Naval Air Station Oceana — Local services in Virginia Beach

Probably not a good idea to let someone on the base without proper form of ID, especially at such a time as this.

On the evening of 28JUL2024 going into 29JUL2024, at approximately 23:59, myself and my 3 khakis approached the gate in a white 4 door sedan. Rolling down the window, I stated to the gate guard, whom I had never seen before in my entirety of existence, that I had a concern about a leak that was present off base. He waved me onboard, and stated for me to go to the precinct up the street. Mind you, I was sporting a gray T-shirt and black jeans, not at all military attire. He appeared to recognize me, which I could tell based upon his facial reaction and other nonverbal communication he displayed when I first rolled my window down; thus, I imagined this was the true reason he waived me onboard, violating protocol as he did so.

Rather than going where he directed, I hung a left and waited a bit to observe what would happen next. To me, it was odd that there were many vehicles circulating around the base this time of night, as it was a Sunday evening and not at all an evening preceding a bank holiday.

After this, I ran a few tests in an old building, but was thwarted by an intruder who had come in and was not at all supposed to be there. How he got in, I know not; but he was a threat to our lives, so we ran and made an escape.

We decided to leave out of the opening near the 3rd gate, which had allowed a way for people to sneak on and off base for the entirety of the construction project; however, as I was attempting to exit, I got stuck. Later, I discovered the opening had been closed up, and the construction project was almost completed, if not entirely completed.

Making our way in the darkness of night, we attempted to go the easy route to our backup vehicle, which was already waiting and available on base for our use. Unfortunately, we took some wrong turns, and had to eventually hop the fence to exit the base, before going all the way back around to enter the front gate all over again.

Oddly, at around 03:00, we 4 approached the front gate on foot, and the same man who was present at 23:59 didn't even recognize us from before. His demeanor seemed different as well. We presented to him all of our proper credentials for entering base, based upon known protocol, and we were allowed onboard.

After, we headed for the car, a black 4 door hatchback, and exited the premises. What happened after that...

The 2025 airshow was ok BUT no traffic direction to leave the parking lot directly behind the air control tower. We sat here for over an hour with no movement. You would think you could coordinate traffic flow better. This isn't your first rodeo. DO BETTER!!! AND ANOTHER THING...We parked where they had handicap parking. When we arrived to the airshow we did get a ride from a person in a golf cart for "special needs" because I cannot walk very well due to surgery. We sat in our chairs behind center stage but we were not in the special seating "chalet/bleachers". After the airshow my husband asked one of the special needs golf cart people if we could have a ride to the parking lot. He said no because all special needs carts were being used only for people who BOUGHT tickets in the special seating regardless if they were handicap or not. They were told to empty that seating first before helping anyone else. WOW. As I struggled walking to our car the golfcarts were passing us with people who were plenty capable of walking. And on their way back we tried to ask for a ride again and the young woman said she wasn't allowed to stop. She had to go back to special seating area. Like I said earlier...

Apparently the staff that is in charge of logistics hasn’t learned a thing over the years. I must say the show was outstanding but parking, food and getting off base after the show was one of the most awful experiences I’ve ever had! No food can be brought in so the food venters can charge exorbitant prices ($5.00 for a lousy hot dog. $14.00 for an individual pizza). I could go on but if you were there you know it was price gouging at it greatest. Was the base getting a cut? The parking wasn’t marked so many got lost getting back to their cars! Large letters on poles would help identify your location, not letters on barrels. And I had to walk + 3/4 of a mile to just get to the check in gate! The porta-potties were NOT space out, like in the parking lot and various areas around the displays. They were all lined up in front of the food vendors and blocking the view of the runway. When you’ve got to go you shouldn’t have to walk/run almost a mile to get to a ports-potty! Last of all WHY DID EVERYONE HAVE TO LEAVE BY THE FRONT GATE??? 2 hours to get of the NAS. Get some logisticians in there that know how to set up an AIRSHOW. Dover AFB knows what...