officers, air officers and assistant air officers each year.

The staff is responsible for all LSO training in the Navy and Marine Corps as well as several foreign countries. Students in the course acquire hands-on, real-time training using the Landing Signal Officer Trainer (LSOT), a fully functioning, full-size mock-up of an actual LSO platform, complete with detailed, computergenerated displays. Instructors have the ability to manipulate all conditions of aircraft, ship motion, and environment to maximize student LSO training.

Above: Vice Adm. John K. Ready, commander, Naval Air Force Atlantic (left), Rear Adm. Paul W. Parcells, commander, Tactical Wings Atlantic, and a civilian official welcome Capt. Michael L. Bowman, commander, Carrier Air Wing One (CVW-1) (called the CAG), assigned to the aircraft carrier USS America (CV 66). The wing had returned to NAS Oceana on April 17, 1991, following deployment to Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Bowman retired as a vice admiral.

In an active-duty career spanning more than 35 years, he flew every fleet and training aircraft type, completed 13 operational deployments, and held eight command assignments; he was also a veteran of the Vietnam and Desert Storm conflicts.

UNITED STATES NAVY

Middle left: Aviators assigned to the Sunliners of Strike Fighter Squadron Eighty-one (VFA-81) walk to greet friends and family members after arriving on the tarmac during a homecoming at NAS Oceana on June 15, 2011. The “Sunliners,� part of Carrier Air Wing Seventeen (CVW-17), returned home after a deployment aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) to the United States Fifth and Seventh Fleet areas of responsibility.

Bottom left: An F/A-18 Hornet assigned to the United States Navy flight demonstration squadron, the Blue Angels, is illuminated by fireworks during the NAS Oceana air show.

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UNITED STATES NAVY

In addition, Oceana is landlord to carrier air wing commands (CVWs) One, Three, Seven, and Eight, and their commanders (also called the CAG, an old naval aviation term with its origin in the carrier air groups of the Second World War). The air wings are responsible for all squadrons in an air wing when on board the aircraft carrier or when preparing for an overseas deployment. Beyond the air wings, Oceana’s tenant commands include Fleet Logistics Support Squadron Fifty-Six (VR56) Globemasters, a reserve force transport squadron of the Fleet Logistics Support Wing of the Navy based at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, Texas. The squadron maintains the C-40A Clipper, a unique Navy version of the Boeing Next-Generation 737NG airline transport.

Fleet Area Control and Surveillance Facility Virginia Capes (FACSFAC VACAPES, call sign GIANT KILLER, a military air traffic control designation used within certain regions of the contiguous United States and in this case denoting the controlling authority for this facility), which is responsible for surveillance, management and sea and air traffic control of the Virginia Capes

A young boy awaits the arrival of his father, a Strike Fighter Squadron Thirty-Four (VFA-34) pilot, during a homecoming celebration at NAS Oceana on Dec. 13, 2015. The “Blue Blasters” of VFA-34 were deployed aboard USS George Washington (CVN 73) for nearly four months.

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warning areas for training purposes, as well as surveillance duties in support of homeland defense, is located adjacent to the air station off Oceana Boulevard.

Arguably, Oceana is about more than the air station and the community that occupies and now surrounds it. “Oceana plays a central role in ensuring the effective training and readiness of East Coast naval aircrews for the threat they [and we] face today, and the ones they will face in the future,” Adm. Michael G. Mullen, then Chief of Naval Operations, testified before the BRAC commission regional hearings on Aug. 4, 2005. What Mullen observed of the air station more than a decade ago remains true today. “We know how important it is to our training. We know how important it is to our preparation for warfighting. We know how important it is to be good neighbors, and we will continue to be. Our sailors and their families – and I include my own family on that list – enjoy living in the wonderful communities of the great state of Virginia,” he continued. “Mr. Chairman [Anthony Principi], I need now – your Navy needs now – Naval Air Station Oceana.”

1943 - 2018

P OWER FORWARD, R E AC H B AC K W H AT N A S O C E A N A M E A N S T O AT L A N T I C F L E E T C A R R IE RS

By Eric Tegler

D

id you know that any Atlantic Fleet aircraft carrier (2nd Fleet/4th Fleet) can literally pick up the phone and call Naval Air Station (NAS) Oceana for support – whether for parts, people, or information – at any time of day, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year?

It makes sense, of course. As home to the East Coast contingent of Navy strike fighters, Oceana provides the tactical airpower “punch” for each of the four carrier air wings that make up Naval Air Force Atlantic. What may not be as obvious is that NAS Oceana provides much more than the strike aircraft and pilots that make up an air wing.

It also produces the people needed to maintain those aircraft, the people needed to keep shipboard air wing support systems running, to keep the air wing and carrier informed, and to direct tactical air wing operations. Oceana provides and facilitates the training and training facilities required to produce all of the above.

From the main base to the Dam Neck Annex, Oceana is more than a naval air station around which the resort town of Virginia Beach, Virginia, has grown and thrived. It allows America to project power forward anywhere on the planet and to reach back to support and re-energize that power.

Strike Fighter Wing here, which is the administrative control.

They own the airplanes, parts, and people.”

“As a young deployed junior officer, I didn’t think about Oceana at all other than that my family lived here. As a commanding officer, then you look back at Oceana and say, ‘Hey, I need personnel, I need more ordinance men or engine mechanics or specific parts.’ That’s what makes you reach back here. I may have a jet that has a major maintenance issue and I need a replacement jet and Oceana provides that support.

“If we need new engines while on the carrier, they’ll fly them out of here and deliver them. If I’ve got a problem with my infrared search pod which my technicians on the ship can’t fix, then Oceana will fly a technical representative from the company which provides the pod out to the ship.”

There’s always an even chance that solving an aircraft issue will require support from Oceana. It’s a simple reflection of the fact that 48 percent of the total aircraft in any Atlantic Fleet air wing originate from Oceana, according to Commander Naval Air Force Atlantic Fleet (COMNAVAIRLANT or AIRLANT).

The Aviation Support Detachment (ASD) at NAS Oceana provides material (aircraft parts, systems elements) to aircraft carriers in support of deployed carrier air wings. ASD Oceana consists of 110 active-duty sailors and 11 government civil servants. The detachment is responsible for 24/7 repairable part support for 19 F/A-18 squadrons, including the ordering, receipt, stowage, issue, and tracking of parts through the entire repair cycle within the local Fleet Repair Center. ASD has an inventory of more than 6,000 repairable line items and 10,347 consumable line items that are requisitioned and issued to the squadrons on a daily basis. The inventory is valued at more than $450 million.

The parts needed typically reach an aircraft carrier via a C-2 Greyhound carrier onboard delivery (COD) aircraft. Overseas, detachments from Naval Station Norfolk, Chambers Field-

ADMINISTRATIVE AND TACTICAL CONTROL NAS Oceana Commanding Officer Capt. Chad Vincelette boils the power-forward, reach-back idea down into administrative and tactical control. An F-14 Tomcat and F/A-18 Hornet pilot with more than 3,000 flight hours and 617 carrier arrested landings, Vincelette has experienced Oceana ashore and at sea.

“The way it works is that you have two types of control.

There’s administrative control and tactical control. When you deploy, you’re under the air wing commander. The air wing commanders are here at Oceana. They take the squadrons and employ them tactically and operationally. You also have the

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U.S. NAVY PHOTO BY MASS COMMUNICATION SPECIALIST 3RD CLASS REBEKAH A. WATKIN

based C-2 squadron VRC-40 transfer parts and personnel to deployed carriers. But if a carrier and its air wing are in a distant operational theater, those parts and people often begin their journey by being placed on a C-40A Clipper at Oceana.

The C-40 is a combination passenger transport/freighter based on the Boeing 737-700 airliner. Four C-40s operate from Oceana with Fleet Logistics Support Squadron VR-56. A Naval Reserve squadron, VR-56 executes the Navy unique fleet essential airlift (NUFEA) mission, providing high-priority cargo and passenger airlift for the Atlantic Fleet carriers/air wings and other ships.

Requests for support from ASD typically come from the embarked air wing supply officer, who communicates with NAS Oceana as required. An aircraft carrier’s ship’s company may also have parts/line items needs that ASD can fill. The detachment usually communicates with Supply Department personnel onboard Atlantic Fleet carriers for Repair and Return Material when they are in various Optimized Fleet Response Plan (OFRP) cycles, according to AIRLANT.

F/A-18 Super Hornets, assigned to Carrier Air Wing One (CVW-1), and French Dassault Rafale M fighters fly over the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75). French naval aviators worked up with CVW-1 to keep current, and flew with the wing during Chesapeake 2018.

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As Vincelette explains, specialized support personnel are required by deployed air wings at various times. Some are dispatched from Oceana through the resident Fleet Readiness Center Mid-Atlantic (FRCMA), which maintains a “Sea Op” detachment.

The Sea Op detachment deploys with the carrier and returns to FRCMA when the ship is in port. However, when a carrier is deployed or conducting an exercise or work-up cycle in the local area, FRCMA personnel are transported to and from it via a Chambers Field-based C-2A Greyhound.

The administrative control exercised from Oceana doesn’t stop when a carrier returns to port.

When it returns to home port, the repair work that the embarked Sea Op detachment was undertaking while the carrier was underway still needs to progress. As a result, parts and systems needing further repair are sent back to FRCMA for continued work.

If there is a short turnaround period for the carrier in question, FRCMA holds the material in need of repair and provides the carrier with replacement ready-for-issue material from its own stock.

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U.S. NAVY PHOTO BY MASS COMMUNICATION SPECIALIST 3RD CLASS NATHAN LAIRD U.S. NAVY PHOTO BY LT. WESLEY HOLZAPFEL

Tactical control comes from the air wings headquartered at NAS Oceana.

Four carrier air wings call Oceana home, including Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 1, CVW-3, CVW-7, and CVW-8, each of which is assigned to an East Coast aircraft carrier.

Atlantic Fleet carrier air wing commanders (CAGs) and their staffs embark with the air wing when at sea and are based at Oceana when the air wing is ashore in the United States.

Whether deployed or at home, the air wing operations team exercises tactical control over the strike, C4I, electronic warfare and helicopter sea control squadrons that typically comprise an air wing.

The operations team manages the air wing through the entire strike planning cycle, from air tasking orders that come from the relevant command authority to planning, briefing, mission execution, and post strike/mission assessment.

As important to the fleet as the administrative and tactical control that issue from NAS Oceana are, they couldn’t go forward without the training that the air station provides for those who fly, support, and fight from deployed carriers.

A PLACE TO BOUNCE: NALF FENTRESS Every fixed-wing carrier pilot, whether at the controls of an F/A-18 Super Hornet, F-35C Lightning, E-2D Hawkeye, or C-2 Greyhound, must be qualified to launch from, land on, and

Above: A C-2A Greyhound assigned to the “Rawhides” of Fleet Logistics Support Squadron Four Zero (VRC-40) makes an arrested landing aboard USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71). Right: Naval Air Crewman Mechanical 3rd Class Devin Derocher, assigned to the “Globemasters” of Fleet Logistics Support Squadron (VR) 56, signals to a C-40A Clipper during a run-up aboard NAS Oceana in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Fleet Logistics Support Wing was established to operate Navy unique fleet-essential airlift aircraft on a worldwide basis. Its mission provides responsive, flexible, and rapid deployable air logistics support and represents 100 percent of the Navy’s intra-theater air logistics capability.

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fly around the ship. The only way for a pilot to attain and refresh the skills needed to do all of the above is to practice, practice, practice.

