JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 The Marine Corps\u2019 ability to move and sustain forces overseas depends on skilled workers, resilient infrastructure and communities where military families can afford to live, a Marine commander told regional defense leaders Sept. 21 in Jacksonville, Florida.<\/p>\n
U.S. Marine Corps Col. David Merles, commanding officer of Marine Corps Support Facility Blount Island and Blount Island Command, urged Jacksonville and Florida to remain a \u201cbeacon for talent\u201d while strengthening the workforce and infrastructure behind the military\u2019s global reach.<\/p>\n
Merles spoke at the First Coast Defense Round Table, where nearly 60 military, government and industry representatives gathered to discuss defense priorities, infrastructure, workforce development and industrial capacity. The second annual event drew a larger crowd than the inaugural 2025 round table.<\/p>\n
Participating military organizations included Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Naval Station Mayport, Fleet Readiness Center Southeast, the Florida Air National Guard\u2019s 125th Fighter Wing, U.S. Coast Guard Sector Jacksonville and Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay.<\/p>\n
Blount Island Command generates, sustains, modernizes and distributes ready-for-issue, service-managed equipment across the Marine Corps\u2019 global positioning network. Marine Corps Support Facility Blount Island provides the industrial infrastructure and maritime access required for that mission.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re positioning for advantage, so we can close that force,\u201d Merles said, describing how Marines link with equipment already positioned aboard ships or at ashore sites.<\/p>\n
He pointed to the facility\u2019s slipway, waterfront infrastructure and rail access, along with neighboring JAXPORT\u2019s commercial Blount Island Marine Terminal, as part of the regional transportation network supporting military power projection.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone on Blount Island, whether on the JAXPORT side or our side, is focused on power projection, enabling our warfighters forward and projecting power from Jacksonville,\u201d Merles said.<\/p>\n
The Marine Corps mission on the island relies on service members and civilians in operations, logistics, materiel production and naval asset management, with significant support from contractors working under government oversight.<\/p>\n
\u201cKeep those pipelines open for the workforce,\u201d Merles said. \u201cWe need people to get hired and come here and do these great things.\u201d<\/p>\n
Merles raised cost-of-living concerns for junior Marines and Sailors assigned to the installation. With no barracks or commissary at Marine Corps Support Facility Blount Island, assigned service members rely heavily on the surrounding community for housing and services.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs we continue to grow, and we attract all this talent, and we\u2019re building this maritime industrial base \u2014 we\u2019re all-in on that \u2014 we\u2019re keeping an eye on the cost of living for our young junior Marines and Sailors,\u201d Merles said.<\/p>\n
He also called for stronger connections between military sustainment requirements and regional expertise in advanced manufacturing, automation, autonomy and predictive maintenance.<\/p>\n
Keynote speaker David Norquist, president and CEO of the National Defense Industrial Association and former deputy secretary of defense, reinforced that point.<\/p>\n
Norquist described Jacksonville as \u201cthe epicenter of defense\u201d and framed a strong U.S. defense industrial base as central to deterrence. He identified empowered noncommissioned officers, allies and partners, and industrial innovation as U.S. advantages in strategic competition with China.<\/p>\n
Washington can set priorities, Norquist said, but communities such as Jacksonville ultimately deliver military capability. He highlighted the region\u2019s veteran workforce and industrial capacity.<\/p>\n
Harrison Conyers, director of Jacksonville\u2019s Military Affairs and Veterans Department, provided the city\u2019s perspective. He described Jacksonville as striving to remain \u201cthe most military-, veteran-friendly community in the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n
Conyers highlighted the city\u2019s veteran community, its 2026 Great American Defense Community recognition and the Stand for Service Act, which requires companies receiving certain city economic-development incentives to make a good-faith effort to hire qualified veterans and active-duty military spouses for at least 10% of new jobs created through supported projects.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re very proud of our military history in Jacksonville, Florida,\u201d Conyers said.<\/p>\n
Military and defense activity contributes an estimated $9.1 billion to Duval County\u2019s gross regional product and supports more than 68,000 jobs, according to data cited by the City of Jacksonville.<\/p>\n
U.S. Rep. John Rutherford of Florida then connected federal defense spending to industrial capacity and workforce support.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to have a strong industrial base in our country,\u201d Rutherford said. He emphasized workforce development and highlighted funded defense projects in Northeast Florida. \u201cWe have to get back to building things in our country.\u201d<\/p>\n
After the presentations, attendees divided into working groups focused on modernization and infrastructure, workforce development and veteran hiring, and industry alliances and capabilities. The groups identified challenges and developed recommendations for follow-on regional coordination. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 The Marine Corps\u2019 ability to move and sustain forces overseas depends on skilled workers, resilient…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":408107,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[116,118,117],"class_list":["post-408106","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408106","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=408106"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408106\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/408107"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=408106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=408106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=408106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}