The Military’s Presence Makes a Mark on Okaloosa County, FL
When visitors arrive in Okaloosa County, one of the first things they notice is the sounds. Fighter jets fly overhead, ordnance tests boom and highly specialized troops train.
Residents have a simple explanation for this cacophony, according to retired Air Force Col. Allison Black.
“You always hear the community say, ‘Ah, that’s the sound of freedom,’” Black says. “Our community takes pride in the things that we’re able to do.”
This section of the Florida panhandle is home to both Eglin Air Force Base (AFB) and Hurlburt Field. With personnel from several branches of the military stationed here and many civilian jobs on base, Okaloosa County remains strongly invested in and proud of the area’s massive military presence.
The most prominent aspect of this presence is Eglin AFB. Spanning 640 square miles, it’s the largest Air Force installation in the world and a major economic driver in the area, according to Okaloosa County’s website.
Eglin Air Force Base is by far the largest employer in the county between military personnel, defense contractors and support services accounting for 78,757 jobs or 72% of the local economy, the county’s website says. In addition to the billions of dollars in direct spending, the economic churn is multiplied two more times in community economic impact, the county says.
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Multiple Branches, Countless Missions
Today, Eglin houses the Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC), the 33rd Fighter Wing and the 96th Test Wing, among others. Eglin is also home to the Army’s 7th Special Forces Group and the 6th Ranger Training Battalion, which holds the third and final phase of its Ranger School in Okaloosa County’s shoreline and swamps.
The base started as an Army Air Corps installation just before the U.S. entered World War II, an era that predates the Air Force. Having grown up in Fort Walton Beach, retired Army 1st Sgt. Tom Rice knows very well that many people think of Eglin primarily as an Air Force facility.
After finishing high school in 1966 and attending junior college, Rice was drafted during the Vietnam War. However, his father, an Army Ranger based out of Eglin, and brother were already deployed, so he remained at Fort Lewis in Washington because of the sole surviving son directive.
“We were an Army family in an Air Force town. That made it interesting,” says Rice, whose military career lasted nearly 30 years with a final deployment during Operation Desert Storm.
Nearby Hurlburt Field is a more straightforward Air Force facility. It provides a base of operations for the 1st Special Operations Wing, which is part of AFSOC, and employs roughly 8,600 military and 4,300 civilian personnel.
Salute to Service Members
Although the military activities occur behind the gates of Eglin and Hurlburt, the community’s support is essential in helping men and women in uniform and their families.
“We sacrifice, and we’ll pick up on a moment’s notice with our go bags because we believe in our freedoms,” Black says. “But we do it because we know the community is going to be there for us.”
For Rice, one of the most impressive examples of community support was when a group began working to create a monument to veterans in 2013. Unless residents had clearance to go on base, there weren’t many public spaces for reflection, so they wanted to build a clocktower with a bell that would ring out.
A representative of the company they were working with suggested finding a few community members who would donate $50,000 to meet the fundraising goal, but that didn’t feel like the right approach. Instead, they put up donation boxes at every local restaurant, store or other location that would allow it.
On Sept. 11, 2014, the community celebrated the new monument. Sen. Rick Scott, then the state’s governor, attended and helped ring the bell tower carillon. It was powerful knowing so many people had made an effort to honor the area’s veterans.
In so many ways, the veteran community continues to give back to the area. Florida has recognized these civic-minded contributions at its Veterans Hall of Fame at the statehouse in Tallahassee.
“The Florida Veterans Hall of Fame is all about what they’ve done – what service have they been to their fellow man? – after their service in the military,” Rice says. “So we’re very proud to have nine in Okaloosa County.”
Past & Present
Okaloosa County offers the perfect live-work lifestyle for former and current military members
Growing up on Long Island, Allison Black wasn’t sure what to do with her life. But she knew she wanted to be a part of something bigger than herself. In March 1992, she enlisted in the U.S. Air Force.
“As I reflect on that time, I was in search of a challenge, in search of a mission and in search of a sense of purpose,” she says.
That journey led Black to many new challenges and brought her to Okaloosa County. As she transitions into civilian life after more than three decades in the Air Force, one thing is certain – she doesn’t plan to leave this stretch of the Florida panhandle. And she’s not alone.
Veterans make up a major portion of the area’s workforce and 16% of the county’s population, according to One Okaloosa EDC.
“Veterans consistently cite the community’s educational and employment opportunities (many of which closely align with the skills and experience they attained in the military) as factors in their decision to permanently locate here following their time of service,” the organization says.
Career Success
Black’s first role in the Air Force was as a survival, evasion, resistance and escape specialist in Spokane, Washington, and Fairbanks, Alaska. After earning a bachelor’s degree and completing officer training school, she worked in Pensacola as a navigator, which was her first tour in the Florida panhandle.
In 2000, Black arrived in Okaloosa County as a navigator for AC 130H “Spectre” gunships based at Hurlburt Field. Besides stints at the Pentagon and in Tampa, she would spend the rest of her career at Hurlburt, eventually as commander of the 1st Special Operations Wing.
“We sacrifice, and we’ll pick up on a moment’s notice with our go bags because we believe in our freedoms. But we do it because we know the community is going to be there for us.”
Allison Black
Air Force
Black believes these successes reflect more than her drive and willingness to take on challenges.
“It was the impact of others on me,” she says. “It was the fingerprints of folks along the way who held me accountable when I screwed things up, who lifted me up when my spirit was down, who had my back all day long.”
In early 2024, Black was ready for a change. She wouldn’t trade her Air Force experiences, but she wanted to spend more time with her husband, Ryan, who also served in the Air Force for two decades, and their two sons.
While many choices lie ahead, where to live was not one.
The relationshipsshe has formed in Okaloosa County and the way the community supports its veterans made that decision for her.
“It is clear as day that, for our family, this is where we wanted to dig in our heels,” she says. “And it was a no-brainer for us to make the decision to stay.”
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