While great leaps have been made in the art of aircraft simulators, nothing can replace flight time in a real airplane, whether flying around an aircraft carrier or flying field carrier landing practice (FCLP) at a facility like Naval Auxiliary Landing Field (NALF) Fentress, where pilots practice touch-and-go carrier approaches ashore, an evolution referred to as “bouncing.”

NALF Fentress isn’t physically part of Oceana. It’s actually located about seven miles southwest of the air station. Despite the separation, Fentress is under the operational control of NAS Oceana, specifically under the aegis of NAS Oceana Air Operations (AirBoss) CO Cmdr. Ed “Stalker” Chandler.

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U.S. NAVY PHOTO BY MASS COMMUNICATION SPECIALIST 2ND CLASS DAVID MORA JR.

Established in 1940, NALF Fentress is designed to simulate an aircraft carrier flight deck. The airfield takes up about 2,560 acres, and an additional 8,780 acres in restrictive easements surround it. Its modern-day role is obvious, with an 8,000-foot runway suitable for modern tactical jet/turboprop aircraft. But if you visit or fly over NALF Fentress, its historical roots are in evidence as well.

“Fentress originally had four smaller runways for propeller-driven aircraft from the World War II era,” Chandler said. “You can see them on Google Earth. We still use parts of the old airfield for helicopter training, etc. There are no hangars, but we do have one main building that supports our crash crew personnel (fire trucks, etc.), a small observation tower, and a couple of smaller support buildings that we use for a gym and equipment storage.

“On our primary runway, we have a ‘carrier box’ painted at both ends, with lighting, to simulate the exact dimensions of an aircraft carrier, but the whole runway is properly lighted, painted, and signed to support normal runway operations if needed.”

Training and refreshing carrier pilots to fly the arrival pattern around a ship, to get the feel of making carrier landing approaches, and to practice making the flight control inputs necessary to do so safely is the sole focus of the staff and crews at Fentress.

Modern naval aviation offers pilots a greater number of automated systems to manage weapons and even land on an aircraft carrier than ever. The new MAGIC CARPET (Maritime Augmented Guidance with Integrated Controls for Carrier Approach and Recovery Precision Enabling Technologies) is a prime example. But you won’t find that level of automation at NALF Fentress. Though a traditional Fresnel lens glideslope/line-up landing aid is present, MAGIC CARPET isn’t.

“While we do consider Fentress a possible location to put these newer systems,” Chandler said, “the real purpose is to practice the visual landing pattern necessary to get back aboard the boat without those things.

It may seem counterintuitive, especially given the ever-increasing progress of instrumentation, navaids, and landing systems, but making sure a pilot can still land using nothing but visual cues is a critical operational capability. As potential adversaries find new ways to target the fleet at sea, we must be able to launch and recover jets rapidly and efficiently without giving away our position through excessive electromagnetic emissions.”

Developing the skill to land visually without sophisticated aids includes being able to do so when there isn’t much visibility. The Atlantic Fleet carriers on which the air wings of NAS Oceana embark don’t stop operating in bad weather or at night. Accordingly, Fentress is available for fleet training 24/7, Chandler said.

“The best training happens at night, where we can remove all visual cues except the carrier box. We tend to see usage shift later during the summer months than in the winter. We only close when the fleet doesn’t need us, typically only once or twice a year coincident with a holiday like the 4th of July. Of course, that all depends on [carrier] deployment and work-up cycles, Fleet Replacement Squadron (FRS) cycles, and more.

“Our job is to provide a resource to get squadrons ready for deployed operations. While we’d like to avoid inconveniencing the public as much as possible, it’s for them that we sometimes have to work very late hours when we’d rather be home with our families,” he said.

Naval aviators assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 213 walk through the flight line to reunite with their families. NAS Oceana is home to Strike Fighter Wing Atlantic, hosting more than 300 aircraft.

The late and stormy hours don’t go without appropriate safety support. All flight operations at Fentress are conducted with manned on-station crash crews. The facility also has standing agreements with civilian medevac helos, both for FCLP support and for the use of Fentress as a local landing zone for civilian medevac operations.

“We are members of the Virginia Beach and Chesapeake communities too, so we do our best to make sure we are ready to help where we’re allowed and capable,” Chandler said.

Super Hornets from NAS Oceana are not the only NALF users. Fentress is the premier auxiliary landing field for the East Coast. Every regionally based squadron works up for deployment using Fentress, as well as any West Coast

units that will be using an East Coast carrier for qualifications or deployment.

“Most of the traffic comes from Oceana and Norfolk [Chambers Field, E-2 Hawkeyes/C-2 Greyhounds], but if you’re going to a carrier in the Atlantic, the odds are very good you’ll be bouncing at Fentress,” Chandler said.

Strike Fighter Wing Atlantic handles scheduling for NALF Fentress, as it does for Oceana. Balancing the training requirements of units headed to East Coast aircraft carriers is a constant challenge, but occasionally a novel scheduling requirement pops up. That was the case in April 2018, when a French navy squadron integrated with CVW-8 for carrier operations on the USS George H.W. Bush. The historic

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exercise, called Chesapeake 2018, required FCLP training for French carrier pilots in their Dassault Rafale fighters.

Like their American counterparts, they made the short hop from Oceana down to Fentress.

“The French and the U.S. navies operate almost identically around the boat,” Chandler said, “so it wasn’t a surprise to us here that the Rafales jumped right into the pattern at Fentress with ease, albeit with a little explanation of the ‘pork chop’ pattern and noise abatement rules.

“Our crews did enjoy seeing them there, and I think the French enjoyed our ability to provide a focused practice field to get them ready for the ship. We also hosted some of their controllers here at Oceana to assist with any emergency or airborne issues that came up. They were great to host and I’d be happy to work with them here at Air Ops again in the future.”

The amount of FCLP training a new or veteran pilot may undertake at Fentress varies. Different aircraft like the Super Hornet or Hawkeye are more or less difficult to land on a carrier deck. In general though, it comes down to the individual pilot and the landing signal officer (LSO) who guides his/her approach, according to Chandler.

“It’s the LSOs who recommend to the CO if a pilot needs more passes before going to the ship. A department head with hundreds of traps may only need two or three nights at Fentress before being refreshed enough to head to the boat, while a nugget – fresh from the FRS – may spend every night at Fentress for a week or more. We can usually get six to eight passes per period at Fentress.”

An F/A-18F Super Hornet performs the first touch-and-go landing during a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Naval Auxiliary Landing Field Fentress. Fentress re-opened after a repair project to lay down a new runway and perform numerous electrical and lighting upgrades.

Given the intensity of FCLP training, we asked Chandler: Does every carrier pilot remember their outings at Fentress?

“Yes! And remember, that includes West Coast-based squadrons that deploy to the Atlantic. We see EA-18G Growlers from NAS Whidbey Island [Washington] and Hornets/ Supers from NAS Lemoore [California] all the time as well.”

There is one thing that almost nobody remembers: the origin of the name Fentress. Far from being named for a naval hero, NALF Fentress is simply a reference to the Fentress family, who in the early 1800s owned and worked the land on which the facility now sits.

The new executive officer (XO) of the Chambers Fieldbased VAW-121 E-2D Hawkeye squadron probably does know that. He’s a Norfolk, Virginia, native who took his post as XO with the Bluetails in May 2018. His name is Cmdr. Martin N. Fentress, Jr., and the odds are very good that Fentress has bounced at the NALF that bears his surname.

THE SCHOOL HOUSE: TRAINING SUPPORT CENTER HAMPTON ROADS A little more than two miles south of the air station lies Dam Neck, an area rich in naval and colonial history stretching

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back to the 1630s. It is the present-day site of NAS Oceana Dam Neck Annex, which is home to a number of tenant commands that fall under the administrative control of Oceana. Training Support Center Hampton Roads (TSCHR) is one of the most important.

Established in 2004, TSCHR is a training support organization. It provides administrative support, organizational resources, and housing for naval enlisted and officer personnel undergoing training at more than 30 learning centers and sites across the Hampton Roads region. Vital operational skills in areas ranging from surface warfare, intelligence, and cyber competencies to aviation technical training and logistics are taught and learned. Each specialty plays a role in the operation and success of the East Coast carrier fleet.

TSCHR directly operates five regional support offices in Hampton Roads located at Naval Air Station Oceana-Dam Neck Annex, JEB Little CreekFort Story, Naval Support Activity (NSA) Northwest Annex, and Naval Station Norfolk. The Norfolk office also operates three satellite service centers located at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Saint Julien’s Creek Portsmouth, and NSA Norfolk.

Marc Behnke, Joint Tactical Terminal instructor, explains the Aegis Ashore Team Trainer Instructor Operations Stations to guests at the Aegis Ashore Team Trainer Facility ribbon-cutting ceremony at Gallery Hall at Dam Neck Annex. The facility houses a mock-up of the combat information center being built at the first host-nation site in Romania, providing sailors and teams the opportunity to work with the system and to certify for operations before deployment.

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The Training Support Center is responsible for an average of 3,200 students per day or approximately 75,000 per year across Hampton Roads’ various bases. They attend specialty schools including the Center for Surface Combat Systems (CSCS), Submarine Learning Center (SLC), Center for Service Support (CSS), Surface Warfare Officers School (SWOS), Center for Information Warfare Training (CIWT), Center for Security Forces (CFS), and Center for Naval Aviation Technical Training (CNATT) in addition to other training activities.

Two barracks at Dam Neck Annex house students who attend the various schools.

Centralized student management, course quota management, facility management, IT support, and test facility connectivity are all facilitated by TSCHR. You could call it the ultimate reach-back resource, since it oversees the educational components necessary to fill the active-duty workforce skills required by the Atlantic Fleet. Without TSCHR and the numerous other tenant commands at NAS Oceana, there would be no power forward.

1943 - 2018

I N T E RV I EW C A P T. C H A D V IN C E L E T T E C OMM A NDING OF F IC E R , N AVA L A IR S TAT ION O C E A N A

By Eric Tegler

C

apt. Chad P. Vincelette assumed command of NAS Oceana on March 9, 2018, becoming the naval air station’s 45th commanding officer. We spoke with him at his office on Tomcat Boulevard on the southeastern corner of the base as F/A-18 Hornets and Super Hornets launched and recovered on nearby runway 14L/32R. Vincelette is a Virginia Beach native whose connections to the air station go well beyond those of most base commanders. His father served as an A-6 Intruder pilot at NAS Oceana. In March 2018, he told The Virginian-Pilot, “On and off for the last 46 years, between my father and me, there’s been a Vincelette flying out of here.”

Oceana’s new commanding officer graduated from the University of Virginia in 1993 with a Bachelor of Science degree in aerospace engineering. He was commissioned through the Navy Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program and earned his designation as a naval aviator in June 1996.

Vincelette goes by the call sign “Vinny.” He began his operational flying career in the F-14 Tomcat. His operational assignments include tours with the Diamondbacks of VF-102; a temporary assignment to the Black Knights of VF-154, where he deployed for the commencement of Operation Iraqi Freedom, flying as a forward air controller; and two tours with the Swordsmen of VFA-32, serving as a department head and subsequently executive officer and commanding officer.

While flying with VF-154 in 2003 during Operation Iraqi Freedom, Vincelette and his radio intercept officer were forced to eject over the Iraqi desert after their Tomcat malfunctioned coming off a bombing run. When his parachute opened at 13,000 feet, the lines were crossed and Vincelette made a hard landing. Vincelette and his back-seater were rescued by Air Force special operators.

