Naval Air Station Oceana

Naval Air Station Oceana (NAS Oceana), also known as Apollo Soucek Field, is a United States Navy installation located within the city limits of Virginia Beach, Virginia, approximately 16 miles east of Norfolk. NAS Oceana is the sole East Coast Master Jet Base in the entire U.S. Navy. What began as a remote military auxiliary landing field, Oceana rose to meet the tremendous demands on naval aviation during World War II and beyond, as the City of Virginia Beach grew up around it, and today it stands as the second-largest employer in the city. The air station accommodates approximately 25,000 personnel, including 10,500 military, 10,000 family members, and 4,500 civilian employees. Since its founding on what was once low-lying farmland, NAS Oceana has grown into one of the most strategically significant military aviation installations on the Atlantic seaboard.

History and Founding

The site of Naval Air Station Oceana was called Tunis until 1898, in reference to the Tunis Lumber Company. When the Norfolk, Virginia Beach & Southern Railroad converted the narrow gauge railroad to standard gauge in 1898, Tunis was renamed Oceana. The Federal government's initial purchase of 329 acres for the base in 1940 started a facility for air patrol of the Atlantic Ocean.

By 1938, as the threat of war was growing closer, carrier squadrons were being established in the area; thousands of new pilots needed training, so the Navy built an airfield between the small village of Oceana and the Princess Anne Courthouse. With 32 officers and 172 enlisted personnel on 328 acres, Oceana joined the other auxiliary air stations in the area — Creeds, Pungo, Monogram, and Fentress — and provided squadron pilots with more open space in which to train.

Asphalt runways were constructed in November 1941. The base was well located for finding German submarines, and Naval Auxiliary Air Station Oceana was officially established on August 17, 1943. The expansion of the base was approved by the wartime Congress in 1943. Longer runways and personnel facilities were added to accommodate larger aircraft, and up to 160 officers and 800 enlisted men.

During the war years, thousands of flight crews and maintenance crews trained at Oceana on their way to fight the wars in the Atlantic and Pacific. After World War II, Oceana continued to train flight crews and became the permanent home for many squadrons. In 1952 the base was designated a Naval Air Station. The facility was renamed Naval Air Station Oceana in 1952 during the Korean War, and is now designated as the Navy's East Coast Master Jet Base.

The airfield is also known as Apollo Soucek Field, named after Lieutenant (later Admiral) Apollo Soucek, a Navy test pilot who set the global altitude record in 1930 by flying a Curtiss "Hawk" biplane to an altitude of 43,166 feet. The airfield was officially renamed Soucek Field in honor of Vice Admiral Apollo Soucek in June 1957.

Aircraft and Squadrons

Constructed in 1941 and officially commissioned in 1943, NAS Oceana has been home to carrier-based aircraft since its inception. The field serves as home for 14 deployable Strike Fighter squadrons operating the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, a Strike Fighter Fleet Replacement Squadron, an adversary squadron, and a logistics squadron.

The station has hosted a succession of the Navy's most advanced jet aircraft over the decades. In the 1960s, NAS Oceana became home to all East Coast F-4 Phantom II squadrons. A special unit, Fighter Squadron 101 (VF-101), was created there as a Fleet Readiness Squadron, which trained pilots, other crew members, and aircraft maintainers. The F-14 Tomcats were assigned to NAS Oceana in 1974, and the F-14 replacement air group (RAG) squadron was established in 1976. The F/A-18 Hornets arrived at the air station between 1998 and 1999.

NAS Oceana was host to the "Tomcat Sunset" reunion from September 21 to 23, 2006, where over 3,000 former and current aircrew and maintainers came together to celebrate the retirement of the F-14 from active Fleet service.

One of nine Class IV Naval airport systems in the Navy and one of the busiest airports in the entire region, NAS Oceana on a typical day supports about 600 operations for 17 squadrons and four Carrier Air Wings. Naval Aviators and Naval Flight Officers at NAS Oceana fly about 219,000 training missions every year.

Facilities and Tenant Commands

The facilities at the air station cover an area of 5,916 acres. NAS Oceana is situated within the city limits of Virginia Beach, about 25.7 kilometers east of the city of Norfolk. With the arrival of jet aircraft, base facilities grew to accommodate the new aircraft, including new barracks, hangars, and runways, the longest of which is 12,000 feet.

Additionally, NAS Oceana operates Dam Neck Annex, a separate military installation that is home to other non-flying commands, including various school houses, and Naval Auxiliary Landing Field Fentress, a practice carrier landing field, in nearby Chesapeake, Virginia. Dam Neck Annex is home to numerous training schoolhouses and Joint commands, and services 15,000 Sailors yearly.

