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Eglin Air Force Base is the home of the United States Air Force 96th Air Base Wing of the Air Force Materiel Command, and is also headquarters for more than 45 associate units.
Eglin is one of the largest Air Force bases in the world, covering 724 square miles (1,875 km²) of reservation and 97,963 square miles (253,723 km²) of water ranges in the Gulf of Mexico.
It is located 1 mile (2 km) southwest of Valparaiso, Florida at 30°27'26" North, 86°33'3" West (30.457156, -86.550815)GR1.
Eglin employs more than 8,500 military and approximately 4,500 civilians, with an additional 2,200 jobs due to move to Eglin under the 2005 BRAC.
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Eglin AFB Culture
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Air Armament Center
The Air Armament Center is one of four product centers in Air Force Materiel Command. Serving as the focal point for all Air Force armaments, the center is responsible for the development, acquisition, testing, deployment and sustainment of all air-delivered weapons.
The AAC applies advanced technology, engineering and programming efficiencies across the entire product life cycle to provide superior combat capability to the warfighter. The center plans, directs and conducts test and evaluation of US and allied air armament, navigation/guidance systems and command and control systems. It operates two Air Force installations, providing host support not only to Eglin, but also Kirtland AFB, New Mexico.
The center supports the largest single base mobility commitment in the Air Force. AAC accomplishes its mission through four components — the Armament Product Directorate (Eglin), the 46th Test Wing (Eglin), the 96th Air Base Wing (Eglin) and the 377th Air Base Wing (Kirtland).
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Eglin AFB Education
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ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS
Antioch Elementary School
Baker School
Bluewater Elementary School
Bob Sikes Elementary School
Destin Elementary School
Edge Elementary School
Edwins Elementary School
Eglin Elementary - Cherokee Campus
Eglin Elementary - Oak Hill Campus
Elliott Point Elementary School
Florosa Elementary School
Kenwood Elementary School
Laurel Hill School
Longwood Elementary School
Mary Esther Elementary School
Northwood Elementary School
Ocean City Elementary School
Plew Elementary School
Shalimar Elementary School
Silver Sands School
Southside Elementary School
Valparaiso Elementary School
Walker Elementary School
Wright Elementary School
MIDDLE SCHOOLS
Baker School
Bruner Middle School
Davidson Middle School
Destin Middle School
Laurel Hill School
Lewis Middle School
Meigs Middle School
Pryor Middle School
Richbourg Middle School
Ruckel Middle School
Silver Sands School
HIGH SCHOOLS
Baker School
Choctawhatchee High School
Crestview High School
Fort Walton Beach High School
Laurel Hill School
Niceville High School
OWC Collegiate High School
Silver Sands School
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Eglin AFB History
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In 1931, personnel of the Army Air Corps Tactical School (Maxwell Field, Ala.) while looking for a bombing and gunnery range, saw the potential of the sparsely populated forested areas surrounding Valparaiso and the vast expanse of the adjacent Gulf of Mexico.
Local businessman and airplane buff James E. Plew saw the potential of a military payroll to boost the local area’s depression-stricken economy. He leased the City of Valparaiso, the 137 acres on which an airport was established in 1933, and in 1934, Plew offered the U.S. government a donation of 1,460 acres (6 km²) contiguous for the bombing and gunnery base. This leasehold became the headquarters for the Valparaiso Bombing and Gunnery Base activated on June 14, 1935, under the command of Captain Arnold H. Rich. On 4 August 1937 the base was redesignated Eglin Field in honor of Lieutenant Colonel Frederick I. Eglin of the United States Army Air Corps, who was killed in 1937 in an aircraft accident.
With the outbreak of war in Europe, a proving ground for aircraft armament was established at Eglin. The U.S. Forestry ceded to the War Department the Choctawhatchee National Forest. In 1941, the Air Corps Proving Ground was activated, and Eglin became the site for gunnery training for Army Air Forces fighter pilots, as well as a major testing center for aircraft, equipment, and tactics. In March 1942, the base served as one of the sites for Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy Doolittle to prepare his B-25 crews for their raid against Tokyo. A number of auxiliary fields were constructed on the Eglin reservation at this time, many of which are still in service.
After the war, Eglin became a pioneer in developing the techniques for missile launching and handling; and the development of drone or pilotless aircraft. In 1947, a successful drone flight from Eglin to Washington, D.C. was conducted.
