The Commander of the 1st Special Operations Wing met with Florida legislators at the State Capitol to discuss how U.S. Highway 98 traffic congestion is affecting military readiness at Hurlburt Field.
- Col. Patrick Dierig, accompanied by Wing subject matter experts, voiced concerns during meetings on March 12 with key lawmakers, including committee chairs and representatives from the Emerald Coast.
“Highway 98 traffic is not a matter of convenience for the 1st SOW,” Dierig said during the engagements. “The traffic is a readiness issue.”
The 1st SOW’s mission involves rapidly planning and executing specialized operations supporting national priorities, often with minimal notice. These missions require hundreds of Airmen to report to base quickly.
- “I never want to be in the position of calling the Air Force Special Operations Command commander and saying the mission failed because of a traffic jam,” Dierig said.
Florida Representative Patt Maney from District 4, which includes part of Okaloosa County, hosted the Hurlburt Field team. His staff arranged meetings with the Chairs of the Senate Appropriations Committee and House Budget Committee, along with other legislative leaders.
While lawmakers acknowledged the high costs associated with improvement options, they expressed willingness to explore solutions, according to Hurlburt Field.
- Senator Don Gaetz, whose District 1 includes Escambia and Santa Rosa counties and part of Okaloosa County, emphasized the economic stakes. “If traffic impacts the mission, you could lose the base. If you lose the base, you lose the economy.”
Current infrastructure projects include Okaloosa County’s study for a new 3.2-mile collector road west of Hurlburt Field, which would run parallel to Highway 98. This project aims to reduce congestion near Florosa Elementary School and residential areas, complementing a separate Florida Department of Transportation initiative to widen U.S. 98 from Gulf Breeze to Hurlburt Field.
Santa Rosa County is conducting its own study for a proposed Navarre common access road, an east-west corridor north of U.S. 98.
During the legislative meetings, Gaetz committed to advocating for a $4 million funding bill to study the “Connecting the Collectors” project, which would link the separate county initiatives, according to Hurlburt officials.
Representative Lawrence McClure, Chair of the House Budget Committee, and Senator Ed Hooper, Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, agreed to support the proposed funding bill.
- “Thank you for your commitment to protecting our nation and keeping us safe,” Hooper said.
The meetings left 1st SOW officials optimistic about receiving continued state support.
“This will be a many-year project, but the traffic issue is only getting worse,” said Dierig. “The only wrong answer is to do nothing.”