Among the numerous commands present as "tenant" commands at Oceana is Fleet Readiness Center Mid-Atlantic, formerly known as Aviation Intermediate Maintenance Department (AIMD) Oceana — one of six centers for naval aviation maintenance, providing intermediate and depot-level maintenance support to the tenant squadrons and technicians to aircraft carriers home-ported on the East Coast.

Carrier Air Wings One, Three, Seven, and Eight maintain headquarters at NAS Oceana. Strike Fighter Composite Squadron 12 (VFC-12), a Navy Reserve F/A-18C Hornet squadron, provides adversary and aggressor training services to Atlantic Fleet strike fighter squadrons. Fleet Area Control and Surveillance Facility Virginia Capes (FACSFAC VACAPES) is responsible for surveillance, management, and sea and air traffic control of the Virginia Capes warning areas for training purposes, as well as surveillance duties in support of Homeland Defense.

The terminal supports an average of 520 Navy Air Logistics Office requests per year, accounting for an average of 21,000 passengers, 1,200,000 pounds of baggage, and 850,000 pounds of cargo. The transient line supports 1,800 transient aircraft annually.

The air station is not open to the public except one weekend each year, usually in September, when it hosts the NAS Oceana Air Show. The 2025 Naval Air Station Oceana Air Show welcomed more than 300,000 spectators September 19–21.

BRAC Controversy and Encroachment

One of the most significant challenges in the modern history of NAS Oceana has been the threat posed by urban encroachment and the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process. Princess Anne County became the City of Virginia Beach in 1963, and the city population swelled. Housing subdivisions were constructed on private land close to Oceana, sometimes over the objections of military officials.

The BRAC Commission found that significant residential and commercial encroachment had continued around NAS Oceana and Naval Auxiliary Landing Fields (NALF) Fentress for many years, and was exacerbated when the 1995 BRAC Commission redirected F-18 aircraft and supporting assets from MCAS Cherry Point, NC and MCAS Beaufort, SC to NAS Oceana to take advantage of excess capacity there.

During the 2005 round of BRAC base closures, it was decided that NAS Oceana could remain open only if certain conditions were met. The most contentious of these requirements was that the city of Virginia Beach buy and condemn approximately 3,400 residences and an unknown number of businesses in crash zones surrounding the base. The BRAC commission proposed moving the fighters to Cecil Field, a recently deactivated naval air station located near Jacksonville, Florida, if NAS Oceana was not able to meet those and several other conditions.

On December 20, 2005, the Virginia Beach City Council passed numerous ordinances enacted to satisfy BRAC, but did not act to condemn any of the homes in the designated areas. In a November 2006 referendum, citizens of Jacksonville voted to leave the Cecil Field Airport and Commerce Center in civilian hands under the Jacksonville Aviation Authority, effectively halting any future plans of relocation.

The cities of Virginia Beach, Norfolk, and Chesapeake reacted quickly, committing in the 2005 Hampton Roads Joint Land Use Study to limit development adjacent to Naval Air Station Oceana, Chambers Field at Naval Station Norfolk, and Naval Auxiliary Field Fentress.

Economic Impact and Community Relations

The Atlantic Fleet's Master Jet Base is the second-largest employer in Virginia Beach, following Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story. The base's economic footprint extends well beyond its perimeter fence, supporting thousands of private-sector jobs throughout the Hampton Roads region in industries ranging from aerospace and defense contracting to retail and hospitality.

Virginia Beach and military officials negotiated a deal for the city to develop 400 acres at Naval Air Station Oceana not needed for flight operations, in exchange for $3 million of infrastructure improvements and maintenance by the city. The Naval Air Station Oceana and the Virginia Beach Development Authority then expanded the agreement to include up to 1,100 acres of land.

In 2022, mountain biking trails were created on land acquired by the U.S. Navy to prevent inappropriate development near Oceana. Though land at Virginia Beach is naturally very flat, berms had been created by earlier efforts to develop the site. The Eastern Virginia Mountain Biking Association and Virginia Beach Parks & Recreation took advantage of the unnatural topography in Marshview Park to build five trails offering mountain biking experiences for easy, intermediate, and advanced riders.

To ensure continued use of Naval Air Station Oceana as the Navy's East Coast master jet base, Virginia Beach officials began lobbying for the F-35C Lightning II to replace the F/A-18 Super Hornet squadrons, with the city's support formalized in a Virginia Beach City Council resolution in July 2024.

The base maintains a strong community outreach presence through events such as the annual air show, which serves as a bridge between the military installation and the civilian population of Virginia Beach. Over its history, NAS Oceana has been home to aces, record-breakers, astronauts, and war heroes.