JACKSONVILLE, Fla. --
As Florida communities brace for a predicted above-normal Atlantic hurricane season, Marine Corps Support Facility Blount Island is fortifying its defenses by teaming up with its neighbors.
A technical advisory committee toured the vital military installation June 17, marking a key step in the Northeast Florida Military Installation Readiness Review, designed to boost the region's military resilience. The Department of Defense is backing the initiative with a $1,009,099 grant awarded to the Northeast Florida Regional Council.
The tour offered a select few an up-close view of the infrastructure underpinning the Marine Corps' global reach, highlighting its vulnerability to hurricane-driven shoreline erosion—a constant concern meticulously tracked by facility personnel. The day concluded with a workshop where stakeholders discussed natural hazards that affect military readiness and brainstormed solutions to enhance mission assurance and build resilience.
The Northeast Florida MIRR, slated to run through September 2026, is focused on protecting four cornerstones of national defense: Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Naval Station Mayport, Marine Corps Support Facility Blount Island, and Camp Blanding. The goal: identify and prioritize critical infrastructure projects that can withstand both natural disasters and man-made threats, ensuring these installations remain operational.
This includes assessing factors such as flooding, traffic congestion, land encroachment, aging infrastructure and single-point utility failures. The MIRR process will evaluate infrastructure and needs outside the installations, including roads, utilities, housing and habitats.
"These giant container ships are chock-full of the equipment that Marines require for a crisis response," said U.S. Marine Corps Col. Luke Watson, commanding officer of Blount Island Command and Marine Corps Support Facility Blount Island. "In terms of critical infrastructure, this is our nation's go-to-war, crisis response capability."
Watson's team provided a command presentation, outlining the global prepositioning mission, followed by a detailed tour that highlighted key challenges, including shoreline erosion. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is forecasting a 60% chance of above-normal hurricane activity this season.
Alec Rodriguez, vulnerability assessment task lead, emphasized the need to understand the relative importance of various utilities, asking, "Which of them are most necessary for that mission? The power, right? Because the crane needs to be powered, and that's supporting infrastructure... That's what we're trying to understand."
The group explored the complexities of managing power, water and wastewater systems, and the dredging needed to maintain the slipway for Navy cargo ships. They discussed drone incursions and prohibited fishing.
The technical advisory committee is continuing its data collection, vulnerability assessments and stakeholder interviews, in collaboration with a steering committee of military and civic leaders. After the committee toured Blount Island, it gathered with approximately 20 stakeholders—representing a range of expertise from Jacksonville to Atlantic Beach to Neptune Beach and various local agencies—for a readiness review workshop.
During the workshop, facilitated by the Northeast Florida Regional Council, Rodriguez emphasized the need to prioritize projects based on their impact on each base's core mission. With a shared goal of securing critical assets, the community leaders tackled local resilience concerns and identified projects for potential DOD funding.
Discussions spanned emergency response, transportation, utilities and the complex interdependencies linking the bases to their communities, the St. Johns River and the Atlantic.