I was living in a military town during Desert Storm and it basically dried up. And at that point all the people that thought the military needed to go somewhere else we’re crying the blues because sales were way down. I think it’s sort of brought them around to The Facts-of-Life regarding the monetary influence that a military base or two brings to a local area.
I like to vacation on the Outer Banks (well, my wife likes it).
Locals hate the Navy, hate tourists, and have told me “just go home!”
When I point out the only reason that place exist is tourism, and that they would be unemployed pretty quickly (and are three months out of the year), most calm down. When I point out that Navy families are a more consistent presence than tourists, they still get mad and demand the Navy not be allowed in.
People are stupid.
Back in the 60s during the Pueblo Incident my oldest brother was a F-4D maintainer at Seymour Johnson AFB, Goldsboro, NC. The entire fighter wing (the Wing Commander was Chuck Yeager) packed up and left for South Korea, except for a "hanger queen," some security troops, and a small contingent of base support personnel.
There was always a bit of animosity between the base and downtown but for 13 months there was no one around and Goldsboro almost went bankrupt. When they all returned my brother told us the entire town was beyond happy to have the Air Force back.