In July 2002, the Navy Department released its draft environmental impact statement (EIS) on basing the Commander Naval Air Force Atlantic Fleet's new F/A-18E/F Super Hornets. It listed eight options for basing these aircraft and selected two as preferred alternatives:
Keep six squadrons at Naval Air Station (NAS) Oceana, Virginia; send four to Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Cherry Point, North Carolina.
Keep eight squadrons at NAS Oceana; send two to MCAS Cherry Point.
Regrettably, keeping all ten Atlantic Fleet Super Hornet squadrons at NAS Oceana was not a preferred alternative. Because the final decision will not be made until early 2003, however, the Navy has time to revisit the alternatives and reassess the basing of all the F/A-18E/Fs at NAS Oceana—which would be in the best interests of the Navy and U.S. taxpayers.
Alternatives and Implications
The battle over the move involves 10 fleet squadrons of 12 jets each and more than 200 personnel per squadron. These aircraft will begin to arrive in late 2004 and gradually replace the older F-14 Tomcats and F/A-18C Hornets. The economic implications of basing all or part of the squadrons on the communities surrounding the bases are vast—a windfall for the local economies and a prize worth fighting for in the U.S. Congress. By splitting the Super Hornets in both of its preferred alternatives, it can be assumed the Navy is making concessions to North Carolina politicians. According to the local news, Tarheel congressional members have said an outlying field (OLF) can be built in North Carolina only if MCAS Cherry Point also gets some of the aircraft.
Virginia Beach is the home of NAS Oceana, a sizeable city with a wide-ranging residential area that offers much to the military communities in its boundaries. It was the only air station considered for Super Hornet basing that met all the Navy's detailed requirements for operational readiness, layout, and location. The other two sites—MCAS Cherry Point (at Havelock) and MCAS Beaufort, South Carolina—failed the test.
The Beaufort base houses the 2d Marine Aircraft Wing's (MAW's) F/A-18 fleet and two Navy F/A-18C squadrons transplanted from NAS Cecil Field, Florida, when that base was closed. The base at Beaufort has infrastructure in place to help support Navy Hornet squadrons, but it was not one of the preferred alternatives. Instead, Cherry Point was selected-the home of the 2d MAW's AV-8 Harrier fleet, which has no F/A-18-specific infrastructure.
Rather than buying the Super Hornet, the Corps is awaiting the short takeoff and vertical landing version of the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF). The JSF, however, is in direct competition with the Super Hornet (and the Air Force's F-22) for aircraft procurement dollars. Why should the Marines support the Super Hornet, an aircraft they do not intend to procure?
It is equally intriguing that the Navy chose alternatives that split the new Super Hornet fleet. A corporate chief executive officer who viewed the decision probably would conclude that keeping all like aircraft at a single location near the carriers—the "customer"—and their established support infrastructure—the "supplier"—would make the most business sense. Navy F/A-18E/F squadrons at MCAS Cherry Point would be 160 miles away from NAS Oceana: their air wing headquarters, type wing commander, weapon school, training squadron, extensive support infrastructure, and the carriers.
The burden of the split-basing decision will be put on the officers and sailors who have to make it work, and on taxpayers who will have to fund substantial improvements at Cherry Point. The costs needed to upgrade facilities there would be spent better on other military construction projects for the Navy and Marine Corps.
One of the Navy's key goals is quality of life, redefined as quality of service by the Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Vern Clark. He has underscored its importance in the battle for retention of personnel. Virginia Beach offers an outstanding quality of life, spousal employment opportunities, numerous recreational activities, and exceptional public schools. Unquestionably, it is a larger and far more attractive community for sailors and their families than Havelock, North Carolina. The Navy should realize this decision will have a significant effect on quality of service. Minimizing the administration of permanent change of station moves eases the lives of sailors and their families—and it saves money.
The Noise Factor
The only unfortunate consequence of basing Super Hornets at NAS Oceana is the marked increase in jet noise over the older model Hornets and F-14 Tomcats. Developers and homeowners looking for reasonably priced homes have surrounded the base, thus creating a David-and-Goliath battle that pits the Navy against a small but vocal minority. No doubt, Citizens Concerned About Jet Noise (CCAJN) bears much responsibility for convincing the Navy to shift aircraft to Cherry Point. The group's chairman (a retired Navy captain) stated publicly that his group will not be satisfied unless four F/A-18E/F squadrons go to Cherry Point.
Jet noise has been a constant presence around Oceana for 50 years. The vast majority of CCAJN members and property owners who now complain about noise made their purchases long after jets came to the area. For many years, new homeowners have had to sign noise disclosure statements before they bought homes. Even so, those who made poor buying decisions in the face of such disclosures apparently have succeeded in forcing the Navy to come down on the side of aircraft relocation.
The EIS of July 2002 expressed the need to place an outlying field in one of two locations south of Oceana in North Carolina. A new OLF would allow Super Hornets to conduct field carrier landing practices farther away from populated areas. This essential training permits pilots to sharpen their skills in the landing pattern at the same elevation and throttle settings used on board carriers. Despite NAS Oceana's most earnest efforts to keep peace with its neighbors, Fentress Field, the OLF seven miles south of the base, has come under increasing attack by CCAJN and other citizens who purchased homes nearby.
Conclusions
A member of the U.S. Congress should request a nonpartisan Congressional Research Service study or Government Accounting Office investigation of the various home-basing options for the Super Hornets. At the same time, the Navy could contract for an independent study to examine the merits of the alternatives. Splitting up the F/A-18E/F squadrons is bound to impose heavy costs—direct and indirect—on taxpayers and sailors.
Commander Denneny, an F-14 intercept officer, is the executive office of Fighter Squadron 2 at NAS Oceana, Virginia.