F-14 Tomcat retirement (2006)
The U.S. Navy retired its F-14 Tomcat fighter in 2006, phasing out the aircraft at Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia Beach. Maintenance units and the contractors supporting them shifted to the F/A-18.
Maintenance workers retooled for the F/A-18 or left the base's workforce as the older aircraft were removed.
Oceana settled into an all-F/A-18 carrier air wing structure, keeping permanent maintenance demand but reducing aircraft types.
Shows how a change in Navy aircraft operations directly shapes maintenance contractor jobs in Virginia Beach.
