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Military Projects Could Bring 6,241 Jobs to Okaloosa
 F-35 training could take place at Eglin. |
In an economic developer’s dream come true, two new projects heading to Okaloosa County promise to bring $750 million in construction, 10,000-plus new residents, scores of subcontractor jobs and an international technical training school that, as a fringe benefit, could introduce students from a dozen countries to the area’s tourism assets. The deals also come with a patriotic essence, stemming from the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure decisions.
The Air Force recently gave final approval to moving the Army’s 7th Special Forces by fall 2011 to a new, 500-acre Army camp to be created west of Duke Field on Eglin Air Force land. Advance members of the 2,200-member military group could start trickling in this spring, says Jim Breitenfeld, manager of the defense support initiative for Okaloosa’s economic development council. Spouses and children will add about 3,850 additional newcomers.
Construction on the projects is expected to start this spring.
The Air Force also tentatively approved establishing the Joint Strike Fighter initial training school at Eglin, locking in $250 million for construction. A final decision will be made after supplemental studies on mitigating the new F-35 fighter’s noise impact. Arrival of some 2,300 Air Force personnel and contractors and 2,500 family members, plus 107 aircraft, would ramp up between 2010 and 2016. An earlier decision, meanwhile, calls for drawdown of the Air Force’s 33rd Fighter Wing at Eglin, a move in process involving some-2,800 personnel.
The noise levels from F-35s, said to be at least twice that of the aircraft they’re replacing, trouble residents of Valparaiso, which sits along the path of an Eglin runway. Mayor Bruce Arnold estimates more than half of the town’s 6,400 residents may need to sound-deaden their homes. “A new runway would be a win-win for everybody,’’ says Arnold, who earlier sued to gain access to mitigation discussions. Lately, he has been encouraged by the Air Force’s apparent willingness to include city officials.
The start of construction alone is expected to trigger a positive economic turnaround. Says Okaloosa EDC President Larry Sassano: “We need that jolt.”
