'Historic transition': Eglin plans to move its Jackson Guard headquarters to Camp Pinchot

EGLIN AFB — Eglin soon will begin a “historic transition,” outgoing Brig. Gen. Scott Cain announced recently.

After more than 70 years of being the home to base commanders, Camp Pinchot will be transformed into the new Jackson Guard headquarters, according to Eglin Air Force Base officials. The transition is tentatively set to start in July and could take several years to complete.

Eglin spokesman Mike Spaits said Friday that Jackson Guard “has outgrown its current location” and that new on-base housing already is in place for the new base commander.

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Camp Pinchot is on the west bank of Garnier Bayou south of Lewis Turner Boulevard and east of the Kenwood subdivision and the Fort Walton Beach Golf Club.

Jackson Guard, which is the headquarters for the base’s Natural Resources Management Section, has operated for decades at 107 State Road 85 N. in Niceville.

Cain became the commander of the 96th Test Wing and Eglin’s commander in the summer of 2019. On June 30, he will relinquish his command to Brig. Gen Jeffery Geraghty before starting his next assignment at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, according to information from the One Okaloosa Economic Development Council.

“Camp Pinchot has served its nation for many years, first being a Forest Service headquarters at its inception, and a place for our military leaders at Eglin to live since 1950,” Cain told the Eglin community in a Department of Defense video in May. “I was fortunately one of those that was able to live there, but I’ll be the final resident and will make a transition of that land to be the Jackson Guard headquarters.”

The video can be viewed at https://www.dvidshub.net/video/845915/eglins-camp-pinchot-new-jackson-guard-headquarters.

Cain said Jackson Guard will be able to continue its mission for the base, range and community while preserving Eglin land and the heritage of Camp Pinchot.

As the guard’s new headquarters, parts of Camp Pinchot will be compatible-use areas that will allow the general public to access the land for hiking and other recreational activities for the first time since the 1950s, Cain said.

“We’re excited that Camp Pinchot is going to be a place that still serves this nation and serves the members of the Department of Defense but also serves this community,” he said. “I couldn’t be happier with how we’re going to preserve and use this land in the future.”

The camp currently encompasses 18 acres and is adjacent to hundreds of acres of wooded Eglin-owned land. The camp includes 10 buildings, which consist of four houses, three garages, a guest house, a boathouse and a shed, according to Eglin Environmental Management Branch Chief Maria Rodriguez.

She said the camp’s footprint eventually will be expanded by anywhere from 32 to 50 acres to accommodate all Jackson Guard functions, including its wildland fire center and its cultural resources curation facility/interpretive center.

“This is a long-term project and it will be done in phases,” Rodriguez said of the transition.

Jackson Guard's personnel consists of nearly 50 civilian and contractor biologists, scientists, foresters and fire management specialists who manage and conserve the soil, water, landscapes, forest, wildlife and outdoor recreation resources on the 464,000-acre Eglin reservation.

Their duties include conducting prescribed burns, thinning out overly dense areas of trees to help prevent wildfires and relocating gopher tortoises, which are a threatened species in Florida.

Currently, about 284,000 acres of the base are open for recreational activities such as fishing, hunting, picnicking, hiking and wildlife observation.

Rodriguez said it’s too early to say what specifically will happen to the existing Jackson Guard site, which covers about 17 acres.

“We are talking four to eight years from now when Jackson Guard completes their move,” she said. “A number of studies will help determine the eventual use.”