Monday is Veteran’s Day all over the country but in Hampton Roads, a region known as one of the most military populated in the world, the federal holiday is more than just a day off for its more than 150,000 active duty and civilian personnel.
Here are five more things to know about the military in Hampton Roads.
- Hampton Roads is Navy heavy: Not only is Naval Station Norfolk the largest Naval station in the world, but it’s also the largest military station in the world based on its population of nearly 70,000 military and civilian personnel, according to the Hampton Roads Chamber.
- The economy depends on defense spending: Officials at the Hampton Roads Chamber also note on its website, the only NATO command on U.S. soil is in Norfolk and Department of Defense spending accounts for over 45 percent of all regional economic activity.
- Services integrate: Even after four bases combined by 2010 to become joint bases, Hampton Roads is still home to seven military installations:
- Joint Base Langley-Eustis
- Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story
- Fifth Coast Guard District
- Marine Corps Forces Command
- Naval Air Station Oceana – Virginia Beach
- Naval Air Station Oceana – Dam Neck
- Naval Medical Center Portsmouth
- Naval Station Norfolk
- The Peninsula: Of all the military installations in Hampton Roads, only Joint Base Langley-Eustis hosts a population of more than 100,000 affiliated including Guard and Reserve units, military family members, and Non-Appropriated Fund employees on the Peninsula in Hampton and Newport News.
- The region’s workforce are veterans: “Each year, roughly 13,000 military personnel leave their respective branches of service and enter the private sector, offering businesses in the region an abundance of skilled, experienced, and highly disciplined workers,” according to the Hampton Roads Chamber’s website.