His shore assignments include instructor duty at Strike Fighter Weapons School Atlantic (SFWSL) after attending the U.S. Navy Fighter Weapons School (TOPGUN); flag aide to Commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command; action officer at NATO Headquarters, Supreme Allied Commander, Transformation (SACT); power projection branch head in the Assessments Division on the OPNAV staff; and aviation requirements officer at U.S. Fleet Forces Command.

Capt. Chad Vincelette, commanding officer, Naval Air Station Oceana.

Vincelette has accumulated more than 3,000 flight hours and 617 carrier arrested landings. His personal awards include two Legion of Merit Medals, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, two Meritorious Service Medals, Individual Air Medal with Combat “V,” six Strike Flight Air Medals, and Joint Commendation Medal, two Navy Commendation Medals, and various service and campaign medals.

An avid cyclist and surfer, Vincelette has two children and is married to another Virginia Beach native, his wife, Elizabeth.

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You’re the base commander, but you’ve also been a junior officer (JO) at Oceana, in effect representing the naval air station in both roles. (Vincelette reported to Oceana as a pilot for initial F-14 training in 1996.) As a JO, were you conscious of the ancillary role you played as a figurative representative of Oceana? Do you think today’s JOs recognize that?

As a JO, the leadership will pull you in and talk to you, tell you that “Hey, you represent the Navy,” whether you’re in uniform or not. Out in town it’s pretty easy to tell. You can say, “He’s in the Navy, she’s in the Navy.” I don’t know if it’s the way people carry themselves, but there’s the haircut obviously. So, you’re aware of it.

I’ll tell you, though, that as a junior officer I couldn’t have told you who the commanding officer of the base was, and I really had no idea of what support the base provided to the community and the squadrons. As a junior officer you’re so focused on getting your qualifications, understanding the airplane, and studying tactics that you take the base for granted.

You come though the gate every day and you have power, you have security, you have air conditioning, and the simulator building is working. There are hangars and runways and all the instrumentation for radar approaches, and you just take all that for granted.

When you get command of a squadron or you’re an executive officer [XO], you call the [base] leadership to get things fixed, but you’re really just a customer. I still didn’t really appreciate what the base did until I came here as [Oceana] XO. That opens your eyes to – holy cow – the things that need to be run here.

Eric Tegler: You’re a Virginia Beach native with a lifetime association with NAS Oceana. What’s your first memory of the air station?

Capt. Chad Vincelette: My dad was an A-6 Intruder pilot here starting in 1972. I was 2 years old. So my first real memory of Oceana is probably him coming home from his first deployment – being there on the flight line with my little brother and my mom. It was amazing.

As a naval officer, you’ve also spent a significant amount of time away from Virginia Beach. How do the changes you’ve witnessed in Virginia Beach/Norfolk and the region compare with changes at Oceana? Has the air station remained more or less a constant?

When I was a kid, we would go to the beach at Dam Neck or drive out to Oceana, and it was really kind of out in the country in the 1970s. As the building boom happened here in Virginia Beach in the early ’80s, you really saw the neighborhoods begin to pop up around here. Virginia Beach itself has changed quite a bit, with the number of hotels that are there and the size of the hotels. The tourist industry has really expanded a lot, too.

At Oceana, the infrastructure is pretty much the same. The biggest difference I would say is the airplanes we’re flying.

When I was a kid, and even when I graduated from college, there were still A-6s on the base. We had F-14 [Tomcats] here.

As I got my wings and came here, the F/A-18 started showing up, though we still had a lot of F-14s.

Now it’s completely a Hornet and Super Hornet base. We have four F/A-18C squadrons, but they’ll be transitioning in the next couple years to Super Hornets. We have one aggressor squadron – VFC-12 – that’s flying F/A-18Cs, and we have four C-40A Clippers [the Navy variant of the Boeing 737].

We don’t have helicopters anymore. We had our own search and rescue helicopter detachment and we had a C-9 [Skytrain] detachment. Now [the Coast Guard] at Elizabeth City covers our search and rescue requirements. It makes sense, because all of our training ranges are really off Cape Hatteras. A helicopter can get out there much faster from Elizabeth City.

There’s also access. Even when I was a junior officer, the sign at the [security] gate said, “Proceed unless otherwise directed.” You just drove on and the flight line was really where the security was. Oceana didn’t even have a fence around until after 9/11.

An organization called the Neptune Festival, which includes local nonprofit leaders, brings groups of kids out for tours of Oceana. Every time, I ask them – there’s probably 15 kids in a group – “How many of you have been on Oceana before?” Very few raise their hands. I give them a tour of the base, we take them up in the control tower, show them the facilities, and they’re just amazed. They had no idea. There’s just a fence and the jets fly overhead.

When you interact with the greater community, are there people now in roles of local responsibility with whom you grew up or had a previous affiliation?

There are. The deputy fire chief for Virginia Beach and I graduated in the same class at Kempsville High School. The emergency manager for Virginia Beach went to Kempsville, and she knows my brother as well. There are lots of connections, including with the school system.

We’ve always had a good relationship with the schools, but we’ve started a science, technology, engineering, and math [STEM] program with them. We activate it at our [annual] air show. On the Friday of the air show, we bring every fifth-grader in Virginia Beach to the base – that’s 5,000 kids.

This is the third year we’re doing it. Just the planning and logistics that have gone into it have fused our relationship with the school system.

In Chesapeake, we’re targeting the Title 1 schools so that kids who are less fortunate can come out to the air show. To bring those kids on the base and expose them to what’s here can help them realize that there are opportunities out there.

The head of schools security and safety was the basketball coach at my high school, so I already knew him. The

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“The vast majority of people are very supportive of what we do.

They understand the mission.

That’s the critical piece. A lot of people don’t realize that when they see American aircraft flying missions in Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq on the news that the airplanes and aircrews that fly out of here are the ones who are doing that.”

relationship that we built with him and with the Virginia Beach [City Public] Schools superintendent has resulted in the school system asking Oceana to participate in their Blue Ribbon Panel on [School] Safety and Security. Virginia schools are safe, but they want to make them even better. They wanted an outside perspective, because we have some safety and security experts here at Oceana. This partnership between the military, the city, and the school system – I don’t know that that has happened anywhere else.

What has the general perception of Oceana as an institution in the area been in your experience? Air bases always have their tensions and ties with local communities. Noise has been an issue in the past here, as it has in so many other places. Traffic has likewise long been an issue in the greater Norfolk area.

The relationship that we have with the city is fantastic, both with Virginia Beach and Chesapeake. The support that we get from both of them is fantastic. I think the BRAC [Base Realignment and Closure] deliberations in 2005 had a big impact on that. I think there was always a good relationship, but when the community realized what an economic impact Oceana has in the local area and realized what the loss of Oceana might do, the partnership flourished. Almost anything we ask for in terms of support we get.

There will always be people who complain about the noise.

That’s the biggest thing outside the fence line that we deal with. We try and do a lot of public outreach, and the city does a fantastic job of purchasing what we call “incompatible-use properties.” Between the state and the city, they’ve spent $130 million over the last 15 years buying properties that were in our high-noise zones from willing sellers.

We don’t really have major traffic problems here at Oceana.

The two gates are open all the time. At the most, you’re waiting five to 10 minutes, if that.

The vast majority of people are very supportive of what we do. They understand the mission. That’s the critical piece. A lot of people don’t realize that when they see American aircraft flying missions in Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq on the news that the airplanes and aircrews that fly out of here are the ones who are doing that. As we bring people in on tours and to the air show, we talk about those things. It can change their perspective.

and 350 French sailors came to the base for integration within a carrier air wing and operations aboard the USS George H.W. Bush as part of an exercise called the “Chesapeake deployment.” Did the deployment and Oceana figure in the French media? How’d the exercise go?

Yes, there was definitely French media here. All the feedback we got from the French sailors who came was that they loved it here. Some of them stayed at Oceana, but a lot of them were out in town. I’d see their officers at the golf course eating breakfast, over at the galley, or at the food court at the [base] exchange.

I’d always ask how they were doing. Of course, they’re going to tell the skipper everything’s great because we’re the host nation. But if you want the truth, ask the sailors and they’ll tell you. And they did. They loved it.

They brought in 12 Dassault Rafales [fighters flown by the French navy] and went out on the Bush for their carrier qualifications working with Carrier Air Wing Eight. We provided infrastructure and support. They got a lot of value out of it, and I think we did too.

As we said, it’s a complete F/A-18 base now, so when we go out and fly tactics or do air combat maneuvering, the best case is you’re fighting VFC-12 [the aggressor squadron that flies F/A-18Cs], which is painted differently than you are, but you still have the same performance characteristics. So to go out and train against an airplane [the Rafale] that looks completely different and performs differently is a golden opportunity.

So I think there was a lot of benefit to both sides.

While we’re talking perception, how is Oceana regarded in the fleet? If you’re an aviator, you know/know of it, but how about the broader Navy?

Everybody loves Oceana and everyone loves to work here.

To me, it’s the premier air station in the world.

The Navy League works to promote issues important to the American naval community and to the United States in general. I’d guess that as a base commanding officer (CO), having a partner in communicating and advancing

I imagine the French public may now know of Oceana in a passing way. Back in April, a French Rafale squadron

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Cmdr. Marc Bourdilleau, French Marine Nationale, addresses media during a press conference at Naval Air Station (NAS) Oceana on April 25, 2018. The French navy was in Norfolk conducting training with the U.S. Navy at NAS Oceana, Naval Auxiliary Landing Field (NALF) Fentress, and Naval Station Norfolk.

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We do an ombudsman dinner with the Navy League. They support an ombudsman, a critical piece of our family support network when we’re deployed. By recognizing the ombudsman and thanking them for what they do, they reinforce a pillar of our support.

Obviously, you have a raft of responsibilities as skipper at NAS Oceana. Does any one stand out as the most enjoyable/important?

My first priority as base commander is operational readiness. I have to support the fleet, make sure the simulators work, the runways function, all those kinds of things so that the naval forces that are here can go out and train.

The second piece of that, the one I really take to heart, is sailor quality of life.

I feel that my job as CO is to make sure that sailors have barracks that are not only livable but a place you want to live. My direction to my barracks director has been that if you wouldn’t put your own kids in that room, then we’re going to close it until it’s fixed.

How’s the galley? Is the food good? Are they getting the nutrition they need? How’s their workspace? When they get over to the hangar, how does that look? Is it a productive environment? Some of that is difficult because of the

U.S. NAVY PHOTO BY MASS COMMUNICATION SPECIALIST 2ND CLASS MICHAEL B. ZINGARO

naval issues is more important to you than ever.

The Navy League is fantastic. We communicate to the public through lots of events.

They’ll host a lunch or a symposium and I always attend, not only to support the Navy League but also to meet and talk to the contacts in the community which they bring in.

It’s important to build understanding through those relationships. I have a great relationship with the Navy League and the business leadership they work with.

Whenever I talk with business leaders, I ask if they can help us by hiring veterans. What can we do with our skilled workforce and those who come out of it for them? They’re well trained, motivated, and disciplined. So are their spouses. As military families move every three years, it can be hard for spouses to find stable and meaningful work, whether it’s the Navy member’s husband who’s looking for a job or the wife who is looking. The Navy League provides the conduit for me to do that.

The 75th anniversary event is important, and I don’t have the capability or capacity to host a gala, [or] a symposium, but the Navy League does. That’s huge support to Oceana, and I’m grateful for that. There are lots of other fund-raising events.

