Naval Air Station Oceana to welcome new leadership

Base set for change of command today

VIRGINIA BEACH — Naval Air Station Oceana will bid fair winds and following seas to its commanding officer today as the installation welcomes new leadership.

Capt. Steve Djunaedi will become the air station’s 48th commanding officer during a change-of-command ceremony today at the Center for Naval Aviation and Technical Training Unit. He will relieve Capt. Bob Holmes, the base’s commanding officer since Aug. 5, 2021.

Djunaedi assumes the position of commanding officer of the East Coast’s hub of naval aviation after a stint as the installation’s executive officer.

Djunaedi graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1997 with a bachelor’s degree in political science. He was designated a Naval Flight Officer in April 1999. He later graduated from the Naval Postgraduate School with an executive master’s in business administration. Djunaedi’s operational assignments were with Fighter Squadron 211 and Strike Fighter Squadron 213 Blacklions. He also served as the executive officer and commanding officer of VFA-154 Black Knights, and as the “air boss” on the USS Harry S. Truman, with deployments to support Operation Southern Watch,

Enduring Freedom and Inherent Resolve.

Ashore, Djunaedi served as an instructor at Strike Fighter Weapons School, Atlantic and as a joint staff liaison officer at NATO’s Headquarters Supreme Allied Command Transformation.

Holmes will retire after a 27-year Naval career. He previously served as the executive officer and commanding officer of Electronic Attack Squadron 132; as a policy analyst for the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy; and as executive assistant to the commander of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command.