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Naval Air Station Oceana
United States Navy airport in Virginia / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Naval Air Station (NAS) Oceana or NAS Oceana (IATA: NTU, ICAO: KNTU, FAA LID: NTU) is a United States Navy Naval Air Station located in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
![]() | This article needs to be updated. (August 2020) |
Naval Air Station Oceana | |||||||||||||
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Apollo Soucek Field | |||||||||||||
Virginia Beach, Virginia in the United States | |||||||||||||
![]() F/A-18D Hornets of VFA-106 performs a section take-off from NAS Oceana during 2003. | |||||||||||||
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Coordinates | 36°49′14″N 76°02′00″W | ||||||||||||
Type | Naval Air Station (Master jet base) | ||||||||||||
Site information | |||||||||||||
Owner | Department of Defense | ||||||||||||
Operator | US Navy | ||||||||||||
Controlled by | Navy Region Mid-Atlantic | ||||||||||||
Condition | Operational | ||||||||||||
Website | Official website | ||||||||||||
Site history | |||||||||||||
Built | 1941 – 1943 (1943) | ||||||||||||
In use | 1943 – present | ||||||||||||
Garrison information | |||||||||||||
Current commander | Captain Josh Appezzato | ||||||||||||
Garrison | Strike Fighter Wing Atlantic | ||||||||||||
Airfield information | |||||||||||||
Identifiers | IATA: NTU, ICAO: KNTU, FAA LID: NTU, WMO: 723075 | ||||||||||||
Elevation | 6.7 metres (22 ft) AMSL | ||||||||||||
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Source: Federal Aviation Administration[1] |
The station is located on 23.9 square kilometers. It has total of 250 aircraft deployed and buildings valued at $800 million in plant replacement value. The total Navy community (which includes spouses) numbers around 20,000 people.[2]
The base is under the jurisdiction of Navy Region Mid-Atlantic and is the headquarters of Strike Fighter Wing Atlantic and Carrier Air Wings 1, 3, 7 and 8. As home to all East Coast strike fighter jet squadrons, the Naval Air Station is classified as a master jet base.
The airfield is 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.
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. 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, VA. 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.