Yes it is. Oceana itself is pretty basic. We’ve got runways and hangars and training facilities. We have deep maintenance facilities, and we have training for the young kids who work on the airplanes.

But if you go over to the Dam Neck Annex [formally, the Training Support Center Hampton Roads, attached to NAS Oceana], there are a lot of other things. The big one is that we have 20,000 students a year going through there. It’s almost like a college campus. People don’t even recognize that. I’ve got what we call barracks, but they’re dorm rooms. We have a galley, but it’s really a dining hall. We have classrooms, all named after famous Navy personnel. Whether we’re putting kids through the intelligence school, the fire support school, or other programs, it’s a college.

Another critical piece of the success of Oceana is the civilian workforce that is here. I actually have more civilians under my command than I do military. I have about 700 military personnel and about 1,100 civilians. They’re the continuity and the glue that keeps the whole thing together. They have the historical knowledge of what’s happening here.

funding environment that the base has been in for the last 10 years. There are a lot of things that need to be fixed, but I’m pushing hard for that sailor quality of life.

I’ve taken that on as my personal goal in my time here as the CO. Some of those things may not happen during my tenure. But if I can set them in motion – military construction like a new barracks can be four or five years down the road – and give people some visibility on the things we’re going to do, that feeds directly into sailor quality of life and that feeds into operational readiness. If they’re not getting a good night’s sleep, not getting a good meal, or their workspace is less than ideal, then what’s their attitude going to be like?

What will their capability be to support those strike fighters that are flying out there?

Oceana is one of four Navy bases that does the fleet-up model, wherein you serve as executive officer first before becoming CO. I think that helps overall continuity. I don’t make decisions in a vacuum and then a new guy comes in and asks, “Why was this decision made?” You have the XO there with you, and you’re making those decisions together.

On the other side of the coin, there are obligations that are not pleasant. VFA-213 recently returned to Oceana following a detachment in Key West, wherein it lost an F/A-18 aircrew on a training mission. How do you support the squadron and air wing, and how do you communicate the loss and its meaning to the broader Virginia Beach community?

I own the infrastructure, but Strike Fighter Wing Atlantic owns all the airplanes. Commander Naval Air Force Atlantic provides information and messaging when things like this happen. But I am really the conduit for the base and any questions about what occurred.

Years ago, when a jet crashed into Mayfair Mews – [a Virginia Beach apartment complex into which an F/A-18 crashed shortly after takeoff in 2012, no fatalities resulted] – it wasn’t the air wing commander out in front of the news media; it was the CO of Oceana. We had a fuel spill a year-and-a-half ago, and although that was a tenant on the base that we do not directly control, it was the “Oceana fuel spill” – it was the CO of the base who was on the news.

I don’t actually have authority over some of the things that go on, but in the public’s eye, I do – if it happens at Oceana, it’s me.

We do as much outreach as we can with these kinds of things, outside the base and within.

The Navy stood up its first operational F-35C squadron at NAS Lemoore recently. Does NAS Oceana figure into plans to host the F-35C any time soon?

The Navy hasn’t made a decision on East Coast basing of the F-35. The first part of that process would be an environmental impact study of all the basing alternatives, but we haven’t had that yet. For the foreseeable future we’re a Super Hornet base.

From the time you release the brakes for takeoff to the northeast or southwest in a Super Hornet at Oceana, how many seconds go by before you can see the Atlantic?

A minute. It’s about 3 miles to the shore, and we’re doing about 300 miles an hour, so it doesn’t take very long.

An Air Force major, Paul “Loco” Lopez, just joined the F-22 Raptor demonstration team at Langley Air Force Base. He told the local newspaper that as a kid, “When you’re at the mall, Lynnhaven Mall or Virginia Beach, you see the jets flying over for their approaches into Oceana. That kind of instilled a passion within me. ...”

Did you have a similar experience?

The biggest things for me were just growing up around Oceana and seeing the jets fly all the time. I loved that, but I also saw the camaraderie that my father had with all the guys in his squadrons, the things they would do together, the squadron parties we would have with the families, and the team they built. It wasn’t only the cool factor of flying the jets. It was also the bonds they built. I thought, “That’s a fraternity that I would love to be part of.”

NAS Oceana has the expected trappings of a naval air station, from hangars to base housing. What’s here that people might not expect? For example, the station is home to a newly operational 21-megawatt DC solar facility, isn’t it?

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1943 - 2018

“B ROAD AN D FARS I G H T E D PAT R I OT I S M” THE NAV Y LE AGUE OF THE UNITED STATES

By Craig Collins

T

hursday, Aug. 16, 2018 – a date selected to commemorate Naval Air Station (NAS) Oceana’s designation, 75 years ago, as a Naval Auxiliary Landing Field – is a day packed with events celebrating not only the men and women who have served and continue to serve at NAS Oceana, but also the deep and cordial relationship between Oceana and the surrounding communities of Virginia Beach and Chesapeake.

The day begins with the Naval Air Symposium, free of charge and open to the public, featuring insights from Navy leaders about the future of naval aviation and the U.S. carrier fleet – as well as speakers who highlight the challenges and economic benefits local communities might associate with naval installations. The symposium is hosted by the Navy League of Hampton Roads, one of the more than 220 chapters or “councils” of the Navy League of the United States, the nonprofit civilian service organization dedicated to supporting the sea services: the Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and U.S.-flagged Merchant Marine.

It may be difficult for outsiders to imagine that anyone in the Hampton Roads region would need to be educated about what happens at NAS Oceana, or about how these happenings affect the people around the base. The area is home to the largest naval base in the world, Naval Station Norfolk, and the only NATO command on U.S. soil. Department of Defense (DOD) spending accounts for more than 45 percent of the region’s economic activity. The total DOD population in the region, including active-duty and civilian personnel, is about 150,000, with another 40,000 civilians employed in the defense industry.

According to Maryellen Baldwin, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Navy League of Hampton Roads, summers at Virginia Beach see throngs of people, locals and tourists alike, parked near the Oceana runways, taking videos

or photos of the jets coming and going – but there’s a lot these people don’t know. “I think it’s important for civilians to know how vital the base is to national security,” she said. “Those jets are flying out to U.S. Navy aircraft carriers.” And today’s Navy is built around aircraft carriers.

Before World War II, the giant guns of the Navy’s battleships were known as the fleet’s “main battery.” The rest of the fleet essentially existed to support them. But during World War II, aircraft carriers supplanted them as the U.S. Navy’s capital ships. The age of the battleship was over, and the age of the aircraft carrier as the core of the fleet had begun. As impressive as aircraft carriers are in themselves, however – nuclear powered, with unlimited range, and the largest warships in the world, at more than 1,000 feet long and displacing more than 100,000 tons – they are essentially mobile, seaborne platforms built to project power through their aircraft. NAS Oceana is one of only three master jet bases – a permanent home to carrier-based tactical jets, with landing fields positioned for use in field carrier landing practice – in the United States, and the only one on the East Coast. Today, the U.S. Navy Atlantic Fleet’s main battery is supplied by NAS Oceana.

But NAS Oceana was in danger of disappearing entirely in 2005, when the federal Base Closure and Realignment Commission (BRAC) proposed moving Oceana’s jets to Florida. A main focus for the Navy League of Hampton Roads has been to make clear what such a loss might mean. “Part of what the Navy League does,” said Jim Monroe, the retired Navy force master chief petty officer (FORCM) who now serves as Chairman of the Navy League of Hampton Roads, “is to try to help educate the public about the value of the military sea service, not only to the community, but to the nation as a whole.” While the Virginia Beach community is immensely supportive of NAS Oceana as a whole, there are always those

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U.S. NAVY PHOTO BY MASS COMMUNICATION SPECIALIST 2ND CLASS ANDREW J. SNEERINGER

who grumble about jet noise, or about zoning restrictions around the airfield. “In opening the doors and inviting people to learn about Oceana,” Monroe said, “we’re hoping that when they hear that jet noise, they recognize it’s the sound of freedom.”

The message of the Naval Air Symposium is clear, said Baldwin: “We’d like you to come in, see the bigger picture, and understand what NAS Oceana is all about, because if it went away, or diminished in any capacity, this area would never be the same.”

AN ADVOCATE FOR THE SEA SERVICES In educating the public and advocating for the sea services, the Navy League of Hampton Roads is fulfilling goals outlined in 1902, when the Navy League of the United States was founded at the urging of President Theodore Roosevelt. Just a few years earlier, Roosevelt and his Rough Riders had played a decisive role in winning the Spanish-American War and expanding the United States into a maritime power, with

Sailors man the rails of the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) during its commissioning ceremony at Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia. Ford was the lead ship of the Ford-class aircraft carriers, and the first new U.S. aircraft carrier designed in 40 years. Navy League Hampton Roads, with its associated commissioning committee, raised $6.5 million for the commissioning.

territorial possessions as far away as Guam. “For building and maintaining in proper shape the American Navy,” said Roosevelt, “we must rely upon nothing but the broad and farsighted patriotism of our people as a whole.”

Roosevelt correctly identified the United States as a maritime nation, dependent upon the safety and security of the global maritime commons both for its economic health as well as its defense. The interconnectedness of the world today demands a Navy that is deployed to the four corners of the Earth to protect and ensure the safety and efficiency of trade on that maritime commons, not only for America but for its friends and partners.

At the national level, the Navy League administers and supports a variety of outreach and educational activities, from its annual Sea-Air-Space Symposium, the largest maritime exposition in the United States, to its official publication Seapower, to inform legislators and the American public about the activities, needs, and accomplishments of the sea services.

The Navy League also lends a powerful collective voice to advocate in support of the sea services, often authoring public statements or editorials placed in general-interest and defense-related publications. In March 2017, when the White House’s budget proposal included a $1.3 billion cut

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to the budget of the U.S. Coast Guard, the organization took the lead in a nationwide effort to educate legislators and the public about the vital, and often overlooked, work performed by the Coast Guard, and the damage that could result from the cuts.

The small band of citizens who formed the Navy League in 1902 has grown into a global network of more than 50,000 volunteers. The Navy League is the only civilian service organization positioned to make a significant difference in the lives of American sea service members and their families, providing them support through a range of programs and initiatives. Many Navy League activities, however, such as the Naval Air Symposium, are aimed at educating the public and national leaders about the importance of the sea services to the national defense and to the freedom and economic prosperity of Americans.

Certainly one of the Navy League’s highest-profile activities in both educating the public about the importance of the sea services and in supporting the U.S. Navy and its personnel is through its sponsoring of ship commissionings. It is a measure of the Navy League Hampton Roads Council’s dedication to the sea services for more than 50 years that it supported its 25th commissioning, of the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), in ceremonies at Naval Station Norfolk. The Navy League’s contribution to a commissioning begins long before the ship is even launched: Local councils, sea-service leaders, shipbuilders, and other contractors work together to create an event to celebrate the entry of another ship into the fleet.

Ship commissionings are, in fact, dual-purpose events for the Navy League. They’re a chance to teach the public about the importance and imposing presence of naval hardware and personnel, but they also give the organization an opportunity to provide direct support to service members, and to improve the conditions under which they live and work. Rules and statutes limit the extent to which the sea services can

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A bronze statue honoring President Gerald R. Ford is unveiled aboard Pre-Commissioning Unit Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) during a ceremony in the ship’s hangar bay. Ship’s sponsor Susan Ford Bales, sculptor J. Brett Grill, and representatives of Huntington Ingalls Industries Newport News Shipbuilding attended the event.

participate in the outfitting and commissioning of new vessels, so the Navy League takes the lead, raising private contributions to fund the events surrounding the commissioning ceremony as well as the commissioning itself.

