We speculated last August that NAS Oceana, Va., would not close when Congressional defense powerhouse Sen. John Warner (R-Va.) took up the cause during BRAC 2005 deliberations. And, in fact, the BRAC commission did issue somewhat of a reprieve, giving Virginia time to work out encroachment issues. However, according to the DOD inspector general the state and the communities around Oceana have reneged on their side of the deal. The BRAC law required the IG to certify by June 1 whether “specified actions” were taken to mitigate the “incompatible use property” within one of the jet base’s crash zones. The IG’s May 24 report says the “actions taken, however, did not satisfy the criterion.” So, is the ball back in Florida’s court?.
The Air Force is seeking funding to let its pilots fly a little more than 1.1 million hours in fiscal 2027, which would be the most in about four years. But even if Airmen actually do fly all 1.1 million hours, it would still be short of the 1.3 million…