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III: Military aviation ‘Aviation is proof that, given the will, we have the capacity to achieve the impossible.’ - Eddie Rickenbacker, 1890-1973 U.S. Air Force photo Gulf Coast Aerospace Corridor 2019-2020 – 36 Chapter III: Military aviation Military aviation key to region Damage from a hurricane Chapter highlights • Hurricane Michael causes mission altered one base’s mission, change at Tyndall Air Force Base but the region remains a • Gulf Coast is a vast technical multibillion-dollar military schoolhouse for all the services • Region provides initial and advanced aviation fortress flight training for military aviators • DoD sites here valued at $25 billion, hen Hurricane Michael hit Pa- aviation bases at $21.9 billion nama City, Fla., in October 2018, it brought death and destruction, • Region contractors awarded $95.5 and also changed the future for billion in contracts between 2000-2017 Wone of the region’s premier bases. Tyndall Air Force Base, where every F-22 depth of talent, the businesses awarded con- fighter pilot was trained, suffered damage or tracts or their critical missions, the Gulf Coast’s destruction to 90 percent of its buildings. Al- military bases are a multibillion-dollar ongoing though the base is being rebuilt, the F-22 train- asset for the region. ing is gone. Instead, Tyndall will be the future The Gulf Coast is one of the most military home of up to three F-35 squadrons. friendly regions in the nation, a place where the The Category 5 hurricane was just one of the roar of a jet or distant rumble of exploded mu- significant developments for military aviation in nitions are considered the sounds of freedom. the region since the last aerospace book was According to the Department of Defense Base published in 2017. Structure Report FY 2018 , a summary of the mili- • Eglin will be getting an additional F-35 tary’s real property inventory, there are 44 DoD training squadron properties in the corridor between New Orleans • The 4th Special Operations Squadron took and Panama City, Fla. That includes bases and possession of an upgraded gunship associated annexes with a combined replace- • Air Force will put mini-detachments of AT- ment value of nearly $25 billion. 6 and A-29 turboprops at Hurlburt Field Of that, the aviation-focused military bases • Naval Air Station Whiting Field received had a combined replacement value of more than new helicopter training simulators and a $21.9 billion - include outlying fields and other new outlying field aviation-related annexes and it goes up another • AR-22 engine for DARPA’s Phantom Ex- $1 billion-plus. press spacecraft was assembled and tested The bases account for a large amount of in- at Stennis Space Center coming dollars through active and retiree pay- No matter how you look at it, whether it’s rolls, as well the contracts awarded to local com- through the value of their infrastructure, their panies for work here and elsewhere. Between Photo page 36 : An F-35 Joint Strike Fighter gets its fuel replenished by an aerial tanker. Gulf Coast Aerospace Corridor 2019-2020 – 37 Chapter III: Military aviation 2000 and 2017, 5,153 contractors in 19 I-10 ing as pillars of their economies. While there is counties/parishes were awarded 111,732 DoD almost no place on the Gulf Coast between contracts valued at more than $95.5 billion. New Orleans and Northwest Florida where the Work ranged from crucial military programs to presence of the military or Coast Guard isn’t simple maintenance and more. felt, Northwest Florida and South Mississippi The range of military activities in the region is have the most bases in the region. considerable. The Navy Blue Angels flight dem- onstration team is headquartered at Naval Air FLORIDA Station Pensacola, Fla., and the Air Force trains There are 188 Department of Defense sites in pilots to fly the fifth-generation F-35 at Eglin Florida with all military branches represented. Air Force Base, Fla. DoD’s base structure report of 2018 lists 132 It’s also home to the Air Force Special Opera- “other sites” of less than 10 acres and with a tions Command at Hurlburt Field, Fla., and the replacement value under $10 million. busiest naval air station in the nation at Naval The DoD sites in Florida total 690,994 acres, Air Station Whiting Field near Milton, Fla. Eg- with a replacement value of $32.5 billion. lin, which boasts a huge R&D program that de- These are the aviation-focused military bases velops Air Force aerial-deployed conventional in Northwest Florida, listed in order of their weapons, is one of the nation’s largest bases. plant replacement value as listed by the Defense Active duty troops and reservists come to the Department: region from near and far for the variety of test and training ranges that are available, including Eglin Air Force Base land ranges at Eglin and Camp Shelby, Miss., PRV: $6.1B and water ranges over the Gulf of Mexico. Eglin