In 1950 the Air Force Armament Center was established at Eglin. After the start of the Korean War, test teams moved to the combat theater for testing in actual combat. In 1957, the Air Force combined the Air Proving Ground Command and the Air Force Armament Center to form the Air Proving Ground Center. In 1968, the Air Proving Ground Center was redesignated the Armament Development and Test Center to centralize responsibility for research, development, test and evaluation, and initial acquisition of nonnuclear munitions for the Air Force.
In 1975, the installation served as one of four main U.S. Vietnamese Refugee Processing Centers, where base personnel housed and processed more than 10,000 Southeast Asian refugees. Eglin again became an Air Force refugee resettlement center processing over 10,000 Cubans who fled to the U.S. between April and May of 1980.
In 1998, as part of the Air Forces' strategic plan to guide the service into the 21st century, the Air Force Development Test Center became the Air Force Materiel Command's Air Armament Center (AAC), responsible for development, acquisition, testing, and fielding all air-delivered weapons.
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Eglin AFB Lifestyle
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As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there are 8,082 people, 2,302 households, and 2,262 families residing on the base. The population density is 1,019.8/km² (2,640.1/mi²). There are 2,320 housing units at an average density of 292.7/km² (757.9/mi²). The racial makeup of the base is 71.79% White, 14.82% Black or African American, 0.48% Native American, 2.96% Asian, 0.38% Pacific Islander, 4.23% from other races, and 5.33% from two or more races. 11.19% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There are 2,302 households out of which 79.8% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 89.8% are married couples living together, 5.2% have a female householder with no husband present, and 1.7% are non-families. 1.6% of all households are made up of individuals and 0.0% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 3.50 and the average family size is 3.51.
On the base the population is spread out with 43.5% under the age of 18, 15.2% from 18 to 24, 39.6% from 25 to 44, 1.6% from 45 to 64, and 0.1% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 22 years. For every 100 females there are 100.6 males.
The median income for a household on the base is $31,951, and the median income for a family is $31,859. Males have a median income of $25,409 versus $19,176 for females. The per capita income for the base is $10,670. 4.5% of the population and 4.5% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 4.5% of those under the age of 18 and 0.0% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.
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Eglin AFB News
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Search for "Eglin AFB FL" - Plans for privatized housing taking shape at Eglin, Hurlburt - Northwest Florida Daily News
| Privatized military family housing will likely be built within the gates of Eglin AFB and Hurlburt Field. |
- Sesame Street Partners with the USO Bringing the Muppets to Military Families Across the Country - Business Wire
| Sesame Workshop , the nonprofit organization behind Sesame Street , and the USO today announced The Sesame Street Experience for Military Families : a free traveling tour to military installations across the ... |
- Electronic Control Security, Inc. Announces Appointment of Gen. Gordon Fornell to Board of Directors - PR Newswire
| Electronic Control Security Inc. announced the appointment of General Gordon E. Fornell, USAF to the Company's Board of Directors and Advisory Board. |
- Santee - Altus Times
| John Walter Santee, 68, passed away May 25, 2008, at Fort Walton Beach, Fla. He is survived by his wife, Andrea; son, David; daughter-in-law, Angie Santee; his daughter, Noelle Lancaster and son-in-law Kerry ... |
- Barrow, Bobby Frank "Bob" - News & Record Syndication Feed
| During the early morning of April 17, 2008, Bob Barrow, 77, passed away at West Florida Regional Medical Center in Pensacola, Florida. |
- 3rd Annual Salute to the Air Commando Family Provides College... - PRWeb
| The Special Operations Warrior Foundation is hosting its 3rd Annual Salute to the Air Commando Family Dinner on November 15 at the Emerald Coast Conference Center, Fort Walton Beach, Fla., paying tribute to the ... |
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Eglin AFB Weather
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Warm, subtropical weather lasts almost nine months out of the year. The annual precipitation ranges from 25 to 60 inches. Year-round, the average temperatures run:
Jan - Mar: 60-69 High and 42-51 Low
Apr - Jun: 76-88 High and 58-72 Low
Jul - Sep: 86-89 High and 70-77 Low
Oct - Dec: 63-79 High and 44-69 Low
The area gets only 50 to 60 days of annual precipitation or more rainfall. There are few days without sunshine which allows year-round outdoor activities.
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