Navy League Hampton Roads and the associated commissioning committee raised some $6.5 million for the commissioning of the USS Gerald R. Ford, for example. These donations not only paid for commissioning events but also shipboard enhancements that help make a ship more comfortable for service members. These improvements have included the purchase of computers and software, gym equipment, library materials, and, aboard the Gerald R. Ford, a “Tribute Room” honoring President Gerald R. Ford’s life of service. Tribute Rooms, featured on aircraft carriers, allow sailors and visitors to learn about and reflect on the individual for whom the ship is named.

U.S. NAVY PHOTO BY MASS COMMUNICATION SPECIALIST 3RD CLASS JOSHUA M. TOLBERT

Perhaps more importantly, big events like ship commissionings, air shows, or symposia allow the public to see, up close and personal, what their tax dollars pay for, and to meet the men and women who form the core of the sea services.

“We are dedicated to giving a ship’s crew the pomp and circumstance they deserve to experience in a ship commissioning,” Baldwin said.

“But it’s also an opportunity to educate people about the sea services. People come from across the nation to attend these events, and seeing a 100,000-ton carrier from pierside, or touring it after the ceremony, they not only experience the excitement and witness the naval traditions of bringing a ship to life, they learn about the need to continue building these ships, why the nation needs a stronger maritime defense, and meet some of the extraordinary people who serve aboard them. These people vote, and they take this knowledge and experience home with them.”

One of the Navy League’s primary objectives is to improve the understanding and appreciation of those who wear the uniforms of our sea services, and to better the conditions under which they live and serve – and this commitment extends to the families of service members. The Hampton Roads Council donated $125,000 of the Gerald R. Ford’s commissioning proceeds to endow a scholarship. The scholarship is administered by the Wings Over America Scholarship Fund. At the

Sailors render a salute during the commissioning ceremony for the Virginia-class submarine USS Washington (SSN 787) at Naval Station Norfolk. Washington was the U.S. Navy’s 14th Virginia-class attack submarine and the fourth U.S. Navy ship named for the state of Washington.

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national and regional levels, the Navy League also supports youth programs such as the Naval Sea Cadet Corps; Young Marines; science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education; Navy Junior ROTC, and Marine Corps Junior ROTC. The Navy League of Hampton Roads collaborates with the Navy on a key program for military spouses, the Continuum of Resource Education (CORE) program, which helps spouses meet the unique challenges of a military lifestyle through seminars, workshops, classes, and guest speakers dedicated to empowering and educating the Navy family. In collaboration with Naval Support Activity Hampton Roads, the council also hosts an annual Ombudsman Appreciation Dinner in Virginia Beach, an event that can draw as many as 800 attendees, including ombudsmen, commanding and executive officers, command master chiefs, flag officers, and other senior leaders.

Launched in 1970, the Navy Ombudsman Program establishes a direct line of communication, usually in the form of volunteer spouses, between the commands and the families of active-duty personnel, aimed at ensuring spouses and dependents of active-duty personnel have the resources to meet their needs and improve their quality of life. “Those people are such anchors for the Navy as a whole,” Monroe said. “We’re proud to be a part of that each year.”

The key to their continued success in offering this support, Baldwin added, has been the unflagging support of the local community.

“We couldn’t do it without the support from individuals and businesses, who obviously feel we’re doing the right thing,” she said.

“We’re grateful for their support, and we don’t take it for granted at all.”

Monroe, who has been with the Navy League for several years, is as proud to belong to the service organization as he is to have served in the U.S. Navy; they are both, he said, institutions of great integrity, generosity, and honor.

“You couldn’t ask for a better group of people to work with,” he said. “And they do it for the right reasons. They don’t do it for recognition, or a paycheck. They do it because they want to give back to the people who’ve given our country so much.”

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1943 - 2018

I N T E RV I EW C A P T. K E V IN M c L A U GHL IN , COMMODORE, STRIKE FIGHTER WING ATL ANTIC

By Eric Tegler

U.S. NAVY PHOTO

C

apt. Kevin McLaughlin took the reins as commander, Strike Fighter Wing Atlantic (CSFWL) on Feb. 22, 2018. He previously served as deputy commander CSFWL beginning in late 2016.

A native of Newport Beach, California, McLaughlin enlisted in the Navy in 1989 and completed nuclear power training and served as a nuclear electronics technician before being selected for the Naval Aviation Cadet (NAVCAD) Program in 1991. A graduate of the University of Nevada, he was commissioned and designated a naval aviator in August 1993.

McLaughlin’s sea tour assignments include Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 146 aboard USS Nimitz (CVN 68), VFA-151 training officer aboard USS Constellation (CV 64), VFA-94 safety, maintenance, and operations officer aboard USS Nimitz, and VFA14 commanding/executive officer aboard USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74).

Ashore, McLaughlin served as a TOPGUN instructor, a Washington, D.C., intern fellow, the organization policy officer at the North American Aerospace Defense Command/U.S. Northern Command, and the OIC of both TOPGUN and STRIKE assigned to the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center.

He has more than 3,700 hours and 875 carrier landings aboard 10 different carriers. Personal awards include the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal (3), Strike-Flight Air Medal (3), Navy Commendation Medal (3), Joint Staff Achievement Medal, Navy Achievement Medal (4),

Capt. Kevin McLaughlin, commodore, Strike Fighter Wing Atlantic.

Good Conduct Medal, the David McCampbell award, the Charles H. Bryant Leadership award, and various unit and service awards.

McLaughlin currently serves as the president of the Tailhook Association. He gained a measure of fame appearing in the 2008 PBS documentary miniseries Carrier and is the proud father of his 14-year-old son, Declan.

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Eric Tegler: What’s your role at Naval Air Station (NAS) Oceana as CSFWL? Capt. Kevin McLaughlin: Strike Fighter Wing Atlantic owns the Navy’s East Coast F/A-18 fleet, and my job is to provide the proper manning, the proper training and equipment to the F/A-18 fleet.

Rear Adm. Roy Kelley, commander, Naval Air Force Atlantic, salutes Capt. Kevin McLaughlin during a routine change of command ceremony held aboard Naval Air Station Oceana.

McLaughlin relieved Capt. Christopher Boyle as commander, Strike Fighter Wing Atlantic.

questions about that. Given the lack of news and the 75th anniversary of Oceana, what is the future of Strike Fighter Wing Atlantic with or without the F-35?

The Navy will be flying the Super Hornet well into the 2030s and probably into the 2040s. A decision on East Coast basing is not yet close, and we’re even pre-research on the feasibility. There are many environmental studies required any time you introduce a new platform into an area. In fact, we just did one into the possibility of expanding Super Hornet capacity at Oceana. We’re replacing the last four legacy Hornet squadrons with Super Hornet squadrons. Even though they’ve been flying here for 20-plus years, we still have to do that evaluation.

Because it’s a completely different platform with a different noise paradigm, the F-35C will have to be put to a full environmental study including NAS Oceana, NAF Fentress, and Norfolk. The Navy has not made a decision on where the East Coast F-35 fleet will go, or even whether there will be an East Coast-based F-35 fleet. With the F-14 previously single-sited at Oceana and with the EA-6B Prowler and now the F/A-18G Growler single-sited at NAS Whidbey Island, there is precedent for not having a split-coast fleet.

Because we’ll fly the Super Hornet well beyond the next decade, Strike Fighter Wing Atlantic is stable and will be here for a very long time to come.

What sort of messages are you interested in getting out to the public? There’s been a lot of attention recently focused on the physiological episodes that have been problematic in naval aviation and there have been some significant mishaps. What do you look to communicate from a Strike Fighter Wing Atlantic perspective?

Aviation is an inherently dangerous business. Man was never designed to fly, but we’ve spent 100-plus years doing that. We’ve taken as much risk out of flying as we possibly can, to the point where when there are tragic incidents like the one with VFA-213, they become newsworthy because they’re surprising.

There’s a quote from [political commentator] George Will to the effect that there are men and women in harm’s way doing the nation’s bidding 24/7, 365. We as a society sleep in the warm blanket of that safety without really taking note of it. It’s a testament to the professionalism of those men and women that we don’t hear about it.

The Virginia Beach/Hampton Roads community is very pro-Navy, and they understand the risks. Their support after that incident was overwhelming.

There hasn’t been any announcement yet that the F-35 will be coming to Oceana, and some people have asked

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1943 - 2018

A H A N D - I N - G LOV E R E L AT I O N S H I P T HE E C O N O M I C IM PA C T O F N AVA L A IR S TAT I O N O C E A N A

By Jan Tegler

O

ne of the last actions for F/A-18 Hornet pilots and naval flight officers (NFOs) prior to taxiing away from the flight line at Naval Air Station (NAS) Oceana is slipping on a pair of Nomex® flight gloves. It’s a good analogy for the relationship between Virginia Beach, the air station, and surrounding communities 75 years into their shared history.

“It’s a hand-in-glove relationship,” said Warren Harris, director of Virginia Beach Economic Development. “We see on a daily basis how NAS Oceana and the military are so much a part of our economy.”

The relationship is at once tangible and intangible, with air station operations so much a part of daily life in Virginia Beach that the sights and sounds of Hornets and Super Hornets are as common as the interaction between civilians born and raised in the larger community and active and retired Navy personnel who’ve made it their home.

Tangible benefits measured in dollars were tabulated in the Navy Region Mid-Atlantic’s FY 2016 Economic Impact Report, released in November 2017. The report put the total direct economic impact from the five major Hampton Roads Navy bases at $12.3 billion, including annual payroll for military members and civilians.

NAS Oceana and its 28,030 active-duty military, military dependents, and civilian employees directly contributed more than $1.3 billion to the local economy in fiscal year 2016. The air station also generates more than 17,000 jobs and produces over $400 million in goods and services each year.

That’s a sizeable impact for the more than 1.7 million residents in the Virginia Beach Metropolitan Statistical Area and the city’s (Virginia’s largest) 461,663 inhabitants.

Harris puts the air station’s economic impact in perspective.

“The Virginia Beach economy is underpinned by three large industry sectors,” he explained. “Obviously, the tourism industry is a prime generator of revenue and economic impact to our city. Our second-largest sector is the defense industry, and of

course NAS Oceana is a significant part of that segment. The third segment is our agri-business sector. It’s well recognized here that NAS Oceana is an important driver to our economy.”

NAS Oceana is also well recognized for its critical role in maintaining readiness and projecting power by the Navy itself. The service is well aware it’s a role the base could not effectively perform without the support and cooperation of the Virginia Beach community.

Vice Adm. Mary Jackson has a unique perspective on NAS Oceana’s importance to the Navy and the community that surrounds it. As commander, Navy Installations Command (CNIC), Jackson leads an organization that oversees 71 naval installations in 11 regions. CNIC enables and sustains naval forces from the shore by designing, developing, and delivering integrated shore capabilities to the fleet, the fighter, and the family.

“I want to thank the people of Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, and the entire Hampton Roads communities as we approach the 75th anniversary of NAS Oceana,” Jackson stressed. “It has certainly come a long way since it was carved out of 328 acres of what was then swampland on the outskirts of Virginia Beach, and we could not have done it without your support.

“As commander of Navy Installations Command, I can tell you that every one of the Navy’s 71 installations is a priority to the CNIC team and our Navy. But NAS Oceana deserves special consideration for its critical importance to our Navy, the defense of our nation, and particularly the Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Hampton Roads community.”

