Naval Air Station Oceana, located in Virginia Beach, Virginia, is a Navy Master Jet Base. It’s commonly called NAS Oceana, or the Apollo Soucek field. Apollo Saucek was a navy test pilot, and a world-record holder in 1930 for the highest altitude reached. Saucek reached a maximum altitude of 43,166 feet in a Curtis Hawk Biplane.
Naval Air Station Oceana has its roots in 1940, when the Navy bought the land that would later become the only Master Jet Base on the east coast. Naval Air Station Oceana was commissioned in 1943, and is currently commanded by Captain Mark R. Hunter. Today, the base is home to 17 squadrons of F/A-18 Hornets and F/A-18 Super Hornets, some of the most formidable jets in the skies today. The base is also an alternative landing area for NASA Space Shuttles, though it has yet to be used by NASA. There are many other squadrons stationed at NAS Oceana, as well as several tenant commands, which are too many in number to list.