Air Force Base is a 724-square-mile res- In the field of cyber warfare, Keesler Air ervation spanning three counties. Its dominion Force Base, Miss., provides initial training. The extends over 134,000 miles of air space and Navy’s Corry Station in Pensacola provides fur- 123,000 miles of water range. ther training in the field of information domi- Eglin’s facilities, from laboratories to training nance. Students come to Corry Station, Fla., to ranges and test facilities, are used by every mili- receive technical training in cryptology, equip- tary branch as well as contractors. And testing is ment maintenance and communication, signal not limited to military items. analysis and the operation and maintenance of The Eglin complex includes Duke Field, Hurl- the technology required to conduct electronic burt Field and Camp Rudder, along with Eglin warfare. Hurlburt Field provides intermediate itself. It employs an estimated 15,000 military level cyber soldiers with schooling at a 17,000- and associated personnel. square-foot building set up for the Air Force’s Eglin is also home of the Air Force’s aerial 39th Information Operation Squadron. At Hurl- weapons program. It’s here where non-nuclear burt, officers take classes in military deception aerial weapons systems are developed, managed, and operational security. Deception classes are maintained or tested. offered to operational level planners. The nerve center of this work is the Air Force Every military branch is represented in activi- Research Laboratory/Munitions Directorate ties that range from training to logistics. The (AFRL/RW), which develops the conventional military is so much a part of the region’s fabric air-launched weapons. It does basic research, that military appreciation events are common exploratory development, advanced develop- Communities from New Orleans to Panama ment and demonstrations for weapons used City, Fla., have come to rely on military spend- against air, land and space targets. Gulf Coast Aerospace Corridor 2019-2020 – 38 Chapter III: Military aviation There are 500 employees, including 300 scien- Military activities at a glance tists and engineers, who use the lab and 13 out- lying facilities of about 330,000 square feet • Air Force and Navy technical training stretching over several hundred acres. • F-35 pilot training Core competencies include munition system • Army helicopter aviation training effects, fuze technologies, damage mechanisms, • Navy primary aviation training energetic materials, munitions aerodynamics, • Air Force combat systems officer training guidance/navigation and control. • HQ Air Force Special Operations Command AFRL/RW works closely with defense com- • HQ Naval Education and Training panies, including international partners, who use • HQ Naval Meteorology and Oceanography AFRL facilities at Eglin. The nation’s key aerial Command weapons builders have offices close to Eglin in • Aerial weapons RDT&E and around communities like Fort Walton • Air Force and Navy cyber training Beach, Crestview, Niceville and others. • Aviation specialties training Eglin also is widely known as one of the bases • National Guard aerial combat center where F-35 pilots and maintainers are trained. • National Guard helicopter repair depot Eglin was the location of the F-35 initial joint • Home of the Blue Angels training site hosting Air Force, Navy and Marine • Home of Army 7th Special Forces Corps F-35s. The Marines relocated F-35Bs in • Army Ranger Training Center 2014 and the Navy plans to deactivate Strike • HQ East Coast Seabees Fighter Squadron 101 (VFA-101), which trains • Supervisor of Shipbuilding Gulf Coast F-35C instructors, pilots and maintainers to Na- val Air Station Lemoore, Calif., and combine it Pilot and maintainer training has been under- with VFA-25 in July 2019. way at Eglin now for more than eight years, Eglin will get a new F-35A training squadron. churning out instructors, pilots and maintainers. “By basing the next F-35A training squadron In addition to the F-35 training, Eglin has had at Eglin Air Force Base, we are taking advantage a reprogramming lab for the F-35 since 2010 of existing facilities and training air space,” Sec- that provides coding that gives the F-35 its bat- retary of the Air Force Heather Wilson said in tle smarts. The coding enables flight controls, May 2019. Additional F-35As are expected to radar functionality, navigation and identification, begin arriving in the fall of 2021. The new sensor fusion and more. squadron is expected to reach full operational Eglin is now home to a second F-35 repro- capability by spring 2023 and bring some 500 gramming lab, this one for Australia, Canada personnel to the base. and the United Kingdom. It moved to Eglin Eglin will only receive the additional F-35 from a Lockheed Martin facility in Fort Worth, training unit if the F-22 Raptor formal training Texas.

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