Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Above: In Fort Walton Beach, Fla., tourism and the military jockey for space. Below: A mural dedicated to the memory of Sept. 11 is on the side of a building on Miracle Strip.
FORT WALTON BEACH, Fla. —Northwest Florida’s Emerald Coast has more to boast of than sand like sugar and turquoise water. It is home to the nation’s largest Department of Defense installation: Eglin Air Force Base.
Two other bases, which combined are almost triple the size of Cannon Air Force Base, lie within a 50-mile radius of Eglin.
Roughly 24,000 civilian and military personnel are employed at the base, according to Fort Walton Beach City Manager Joyce Shanahan.
Another 9,000 or so active-duty personnel are stationed at Hurlburt Field, the hub of the Air Force Special Operations Command. Add to that the 1,300 reservists and 300 full-time civilian service personnel at Duke Field, the home of the 919th Special Operations Reserve Wing, and the cocktail that is the Florida Panhandle assumes some shape.
Destined for Eglin in the next few years is an extra 2,000 troops, a decree of BRAC 2005.
“The (military) has a significant impact on our economy, no doubt about it,” Shanahan said.
“They are eating at our restaurants, attending our schools and living in homes in our county,” she said.
A study conducted in 2002 determined the military contributed $970 million in direct spending to the region’s economy, Shanahan said.
Another $472 million sustains Department of Defense contracts in Okaloosa County, where Fort Walton sits, according to Shanahan. The government sheds $170 million a year in indirect payroll for its military retirees settled in the area.
“Those folks that move here tend to stay here,” Shanahan said.
