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Army spec ops group moving to Eglin AFB

Airmen at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., and nearby Hurlburt Field and Duke Field are getting new neighbors.

The Army’s 7th Special Forces Group will move to a new headquarters and training compound deep inside the Eglin Reservation. The group is now headquartered at Fort Bragg, N.C.

The group’s main complex will be constructed in the middle of the vast base, about four miles west of Duke Field and about 12 miles north of the main base. The Army complex carries a price tag of about $382 million and looks to include 5.1 million square feet of construction set for completion by the end of 2011.

Training ranges are set for the woods east and west of the headquarters area.

The Base Realignment and Closure Commission directed the 7th’s move in 2005, but left it up to the Army and Air Force to decide on where to put them. Mandatory environment reviews did not end until Nov. 21.

“This was truly a joint effort on the part of the Air Force and the Army to agree on the best possible location for this special forces group,” Kathy Ferguson, deputy assistant Air Force secretary for installations, said in a written statement.

The 7th numbers about 2,200 soldiers and includes five battalions, each roughly the equivalent of an Air Force squadron, and a headquarters staff. Also moving to Florida will be about 4,000 family members.

The Eglin area is already home to several Air Force special operations units, including the 1st and 919th Special Operations Wings. Eglin also hosts Army Ranger instruction at Camp Rudder.