Military Installations
United States Coast Guard - Station Destin
Located on Choctawhatchee Bay at the east end of Okaloosa Island, our missions include Search and Rescue and a wide range of law enforcement activities. Since 1790 the Coast Guard has safeguarded our Nation's maritime interests and environment around the world. The Coast Guard is an adaptable, responsive military force of maritime professionals whose broad legal authorities, capable assets, geographic diversity and expansive partnerships provide a persistent presence along our rivers, in the ports, littoral regions and on the high seas. Coast Guard presence and impact is local, regional, national and international. These attributes make the Coast Guard a unique instrument of maritime safety, security and environmental stewardship.
919th Special Operations Wing - Duke Field
The 919th Special Operations Wing (SOW) employs about 1,300 reservist. Air reserve technicians, commonly referred to as ARTs, are the nucleus of the wing. They provide management continuity to keep the units combat ready/ ARTs carry dual status as full-time civil service employees for the Air Force who, as a condition of emploment, must participate as reservists/ More than 280 ARTs and 35 civilians support the wing in day-to-day operations.
Eglin Air Force Base (AFB) leads the way for Air Force and Material Command in installation excellence. The Air Armament Center, in partnership with its associate units, is the heart of the team that covers the complete weapon-system life cycle form concept through development, acquisition, experimental testing, procurement, operational testing and final employment in combat. The synergy is called, "Team Eglin".
Hurlburt Field is the home of the Air Force Special Operations Command and the only active duty Air Force Special Operations Wing. The 1st Special Operations Wing organizes trains and equips Air Force special operations forces for global deployment. It focuses on unconventional warfare, including counter-insurgency and psychological operations during low-intensity conflicts. As part of the Air Force Special Operations Command, the air arm of the U.S. Special Operations Command and at the direction of the National Command Authority, the 1st SOW deploys with specially trained and equipped forces from each service, working as a team to support national security objectives.
Naval Air Station Whiting Field
In July 2011, NAS Whiting Field celebrated its 68th year of continuous operation. What was once a field of weeds has become the backbone of the Navy's flight program. Naval Air Station Whiting Field currently hosts 6 Training Squadrons and 2 Instructor Squadrons, which is comprised of 110 T-6Bs, 74 T-34s and 124 TH-57s. The installation is composed of two separate primary airfields and uses 13 Outlying Landing Fields to support both primary and intermediate flight training. Naval Air Station Whiting Field is the busiest air station in the world, accounting for nearly 1.5 million annual flight operations including primary flight training of over 1,200 students.
U.S. Army 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne)
The 7th Special Force Group is one of five active Special Forces Groups providing specialized support to the combatant commanders. Special Forces units perform seven doctrinal missions: Unconventional Warfare, Foreign Internal Defense, Special Reconnaissance, Direct Action, Combatting Terrorism, Counter-proliferation, and Information Operations. These missions make Special Forces unique in the U.S. military, because they are employed throughout the three stages of the operational continuum: peacetime, conflict and war. On an everyday basis, Soldiers of the U.S. Army Special Forces Command (Airborne) are deployed around the world, living up to their motto - De Oppresso Liber. "To Free the Oppressed."