PART OF THE COMMUNITY When measuring the economic impact of NAS Oceana on Virginia Beach and Hampton Roads, Jackson says it’s important to consider the sheer size of the Navy presence in the area and the number of the service’s installations, including bases with overlapping missions and opportunities for naval personnel. Sailors serving at the air station may contribute more

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U.S. NAVY PHOTO BY MASS COMMUNICATION SPECIALIST 3RD CLASS TYLER FOLNSBEE

economically to the area over time, because they have the potential of serving in the same locale for longer.

“What is unique about Hampton Roads is it is one of the few places where our sailors can serve multiple tours in the same geographical area,” Jackson said. “Hampton Roads offers great quality of service and quality of life, which has many advantages to our families, and offers stability.”

The stability offered by the proximity of NAS Oceana and other installations in the area goes beyond the economic impact the air station’s workforce makes, Jackson added. She said it may be “more telling” to consider the ways in which this group is part of the communities that surround it.

“The people who serve and work for the U.S. Navy and their families, our veterans, and retirees make up a pretty good percentage of the overall regional population. We bring the best qualities of the Navy – experience, knowledge, dedication, community spirit, and patriotism – all to bear in our cities and neighborhoods. From the parent-teacher-student associations in our children’s schools to the sports fields where our children play, the Navy’s workforce and our families play an integral role in the community.

“Many who retire or leave active service choose to stay in Hampton Roads, because this region, with its beauty and vibrant commu-

The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) transits up the Elizabeth River as it passes the downtown Norfolk waterfront after completing a successful six-month Planned Incremental Availability at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth, Virginia.

55

nities, has become their home,” Jackson said.

“They become valuable employees in established businesses and innovators in emerging industries; they may work in city and state government administration, or even become elected officials. Those are a few of the impressive intangibles that showcase how our Navy has a positive impact to the area.”

WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT As Harris observes, “Workforce development has become the most important economic issue for any community.”

Naturally, developing, attracting, and sustaining a skilled workforce is central to the mission of Virginia Beach Economic Development.

But it’s also a priority for the Navy. This shared goal reaps big rewards for a community that is home to a range of industries, including defense, advanced manufacturing, biomedical and life sciences, information sciences, tourism, retail, and agriculture.

Three Fortune 500 companies – Dollar Tree, Huntington Ingalls Industries, and Norfolk Southern – are headquartered in the Virginia Beach metropolitan area. Major manufacturers in Virginia Beach include STIHL, Inc., Architectural Graphics, Inc., and M&G Electronics Corporation.

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Sentara Healthcare and LifeNet Health also call the city home, along with arms of GEICO General Insurance Company, Amerigroup (health insurance), Lockheed-Martin, Gold Key/PHR Hotels and Resorts, and DOMA Technologies (information technology) among others. These are complemented by a large, successful small business community and more than 50 internationally based firms.

Surprisingly, Virginia Beach is also home to about 23,000 acres of farmland and agriculture, which generate more than $124 million in economic impact. ​ This diversity provides great opportunity for skilled workers, including the average of 12,000 active-duty military personnel who exit the military annually in Hampton Roads.

“Whenever I talk with business leaders, I ask if they can help us by hiring veterans,” said Capt. Chad Vincelette, commanding officer, Naval Air Station Oceana. “What can we do with our skilled workforce and those who come out of it for them? They’re well trained, motivated, and disciplined.

So are their spouses. As military families move every three years, it can be hard for spouses to find stable and meaningful work, whether it’s the Navy member’s husband who’s looking for a job or the wife who is looking.”

A graphic depicts the federal and DOD facilities in the Hampton Roads area, including NAS Oceana.

Harris understands that the challenges Vincelette mentions are a great opportunity for Virginia Beach.

“We recognize that that represents a great talent pool and workforce for us with regard to supporting our existing business activity as well as our business recruitment activity,” Harris explained.

“One of the things we’ve done as a city is establish a military economic development advisory committee made up primarily of retired flag officers. That allows us to maintain a connection with our existing military population as well as with our military commands. Through that engagement, we’ve established a relationship with the various facilities here in Virginia Beach to offer a route for those looking to exit the military and who plan to remain in the area and are seeking opportunities for employment,” he said.

Harris said that the Virginia Beach area benefits from military/ private-sector collaboration that goes beyond big business, noting that “business growth, particularly small business growth, is thriving.”

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AN AWARD-WINNING WAKE-UP CALL Despite the high profile of NAS Oceana as one of the Navy’s master jet bases and its historic role as a critical installation in the Navy’s Hampton Roads infrastructure, it was in jeopardy just a little more than a decade ago.

In March 2005, the Pentagon’s Defense Closure and Base Realignment Commission, better known as “BRAC,” released a proposed list of major military facilities slated for closure or realignment.

To the shock of the sailors and civilians serving/ working there and to the Virginia Beach community, NAS Oceana was on the list.

For decades, it had been taken for granted that the master jet base would always be around. The threat to NAS Oceana galvanized the air station and the community. Community officials, air station leaders, and Navy brass scrambled to make their case for the base’s importance and continuing relevance to the nation’s defense. Ultimately, the BRAC Commission agreed, and by

Four Hornets from the Blue Angels fly in the familiar diamond formation as they cross in front of a gathered crowd during the precision flight demonstration squadron’s performance at the 50th Anniversary Air Show at Naval Air Station Oceana.

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August 2005, it voted to maintain NAS Oceana if Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, and the Commonwealth of Virginia would commit to appropriate money to stop encroachment within the areas surrounding NAS Oceana known as Accident Potential Zone 1 (APZ-1) by March 2006.

What followed was a massive undertaking by the city of Virginia Beach: an innovative and unprecedented program known as “YesOceana.”

The plan aimed to roll back encroachment in APZ-1 and the Clear Zones.

Thirteen years later, YesOceana has made the city/air station partnership “stronger than ever,” said Harris.

“Essentially, we created a program to work with willing property owners, residential and commercial. The city, initially in concert with the state, would reduce that encroachment by acquiring properties. On the commercial side, we looked at replacing or adding conforming businesses that could locate in and around the base as a part of this unique program.”

Michelle Chapleau is also part of the city’s Economic Development Department, serving as its business development coordinator. She explained that YesOceana has been recognized by the Association of Defense Communities as one of the unique types of collaborations with the

PHOTO BY PETTY OFFICER 2ND CLASS KRISTOPHER WILSON

That’s due in part to the efforts of Virginia Beach Economic Development and the Navy to bring small businesses and Navy entities together to drive innovation while at the same time creating economic activity for local companies.

U.S. NAVY PHOTO BY MASS COMMUNICATION SPECIALIST 2ND CLASS ALYSIA HERNANDEZ

military – “a model program that’s now being used by some of our sister cities.”

The program also received awards from the Southern Economic Development Council.

“To give you an idea of the scope and magnitude of this program, we have acquired 792 dwelling units and 65 commercial business units that were not conforming,” Chapleau said. “We’ve spent over $87 million in APZ-1 and the Clear Zones, acquiring property. We’ve spent an additional $35 million in the area between [Naval Auxiliary Landing Field, or NALF] Fentress and Oceana air space on property acquisitions as well. From an economic development standpoint, we’ve assisted over 40 businesses, which has leveraged over $58 million in new capital investment.”

It’s an effort that has not been overlooked by other locales home to major military installations, Chapleau added.

“We have communities outside of Virginia who are asking about our zoning ordinances and incentive programs. Some of the current funding is actually being allocated to Chesapeake City to help address their encroachment issues around NALF Fentress.”

The “Pukin’ Dogs” of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 143 perform a flyover in formation during a homecoming celebration at Naval Air Station (NAS) Oceana.

The YesOceana partnership rolled back enchroachment in the APZ-1 and Clear Zone around Oceana, and is a win-win for the base and the community.

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STRONGER THAN EVER AND LOOKING TOWARD THE FUTURE Jackson agrees that the relationship between NAS Oceana and the cities of Virginia Beach and Chesapeake is “stronger than ever.”

Reflecting on the BRAC threat and the YesOceana program, Jackson says that the successful actions undertaken by those who live and work in the area could not have happened without “the close working relationship between the cities and the Navy.”

“However, the collaboration didn’t stop there,” she added. “In the years since the JLUS [Joint Land Use Study] and BRAC, the Navy and the cities have continued to work together on airfield compatibility and have also branched out into other cooperative efforts. For instance, it is now routine for Chesapeake, Virginia Beach, and U.S. Navy law enforcement and emergency services personnel to train together, focusing on cooperative support in the event of a crisis.

“As another example, it has become a tradition for the base to host Chesapeake and Virginia Beach fifth-graders to attend an all-day

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experiential STEM [science, technology, engineering, and math] lab that highlights aerospace technology during the annual NAS Oceana Air Show. The Navy is also working with the cities to help address the challenges of more frequent flooding. NAS Oceana is providing groundwater information to assist in updating the Virginia Beach drainage map.

Other collaboration efforts are focused on school security, drone operations, and safety,” Jackson said.

The city of Virginia Beach is not resting on its laurels either, working hard to attract diverse businesses that mesh well with and expand upon its existing defense, tourism, and agriculture sectors, said Harris.

Harris said that the city is seeing “growing investment” as a “digital port.” That’s because Virginia Beach has become the only transatlantic fiber-optic cable landing location in the center of the East Coast.

“We see a growing technology ecosystem developing here,” he said.

In late 2017, Spanish telecom firm Telefonica subsidiary Telxius finished laying “Marea,” a Microsoft- and Facebook-backed subsea cable stretching 4,000 miles across the Atlantic from Bilbao, Spain, to Virginia Beach. The cable is capable of delivering a massive 160 terabits of data per second.

Another undersea cable known as “BRUSA,” also owned and operated by Telxius, brought a second cable from Rio de Janeiro and Fortaleza, Brazil, to Virginia Beach in the first quarter of 2018. Recently announced, a third cable, called “South Atlantic Express,” will bring in enormous amounts of data all the way from South Africa to Virginia Beach.

“All of these are expanding our data-capacity capabilities,” Harris noted. “This will make Virginia Beach an emerging hub for data center, data analytics, and technology. That

The Marea undersea cable being connected on Virginia Beach.

The cable is capable of delivering 160 terabits of data per second.

will be of benefit to the defense industry as well as the private sector.”

These current and future developments should complement activities at NAS Oceana well. But what of the future of the air station itself? Home to the Navy’s East Coast Hornet and Super Hornet squadrons, the base will surely be relevant for some time to come. But as yet, it’s unknown if NAS Oceana will host the F-35C Joint Strike Fighter. That has left many wondering about its long-term future.

Asked about this, Jackson says she feels confident in NAS Oceana’s future.

“If you go by the past performance and history, NAS Oceana will continue to play a vital role for our Navy and the defense of our nation,” she said. “With the recent reconstruction, renovations, and upgrades to the airfield infrastructure, both NAS Oceana and NALF Fentress are well positioned to serve the Navy’s aviation mission for years to come. I am confident that the men and women of NAS Oceana will continue to provide the exceptionally high-quality and professional support that has become a tradition within our Navy.

Jackson says that if the Navy and Virginia Beach continue to work hard on the close partnership that has made them economically and socially successful, the hand-in-glove relationship between the two will endure.

“The point is, the more the Navy and the cities of Virginia Beach and Chesapeake work together, the more opportunities we create together. There is always more to be done, and I am confident that our team at NAS Oceana and the dedicated community leaders will get it done together.”

