THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, July 12, 1996 TAG: 9607120459
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JACK DORSEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 114 lines
For the past two years, Capt. William H. Shurtlett IV has piloted Oceana Naval Air Station through its rebirth as a master jet base that soon will be home to all Navy fighters on the East Coast.
Through base-closing decisions that briefly threatened the air station's existence, through growing pains and environmental worries, Shurtleff was there as its band master, mayor and cheerleader.
``We are ready,'' said the veteran A-6 Intruder pilot, who will leave his command for a new assignment in Hawaii.
Except for a final environmental impact statement, due next year, and a base housing squeeze that needs attention - and, as always, money - Oceana is primed to become ``Fighter Town U.S.A,'' he said.
Operationally, it's ready now to accept the new F-14 Tomcat and F/A-18 Hornet squadrons that will be drifting to the base during the next three years.
Construction of simulator and testing facilities must still take place. But if needed, the base could take on all the new squadrons today, according to Shurtleff.
Five new squadrons of F-14s are moving to Oceana in the next year from Miramar Naval Air Station near San Diego as a result of base-closing actions.
Within three years, the F-14s will be joined by 10 additional squadrons of Florida-based F/A-18 Hornets.
By then, Oceana will be able to boast that it is the country's largest Navy fighter base, with 374 aircraft and 13,000 personnel.
But gone will be Shurtleff's pride - the A-6 Intruder that he's flown for most of his 19 years in aviation. In fact, there are no A-6s now at Oceana, except for a shell on display at the base entrance.
Attack Squadron 34 is at sea aboard the carrier George Washington, and Attack Squadron 75 just left for the Mediterranean aboard the carrier Enterprise. They are the Navy's only remaining Intruder squadrons, and both will be out of the Intruder business in another year.
So, said Shurtleff, who flew the A-6 through most of his 805 carrier arrested landings - including a stint with VA-165 when he flew in the movie ``Flight of the Intruder'' - maybe it's fitting that he leave Oceana now.
``I'm real sad, and quite frankly I will miss Virginia Beach,'' said the Tucson native, who spent most of his career as a West Coast sailor.
``I was a stranger when I got here,'' he said. ``But in two years I learned a lot about Oceana, the town and community.''
He's most proud of the way the base and the Virginia Beach community worked through the base-closing issues.
``That was a rare opportunity to also develop a relationship with the city, that has had its ups and downs in the past,'' he said.
``We had to tell them we are a pretty big business and a pretty big enterprise and a pretty big part of development around here. But also . . . we are one of the best neighbors they have. We are, for the most part . . . some of the best citizens, the best volunteers, the best contributors to quality of life at the Beach.
``If I have to look back on anything, the change in the base will be an important one. But if we can keep that relationship with the city and the community that we live in, that will probably be the most long-lasting.''
Except for some housing issues coming up for bachelor sailors in 1999, Shurtleff said he sees no major hurdles facing Oceana's future.
It will be essential that Oceana provide housing to its young male and female sailors, especially those in the E-1 to E-4 pay grades who are single.
There are 2,800 beds available at the base for such personnel now. However, by 1999 - when the new squadrons have all arrived - there could be a shortage of 800 if money for new barracks isn't provided, he said.
``The proposal to build them slipped (in the military construction budget) from 1999 to 2000. We're looking at alternatives, at additional quarters at other bases, busing, or other forms of transportation.''
It is difficult for such personnel to obtain short-term leasing of apartments, particularly in resort areas such as Virginia Beach, said Shurtleff.
Sailors attached to the squadrons are deployed for six months of the year and spend as much as 50 percent of the rest of the year aboard ship performing training.
``They are not going to pay for something they never see, or live in. So the junior sea-duty sailors will need a place to live,'' he said.
Shurtleff hopes the private sector can help.
``I think the developers and Realtors are starting to realize they see a growth opportunity here that needs to be provided,'' he said. ``Then they'll probably step up to the plate in the next year as they see the process moving on.
``It's a problem we know we are facing and we are trying to evaluate the options right now.''
Shurtleff, who is to become assistant chief of staff for manpower and personnel for the Pacific Fleet, is turning over his command to Capt. Stephen Eric Benson, a familiar face around Oceana.
Benson, a radar intercept officer in the F-14, previously commanded the ``Black Aces'' of VF-41 at Oceana. He comes from his most recent assignment in Colorado Springs as chief of the space systems and requirements division of the U.S. Space Command. ILLUSTRATION: JIM WALKER
The Virginian-Pilot
Capt. William H. Shurtlett IV, the commanding officer of Oceana
Naval Air Station for the past two years, is going to new duties in
Hawaii. He says the Virginia Beach base is prepared for any future
assignment. In three years, Oceana will be the country's largest
Navy fighter base. by CNB