Will Navy jets stay in North Carolina?

Opponents of the Navy’s proposed outlying landing field have argued for years that North Carolina isn’t getting enough out of a deal where most of the new FA 18 Super Hornet jets will go to Naval Air Station Oceana near Virginia Beach and only two squadrons of 24 jets to Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point in North Carolina. They argue, rightly, that that’s a poor price for the Navy’s proposal to put the field near the Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in northeastern North Carolina. A lot of folks remember what happened the last time the state was supposed to get more jets – and after the Base Realignment and Closure Commission did its work, the jets went elsewhere.
A sharp-eyed Internet surfer, Dayna Matkins, sent along a link to a Navy document produced in late 2004 that seems to suggest the Navy has no plans to keep FA 18 Super Hornets in North Carolina for very long. The report, titled “Navy Ashore 2030,” says it “provides a road map for transforming the Navy’s shore installations.” On page 29 there’s a graphic showing “East Coast Aviation Ranges.” It doesn’t show any outlying landing fields, but that’s not what’s interesting. It does show 213 FA 18s at Oceana, and 20 of them at an air base in Beaufort, South Carolina, but none at Cherry Point in North Carolina – only 20 EA6B aircraft.
No wonder folks in Eastern North Carolina are doubtful, to say the least, about the Navy’s intentions. I had hoped to ask the Navy about that during an editorial board meeting at the Observer today, but the Navy cancelled its plans to come by because of a change in travel plans.
One postscript: A former congressional staffer familiar with the OLF situation and the Navy’s long-range planning said he doubted the “Navy Ashore 2030” is authoritative about the Navy’s plans, or where it might base planes 23 years from now. He may have a point, but a lot of skeptical folks would argue that they can only go by what’s on the record, and when the Navy publishes a report showing no FA 18s in North Carolina but lots of them in Virginia and some in South Carolina, they naturally think that means none in North Carolina.