BY RAY McALLISTER Times-Dispatch Staff Writer

In 1940, the U.S. government bought 329 acres in Virginia Beach and three years later used the land to open a small auxiliary air field for Norfolk's military complex.

There's nothing small about it now.

Today, the mammoth Oceana Naval Air Station dwarfs those World War II roots. Oceana and an annex have expanded to include nearly 8,000 acres, with more than 6 miles of runways that pilots use for more than 250,000 takeoffs and landings each year.

The base isn't measured in just physical size, either.

At her State of the City speech in March, Virginia Beach Mayor Meyera E. Oberndorf said Oceana and its Dam Neck annex employ almost 17,000 military and civilian employees. Their combined payroll is more than $1 billion and their economic impact is more than $400 million in contracts, goods and services.

It's no surprise Virginia leaders in Congress fought to keep Oceana, a so-called Master Jet Base that operates 24 hours a day to serve both assigned squadrons and transient military air traffic.

In 2005, a federal base-closing commission ordered the noisy Navy jets moved to Jacksonville, Fla., as suburbs encroached on Oceana. Jacksonville's City Council and voters both rejected the jets. Just to be sure, though, Virginia Beach and the state of Virginia filed federal lawsuits.

Virginia Beach also is home to the 2,000-acre Little Creek Naval Amphibious Base, which likewise originated during World War II.

Little Creek is the largest base of its kind in the world, providing support to more than 15,000 personnel of 27 home-ported ships and 78 other activities, according to its Web site. The base's combination of operational, support and training facilities are geared predominantly to amphibious operations, making the base unique among bases of the United States and allied navies.

Oberndorf said 10 percent to 20 percent of the city's population belong to the military. She calls them one leg of the three-legged stand that is Virginia Beach, along with tourism and agribusiness.

"People sometimes think folks live all on base, but they don't," Oberndorf said during a recent interview. "They live in the economy. They go to movies, they buy goods and services." The well-paying jobs lead to big-ticket purchases, too, such as homes and cars.

The impact is not merely financial.

"Having the United States military here is a wonderful expansion of the Virginia Beach family," Oberndorf said.

"They and their families make an enormous contribution to scouting, to the churches and synagogues. They're the ones who coach our teams, the soccer teams, the softball teams. They staff the PTA. . . . There could not be a 'Clean the Bay Day' each year were it not for the young people of the military."

Surrounding cities charge for ambulance calls, usually $300 to $500, Oberndorf added. A number of emergency medical technicians in Virginia Beach are military volunteers, both active and retired military personnel.

"It saves the taxpayers a bundle of money," she said. "We are the largest city in the commonwealth and we do not charge you when you call for an ambulance."

Contact Ray McAllister at (804) 649-6333 or rmcallister@timesdispatch.com.