TYNDALL AFB FUTURE LOOKS BRIGHT FOR PANAMA CITY FL

This below is some recent news, which was reported by local news agency, on the future of Tyndall AFB and Panama City, FL. I am pretty confident, you will hear some more encouraging news on the economic growth of this area from Panama City to Mobile, AL on the I-10 corridor.


WJHG TV - September 15, 2010

Bay County's leaders have been a bit apprehensive for almost two years, since the Air Force announced it was retiring its F-15 jet fleet. Tyndall Air Force Base was slated to lose 48 of the aircraft, along with 800-jobs in support of that mission. Those jobs pump millions of dollars into the local economy.

Then, several weeks ago, the Air Force announced it is assigning an operational squadron of F-22 fighters at Tyndall, to replace the F-15 mission.

With all of the changes, Tyndall commanders felt it was time to brief local politicians and community leaders about what Bay County can expect now and in the future.

As 325th Fighter Wing Commander, Brigadier General James Browne explained it, the future looks very bright.

"We are very excited to have the announcement that there will be a follow up operational F-22 unit that will show up at Tyndall. With that we anticipate approximately 650 jobs. Compare that to the over 800 jobs that we lose because of the F-15's leaving. There is a little bit of a deficit, however there are many unknowns as we see a new operational unit show up on the base. So it may in fact be a zero loss if not a net gain."

Tyndall Air Force Base economic impact on Bay County is between $600-and-700 million dollars a year.