
DATE: Sunday, September 21, 1997            TAG: 9709210094

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY ADAM BERNSTEIN, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                    LENGTH:   93 lines

BASE AIM: WOO THE NOISE-WARY

One day in 1944, Oceana Naval Air Station's first commanding officer, Jesse Fairley, took a call from an angry teacher. She didn't like the noisy airplane motors disrupting her class.

At the 39th annual Neptune Festival Air Show on Saturday, in the company of the current commander, Fairley, now 90, recounted his response.

``I said, `Lady, would you rather hear the noise, or see and hear bombs dropping in?' ''

``I never heard from her again.''

That was wartime. But blast forward about 50 years, and Commanding Officer Capt. Eric Benson will explain how he knew an expanding Oceana - with maybe 180 afterburner-clad F/A-18 Hornets in tow- would be the community-relations bomb he might have to defuse during his term.

If the Environmental Protection Agency approves the move, Oceana might get 180 more F/A-18s and 5,600 new employees - and their families. The question hinges on the terrific economic benefit of more people and planes vs. quality-of-life issues, such as increased noise, traffic and filled-to-capacity schools.

Benson said the air show, which runs until today, is a natural way for the base to foster good community relations.

``We don't have many tools where we can integrate ourselves in the community, to show the Navy in a positive fashion that perhaps offsets the bad aspects of jet noise,'' said Benson.

At this year's show, ``you'll see a fleet led by F-14s but followed by F/A-18s,'' he said. ``We want people to see there are changes at Oceana, and those changes include F/A-18s.

``It's a minor point, perhaps, but we want to make our intentions as positive as we can.''

Benson even has adopted the moniker ``the Mayor of Oceana'' - a deliberate attempt, he said, to show that the base of more than 8,000 military and civilian employees is ``a little city.'' The base even has a public works and government department, he added.

``My biggest problem right now is to make sure we're good neighbors, to integrate ourselves properly,'' Benson said.

So, this year's festival has an expanded scope. For starters, there are 50 percent more flying acts, Benson said. That includes a Friday night air show with airplanes spewing out, as one spectator described it, ``a golden ribbon of fireworks.''

Dozens of businesses also set up kiosks for the first-ever business exposition at the show.

Most important, Benson said, the festival has children's games, including a merry-go-round and a laser-based tag game. The focus on children, he stressed, is meant to show the Navy as a community partner, not an adversary.

Most local dignitaries will appear today at the commanding officer's ``chalet'' - a large tent. More than 300 people, including current and retired military personnel and their families, crammed in on Saturday.

Everyone in that tent, enjoying free, cool beer and barbecued meatballs, was a die-hard Navy supporter. Benson was there to greet all of them.

``There was a time when (an) armed truce . . . existed between the Navy and the community,'' Virginia Beach Commonwealth's Attorney Bob Humphreys said.

Then word came, in 1993, that Oceana might be shut down. ``We saw how much we benefited'' from the base, in terms of taxes and consumer spending,'' Humphreys said. ``It was win-win all the way around.''

Throughout the day, the show's undetermined number of visitors got a peek at that ``win-win'' situation. The Red Baron Stearman Squadron, a corps of four biplanes, painted the skies with colorful exhaust.

At various times, a fleet of F-14s and a few Canadian F/A-18s burst through the sky, showing off their maneuverability. A 1957 Chevy truck that could go from 0 to 300 mph in 10 seconds raced a Tomcat jet - and won.

Afterburners were heard all afternoon, as the entire sky shook with a forceful, bass vibrato.

In contrast, a B-2 stealth bomber glided through the clearest of clear-day skies, in an ominous whisper. ILLUSTRATION: TING-LI WANG COLOR PHOTOS/The Virginian Pilot

Canadian Sky Hawks paint the sky over Oceana Naval Air Station

during the 39th annual Neptune Festival Air Show. The possible

expansion of the base would involve gaining 180 F/A-18 Hornets,

5,600 new employees and their families. With Oceana facing

noise-wary critics, the base tried to demonstrate a

community-friendly atmosphere at the air show, which featured a

business expo.

Capt. Eric Benson, right, commanding officer of Oceana, talks to

Robert Garrett while at the air show. Striving to portray the base

as ``a little city,'' Benson has adopted the title ``Mayor of

Oceana.''

Photo