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1943 - 2018

O B S E RV E , O R I E N T, D E C I D E , AN D AC T A LOOK AT THE FUTURE OF NAVAL AVIATION

By Jan Tegler

Naval aviation will continue to observe, orient, decide, and act against enemy forces, leveraging the maneuverability and proximity that can only come from being aboard a carrier. As technologies continue to advance, the future air wing must continue to adapt as it always has, particularly to increase its capacity to contribute to the sea control mission, conducting both kinetic and non-kinetic operations. To support this capability evolution and deploy the air wing to relevant places in the world with sufficient capacity, the Navy will need 12 aircraft carriers to enable deployment of 5-6 carrier strike groups within relatively short time frames. In the short- and mid-terms, these will include a mix of 4th and 5th generation strike fighters, increasing numbers of unmanned air vehicles, and maritime patrol and electronic attack aircraft.

– Adm. John M. Richardson, Chief of Naval Operations

A

dm. John M. Richardson’s words are from “The Future Navy,” a May 2017 White Paper in which he outlined his vision for a more technologically advanced, more operationally innovative Navy. The CNO emphasized a mix of networked manned and unmanned systems operating from the sea and in the air, which will enable Navy and Marine Corps forces to react quickly to global threats from a range of potential adversaries including sophisticated nearpeer competitors like China and Russia, and rogue states like North Korea and Iran.

As his statement makes clear, the aircraft carrier and its air wing remain central to naval aviation. Changes to future air wings will be “linked to changes in the carrier strike group (CSG).

Greater connectivity and capability will enable new ways to combine ships, aircraft and undersea forces …” Richardson wrote.

Addressing Marine Corps aviation’s role, the CNO stressed the “potential for increased capability and flexibility of amphibious ships, enabled by new aviation and weapons systems …”

Readiness is key as well, Richardson noted during a congressional hearing on March 7, 2018. “More at-sea time, more flying time, more maintenance and more weapons of increased lethality that go faster, farther and are more survivable” are priorities.

It’s a Navy the United States needs sooner, not later, he added.

“We need this more powerful fleet in the 2020s, not the 2040s. To do that, we must get more capability out of what we

already own and bring new technologies and platforms into the mix as rapidly as possible.”

To sketch naval aviation’s future, we take a look at the current and coming manned and unmanned aircraft that will define it for decades to come.

F-35B/C LIGHTNING II Naval aviation’s first fifth-generation strike-fighter aircraft is already operational with the Marine Corps. Six F-35Bs from Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 121 landed on the deck of the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp (LHD 1) in early March as part of the Wasp Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG) and 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit Western Pacific patrol.

VMFA-121’s inclusion in the 2018 patrol marks the first-ever shipboard deployment for the Joint Strike Fighter, the first-ever deployment of a fifth-generation fighter for naval aviation, and the first operational deployment for the F-35 globally. The USS Wasp’s complement of F-35Bs was bolstered by a second deployment of aircraft from VMFA-211 in mid-summer with the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit aboard the USS Essex (LHD 2).

Marine Corps short takeoff/vertical landing F-35Bs will replace the service’s aged F/A-18 Hornets, AV-8B Harriers, and EA-6B Prowlers. Four squadrons of F-35Bs have been activated so far, with the USMC set to field 353 examples along with 67 F-35Cs.

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The Navy is buying 273 F-35Cs, the aircraft carrier variant of the Joint Strike Fighter. First deployment is expected in 2021. The service has a goal of 20 operational F-35C squadrons by the early 2030s. Three squadrons including two fleet replacement units – VFA-101 and VFA-125 – are currently flying the F-35C. VFA-147 is currently transitioning from the F/A-18 Super Hornet.

U.S. NAVY PHOTO BY LT. CMDR. DARIN RUSSELL

F/A-18 HORNET/SUPER HORNET/EA-18G GROWLER The F/A-18 forms the strike fighter and electronic warfare backbone of naval aviation currently and will continue in this role for decades to come.

F/A-18C/D Hornets are gradually giving way to Super Hornets and F-35B/Cs. Production of the C/D ended in 2000. In April 2018, the F/A-18C made its last combat deployment. Marine Corps F/A-18C/Ds will be retired as the F-35B comes into service. Meanwhile, F/A-18E/F Super Hornets make up the bulk of the aircraft in the Navy’s 11 active carrier air wings and will continue to until at least the 2040s.

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F-35C Lightning IIs assigned to the “Grim Reapers” of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 101, and F/A-18E/F Super Hornets assigned to the Naval Aviation Warfighter Development Center (NAWDC) fly over Naval Air Station Fallon’s (NASF) Range Training Complex. The F-35C and F/A-18E/F will form the core of U.S. Navy aerial striking power into mid-century.

First in service in 1999, the Navy is now purchasing the Super Hornet Block III, a version updated with better targeting information processors, satellite communications, and data link capabilities along with an infrared search and track (IRST) sensor and conformal fuel tanks for increased range. The service expects to procure 116 Block III Super Hornets by 2024 and upgrade many of the existing 540 F/A-18E/Fs to Block III standard.

In service since 2010, the EA-18G Growler has replaced the EA-6B Prowler as the Navy’s electronic attack aircraft. There are currently 140 to 150 EA-18Gs in service. It’s unclear if the Super Hornet Block III upgrade will be applied to the EA18G, though Growlers are set to receive the Next Generation Jammer and “cognitive EW” – machine-learning algorithms that can quickly identify and jam enemy radar signals.

U.S. NAVY PHOTO BY MASS COMMUNICATION SPECIALIST 1ST CLASS DANIEL BARKER

AV-8B HARRIER As mentioned above, the F-35B is already beginning to replace the Marine Corps’ venerable AV-8B Harrier. It’s hard to say exactly how many AV-8Bs are combat-coded currently, but the number hovers at just over 100.

Modernization of the Harrier has continued, with recent upgrades including Link 16 network integration and the addition of the GBU-54 Laser JDAM and Advanced Precision Kill Weapons System II (a laser-guided Hydra 70 2.75-inch rocket) to its arsenal. The retirement of the AV-8B isn’t firmly set.

The Marine Corps’ decision to replace its F/A-18 Hornets with F-35Bs sooner than its Harriers means the type may serve on until almost 2030.

NEXT-GENERATION AIR DOMINANCE INITIATIVE

U.S. NAVY PHOTO BY MASS COMMUNICATION SPECIALIST 2ND CLASS SCOTT SWOFFORD

Formerly known as “F/A-XX,” the Navy’s Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) initiative to identify alternatives for a sixth-generation strike-fighter aircraft began in 2012. In 2019, the service plans to provide the Pentagon materiel investment recommendations for the successor to its F/A-18E/F and EA-18G. In April 2018 testimony before Congress, Navy leaders said the service is still working to identify options. NGAD may be a family of manned/unmanned systems rather than a single aircraft type.

“The Joint Chiefs of Staff approved the Initial Capabilities Document that frames NGAD study requirements to support the full range of military operations from carrierbased platforms,” according to the written testimony. “The

Top: An F-35B Lightning II assigned to Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 121 approaches the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp (LHD 1) following an expeditionary strike exercise as part of a certification exercise (CERTEX). The STOVL F-35B will replace the Harrier in Marine Corps service. Right: An EA-18G Growler assigned to the “Rooks” of Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 137 prepares to land on the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75), June 14, 2018. The EA-18G replaced the EA-6B Prowler as the Navy’s electronic attack aircraft.

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U.S. NAVY PHOTO BY MASS COMMUNICATION SPECIALIST 2ND CLASS JOHN PHILIP WAGNER JR.

U.S. NAVY PHOTO BY ERIK HILDEBRANDT

Top: An E-2D Hawkeye and a C-2A Greyhound assigned to Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX) 20 fly over USS Zumwalt (DDG 1000) as the ship travels to its new home port of San Diego, California. While the E-2D will continue as the longest-serving aircraft in the U.S. Navy, the C-2A will be gradually replaced by the tilt-rotor CMV-22B in the Carrier Onboard Delivery (COD) role. Above: Three F/A-18C Hornet strike fighters assigned to Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 11 fly in formation near the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68). F/A-18Cs flew their final combat deployment in April 2018.

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Congratulations Naval Air Station Oceana on 75 Years of Service

God Bless All Who Serve -

41st President of the United States

www.bush41.org

The Virginia Department of Veterans Services salutes NAS Oceana for 75 Years of Service (804) 786-0286 www.dvs.virginia.gov DSU_CoB_OkraMagFP_July18HR.indd 1

7/16/18 9:17 AM

AOA [Analysis of Alternatives] is considering the widest possible range of materiel concepts while balancing capability, cost/affordability, schedule, and supportability.”

The Navy has asked for $25 million in the fiscal year 2019 defense budget for research and development funding for management support over a five-year span.

is setting on the P-3. At this writing, just six of the Navy’s 18 maritime patrol squadrons are still flying the P-3C Update III. Two more squadrons, including VPU-2, a “special projects” squadron (P-3C), and VQ-1 (EP-3E) fly the Orion. P-3 retirement is expected in 2023.

The P-8A Poseidon is now in service with 10 VP squadrons. Faster and able to fly farther than the P-3, the Poseidon carries a range of advanced systems.

They include: the APY-10 radar;infrared sensors; laser range-finders; electromagnetic, airborne, acoustic, hydrocarbon, and electronic surveillance sensors; and advanced sonar buoys and depth charges, along with Harpoon anti-ship missiles and MK54 torpedoes. Navy plans specify an inventory of 111 P-8As. Meanwhile, “unmanned patrol squadrons” are being stood up as the MQ-4 Triton enters Navy service.

E-2C/D HAWKEYE The E-2 Hawkeye is naval aviation’s longest-serving carrier aircraft. The first A model Hawkeyes joined the fleet in 1964. Today, the E-2C (first operational in 1973) and the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye are in service.

The E-2C is nearing the end of its service life, expected to be fully replaced by the E-2D by 2023. The Advanced Hawkeye made its first operational deployment in 2015. The E-2D features new avionics, improved T56-A-427A engines, a glass cockpit, the AN/APY-9 UHF radar – described by the Navy as a “two-generation leap” over the APS-145 found in the E-2C – integrated satellite communications, a new flight management system, and much more.

The Navy’s planned E-2D buy is 75 aircraft, with an aerial refueling capability to be incorporated by 2020.

MQ-4C TRITON Two squadrons, VUP-11 and VUP-19, have been stood up to fly the Navy’s new long-endurance, high-altitude Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton. Based on the Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk flown by the U.S. Air Force since 2001, the Triton provides real-time intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) over vast ocean and coastal regions.

In U.S. Navy service, the MQ-4C will serve tactical users such as the Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG), Carrier Strike Group (CSG), and the Joint Forces Maritime Component Commander (JFMCC). Triton will support a wide range of missions, including maritime ISR patrol, signals intelligence, search and rescue, and communications relay. The aircraft can fly more than 24 hours at a time, at altitudes higher than 10 miles, with an operational range of 8,200 nautical miles.

The first two operational MQ-4Cs will start missions over the Pacific by the end of 2018 from a forward base in Guam. Initial operational capability is expected in 2021. MQ-4Cs will team with P-8As to simultaneously perform anti-submarine warfare and high-altitude ISR.

C-2 GREYHOUND/CMV-22B OSPREY The Navy’s C-2 Greyhound Carrier Onboard Delivery (COD) aircraft has been in service almost as long as the E-2 Hawkeye. C-2s joined the fleet in 1966 and have been an integral component ever since.

