VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — Virginia Beach City Council could soon back a push to bring new jets to Naval Air Station Oceana.
Mayor Bobby Dyer and Vice Mayor Rosemary Wilson are putting forward a resolution that will formalize the city’s support and openness for having the U.S. Navy locate new F-35C Lightning II joint strike-fighter aircraft to the East Coast Master Jet Base.
Currently, the jets, described as “the most lethal, survivable and connected fighter aircraft in the world,” are all headed mostly to the West Coast.
Rep. Jen Kiggans, (R-Virginia Beach), herself a former Naval aviator, said it’s time to start taking a look at East Coast locations as well.
The thought is, if Navy leadership sees the city support, they may not only consider basing the F-35s here, but they will likely also spend the money to make improvements the base desperately needs.
“I believe that it is time to look to the future of NAS Oceana’s strategic mission and start the conversation about bringing the military’s newest aircraft to Hampton Roads,” Kiggans said in a statement. “Starting the process early allows for the numerous studies and regulatory tasks to be completed by the time additional F-35 are assigned to a home base.”
NAS Oceana, which spans more than 5,000 acres in the heart of Virginia’s largest city, is home to 330 aircraft, including the F/A-18F Super Hornet, and provides an estimated $1.5 billion in economic impact annually, per the Navy.
First opened in 1943, prior commanding officers have said the funding from the federal government isn’t nearly enough to keep up with the base’s aging infrastructure. As of 2021, roughly 60% of the base’s barracks were uninhabitable because of a variety of problems, including mold.
The Navy struck a deal with Virginia Beach that same year to try and come up with solutions to reduce the base’s overall cost. Those potential solutions included possible partnerships with private operators to take over management and upkeep of some of the facilities, as well as land leases.
However, so far, Wilson said that has proven to be more difficult than initially expected.
It’s one of the reasons Kiggans is now pursuing this path.
“We all know that with new platforms and technology comes a new mission and additional resources to support that mission,” Kiggans said. “This is a critical part of my advocacy, as I would like to see NAS Oceana receive long overdue funding support to upgrade and revitalize the base.’
Wilson represents District 5 on Virginia Beach City Council, which includes the entirety of Oceana. She remembers well when the base’s future was up in the air back in 2005.
At that time, the base realignment and closure commission was concerned enough to nearly close Oceana due to encroachment of development and the complaints from community members about jet noise.
She wants to prevent that from ever happening again.
“I talked to our congresswoman about it, and she thought it would be very helpful to her job in Washington,” Wilson said regarding the resolution. “We want to make sure that they know that they’re welcome and we have a large military community … we want to make sure that everyone in Washington, the decision makers, know that we love our jets and our Navy and whatever they have coming forward, we would love to have them right here.”
The vote on the resolution is tentatively scheduled for July 2.
