Military

Jacksonville International Airport

The 125th Fighter Wing, Florida Air National Guard, is located at Jacksonville International Airport (IAP), Florida, with a NORAD Alert Detachment at Homestead AFB, Florida. The installation is comprised of 41 buildings, and approximately 325,000 gross square feet.

Since its inception, the 125th has developed strong competencies in the Strategic Air Defense arena. The 125th Fighter Wing has a dual mission - one state and one federal. The state mission is to provide trained and equipped personnel to protect life and property and to preserve peace, order, and public safety. The federal mission is to provide fully trained and qualified personnel to CINCNORAD in time of war or national emergency for the defense of the North American Continent. On a daily basis, the 125th is responsible for the maintenance of a NORAD Air Defense Alert site at Homestead ARB. In this capacity, the unit provides armed F-15 aircraft capable of intercepting, identifying, and, if necessary, destroying unknown aircraft which penetrate sovereign U.S. airspace. In the past, this threat has included Soviet Bear bombers, Cuban fighters, and narcotics traffickers.

BRAC 2005

In its 2005 BRAC Recommendations, DoD recommended to realign Mountain Home Air Force Base, ID. It would distribute the 366th Fighter Wing assigned F-15Cs (18 aircraft) to the 125th Fighter Wing, Jacksonville International Airport AGS, FL (six aircraft) and to two other locations. This recommendation would realign Mountain Home to fly only F-15Es, streamlining operations at a location that would be well suited for air-to-ground, low-level and air-to-air flight training.

DoD also recommended to close Otis ANGB, MA. The 102d Fighter Wing's F-15s would be distributed to the 125th Fighter Wing, Jacksonville International Airport Air Guard Station, FL (three aircraft) and another station. The Air Force distributed reserve component F-15C force structure to bases with higher military value than Otis (88).

In another recommendation, DoD would establish a CIRF for F100 engines at New Orleans Air Reserve Station (Air National Guard unit) by realigning base-level F100 engine intermediate maintenance from Tyndall Air Force Base and Jacksonville Air Guard Station. This recommendation would standardize stateside and deployed intermediate-level maintenance concepts, and compliment other CIRF recommendations made by the Air Force. These CIRFs would increase maintenance productivity and support to the warfighter by consolidating dispersed and random workflows, improving reliability-centered maintenance. Realigning F100 engine maintenance from Jacksonville into a CIRF at New Orleans (ANG unit) would establishe a southeast region CIRF that would service F100 engines for up to 96 F-15 aircraft of active duty and Air National Guard aircraft, complimenting other Air Force recommendations that would increase New Orleans and Jacksonville to an optimum 24 aircraft squadron size. The Air Force considered both New Orleans and Jacksonville for the southeast CIRF, but analysis indicated New Orleans would require less construction than Jacksonville due to existing maintenance facilities. Assuming no economic recovery, this recommendation could result in a maximum potential reduction of 14 jobs (6 direct jobs and 8 indirect jobs) over the 2006-2011 period in the Jacksonville, FL, Metropolitan Statistical economic area (less than 0.1 percent).