In 2009, the Navy began a program to explore a replacement for the C-2. In February 2015, it chose the Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor. The CMV-22B will begin replacing the C-2 in 2020. The service intends to buy 38 CMV-22Bs, ultimately phasing out its 27 C-2As in 2026.

V-22 OSPREY The Marine Corps’ MV-22B Osprey has been operational since 2007, fully replacing the CH-46 Sea Knight by 2014. Bell said the V-22 “is the No. 1 in-demand VTOL aircraft within DOD because of its speed and range.”

Marine Ospreys have flown combat missions in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Yemen, and also serve with HMX-1, the unit that provides vertical lift for the president. There are currently 17 active MV-22 squadrons, each with 12 aircraft. An 18th unit will be added in 2019. Additionally, VMMT-204 serves as the MV-22B training squadron.

MQ-8B/C FIRE SCOUT In service since 2009, the unmanned autonomous helicopter MQ-8 is designed to provide reconnaissance, situational awareness, and precision targeting support for ground, air, and sea forces. Fire Scouts have operated in Afghanistan and North Africa. The system consists of one or more Fire Scout air vehicles (MQ-8B or MQ-8C), mission control systems, and associated control handling and support equipment. The system can operate from any suitably equipped air-capable ships or land bases.

P-3C ORION/P-8A POSEIDON Introduced in 1962, the P-3 Orion is another of naval aviation’s longest-serving platforms, but the sun

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Left: The unmanned MQ-8C Fire Scout. The MQ-8C has improved capabilities over the MQ-8B. Above: A CH-53K King Stallion helicopter demonstrates its capabilities for the first time internationally at the 2018 Berlin Air Show, Berlin ExpoCenter Airport, Schönefeld, Germany, April 25, 2018. The CH-53K King Stallion is a newly developed helicopter designed

by Sikorsky to meet the combat-specific needs of the Marine Corps to include quick entrances and exits in combat zones, shipboard operations, and the ability to survive the harshest climates. Top right: A UH-1Y Venom leads the way for an AH-1Z Viper flying by Mount Fuji, Shizuoka, Japan, March 12, 2017.

The aircraft share 85 percent commonality. Bottom right: Boeing imagery of the CMV-22B Carrier Onboard Delivery aircraft the Navy is buying to replace the venerable C-2A.

RQ-21A BLACKJACK/GROUP 1 SMALL UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS The Navy and Marine Corps field a range of small tactical unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). The RQ-21A Blackjack is in service with both the Navy and the Marine Corps.

A twin-boom, single-engine, 135-pound monoplane UAS, the Blackjack was introduced in 2016 as a dedicated day and night ISR coverage, target acquisition, and communication relay platform.

The Blackjack system comprises five air vehicles, two ground control systems, and launch and recovery support equipment. Eight feet long with a wingspan of 16 feet and endurance up to 16 hours, RQ-21’s open-architecture configuration is designed to seamlessly integrate multimission payloads, including day/night full-motion video cameras, infrared marker, laser range finder, a communications relay package, and Automatic Identification System receivers, as well as other payloads as determined by requirements.

Back-packable and used for “over-the-hill” ISR, Group 1 small UAS include the RQ-11B Raven, RQ-12A Wasp, and RQ-20A Puma. Hand-launched, these short-endurance UAS weigh less than 13 pounds (typically 3-5 pounds for Raven and Wasp) and carry a range of sensors including video and electro-optical/infrared cameras and digital data links. Used widely by the Marine Corps and Navy in Iraq and Afghani-

stan, they have also been deployed aboard guided missile destroyers. More than 416 total systems have been fielded Micro UAS, including SkyRanger and InstantEye vertical take-off and lift systems as well as the PD-100 Black Hornet, have also been used by the Navy and Marines.

MQ-25 STINGRAY Naval aviation’s first operational unmanned carrier aircraft will be called the MQ-25 Stingray. Due to be operational by 2026, the MQ-25 will be an aerial refueling drone with a modest ISR capability.

Remotely piloted from spaces aboard aircraft carriers, Stingrays will relieve F/A-18E/F Hornets of the organic

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U.S. MARINE CORPS PHOTO BY CPL. HAILEY D. CLAY

MQ-8B Fire Scouts have deployed from guided missile frigates and littoral combat ships. With five hours of endurance, MQ-8Bs can provide over-the-horizon surveillance and targeting information. Due in service by the early 2020s, MQ-8Cs able to fly for 12 hours will field active electronically scanned array (AESA) radars. The Navy has 30 MQ-8Bs with a planned buy of 40 MQ-8Cs.

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U.S. MARINE CORPS PHOTO BY LANCE CPL. ANDY MARTINEZ

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U.S. NAVY PHOTO BY MASS COMMUNICATION SPECIALIST 3RD CLASS JAMESON E. LYNCH

tanking mission and help extend the range and efficiency of carrier air wings. Three defense contractors – Boeing, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, and Lockheed Martin – are vying to build 72 MQ-25s under a contract that could be worth $5 billion. The Navy will announce the selection of the winning design late this year.

MH-60R/S SEAHAWK Operational since 2006, the MH-60R is the Navy’s helicopter for anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, surveillance, communications relay, combat search and rescue, naval gunfire support, and logistics support.

The glass-cockpit R-model carries systems including the aircraft survivability equipment package, MTS-FLIR, the AN/APS-153 multimode radar/IFF interrogator, an advanced airborne fleet data link, and advanced airborne active sonar. Weapons include MK54 air-launched

An MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter assigned to the “Dusty Dogs” of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 7 and an MH-60R Sea Hawk assigned to the “Swamp Foxes” of Helicopter Squadron (HSM) 74 participate in a weapons testing drill. The MH-60S and MH-60R form the nucleus of the U.S. Navy helicopter fleet.

torpedoes and Hellfire missiles. Eighteen squadrons fly the MH-60R. The MH-60S has been in the fleet since 2002, serving in roles including anti-surface warfare, combat support, humanitarian disaster relief, combat search and rescue, aeromedical evacuation, SPECWAR (special operations warfare), and organic airborne mine countermeasures.

Equipped with a glass cockpit common to the MH-60R, the MH-60S can operate the Airborne Laser Mine Detection System, a FLIR turret, and the BAE Systems Archerfish remotely operated vehicle to seek out and destroy naval mines from the air. Eighteen MH-60S squadrons operate the aircraft.

CH-53/MH-53E SUPER STALLION/ CH-53K KING STALLION The CH-53 Super Stallion has been in service since 1981. Currently, nine Marine Corps squadrons (eight active duty, one training

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squadron) fly 142 CH-53Es. The aircraft’s main mission is the transportation of heavy equipment and supplies for amphibious assault. In recent years, CH-53Es have been in incredibly high demand, flying combat support in Afghanistan, Iraq, and the Horn of Africa, as well as many other spots globally.

The CH-53K King Stallion is the successor to the CH-53E. The first examples of the new model were delivered to the Marine Corps in May 2018 with initial operational capability expected in 2019. The Marine Corps has ordered approximately 200 King Stallions.

Once in service, the King Stallion will be the largest single-rotor helicopter in the U.S. military inventory. The King Stallion can carry up to 36,000 pounds on a single-point cargo hook sling – three times what the Super Stallion can lift. The cabin is large enough to carry a Humvee, and the King Stallion is still powerful enough to carry up to 27,000 pounds of external cargo while doing so. It will also feature much improved reliability, maintainability, and efficiency.

The Navy currently has three MH-53E helicopter mine countermeasures squadrons with a total of 30 aircraft. The MH-53E performs airborne mine countermeasures (AMCM) and the Navy vertical onboard delivery missions. MH-53Es are planned to serve until 2025. It has been proposed that they be replaced by an AMCM version of the CH-53K.

reconnaissance, control of supporting arms, search and rescue/casualty evacuation, and special operations support.

The four-bladed UH-1Y features a fully digital cockpit, increased payload capability, and greater range and survivability. Weapons options include M240D/GAU-16 machine guns and Hydra 70 or APKWS rockets. The Marine Corps will field 160 Venoms.

AH-1W SUPER COBRA/AH-1Z VIPER/ UH-1Y VENOM

The Navy and Marine Corps fly three variants of the C-130.

The C-130T provides rapid logistic support to Navy operating forces and transportation of personnel or cargo and MEDEVAC. Nineteen C-130Ts fly with the Navy Reserve, while the only active-duty C-130T is the Blue Angels’ famed “Fat Albert.”

The C-130T and aerial-refueling variant KC-130T fleet are currently receiving upgrades to their propeller system, expected to be complete by 2020. The Blue Angels’ C-130T will retire soon and be replaced with a C-130J purchased from the Royal Air Force.

The Marine Corps’ KC-130J Hercules fleet provides airto-air refueling, rapid ground refueling, and logistic support to operating forces. Tactical transportation of personnel or cargo includes aerial delivery or austere landing zone operations.

KC-130Js can also act as multi-sensor image reconnaissance and close air support platforms, equipped with the Harvest Hawk modular roll-on, roll-off weapons system. It consists of an AN/AAQ-30 target sight system with infrared and electro-optic sensors to employ four Hellfire missiles mounted in place of the left-hand air-to-air refueling pylon, and standoff precision-guided munitions, such as Griffin and Viper Strike missiles, launched from the cargo compartment.

The Marine Corps operates 48 KC-130Js, with a projected inventory of 79. The Navy plans to purchase 25 KC-130Js.

FUTURE VERTICAL LIFT Future Vertical Lift (FVL) is a joint service initiative to field next-generation rotorcraft by the late 2020s/early 2030s.

The Marine Corps has a requirement for a medium-lift longrange assault rotorcraft capable of carrying six to eight passengers and cargo, and escorting MV-22B Ospreys with comparable range and speed.

Two technology-demonstration rotorcraft are in development as possible FVL candidates. The Bell V-280 Valor is a medium-lift tilt-rotor design capable of cruising at 280 knots. The V-280 has been flying since December 2017.

Sikorsky-Boeing’s SB-1 Defiant is a medium-lift coaxial compound rotorcraft that is scheduled to fly before the end of 2018. A third contender is Sikorsky’s S-97 Raider, another coaxial compound rotorcraft that began flying in 2015. It’s not certain when a selection will be made for FVL at this writing.

C/KC-130T/KC-130J

Marine Corps Light/Attack Helicopter units are currently composed of three related types: the AH-1W Super Cobra, AH-1Z Viper, and UH-1Y Venom. All derive from the famed UH-1 Huey.

Employed in roles including close air support, armed escort/reconnaissance, anti-armor operations, control of supporting arms, and anti-air warfare, the AH-1W Super Cobra was introduced in 1986 as a more powerful version of the earlier AH-1T Cobra, capable of firing AIM-9 Sidewinder and AGM-114 Hellfire missiles. Last delivered in 1998, the AH-1W is being phased out. The 87 remaining AH-1Ws are expected to retire by 2020.

The twin-blade Super Cobra is being replaced by the four-bladed AH-1Z Viper to take the same mission set. Vipers first entered service in 2011 and feature upgrades including a glass cockpit, more powerful turboshaft engines that yield greater speed and range, better survivability equipment, an improved fire control radar and navigation suite, and third generation FLIR sensor. The Marine Corps plans to field 189 Vipers.

The AH-1Z shares 85 percent commonality with the UH-1Y Venom, which began replacing the UH-1N in 2008.

The Venom, performs missions including combat assault support, airborne command and control, armed escort/

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