If you are searching for army bases in Florida and expecting a list like Fort Stewart or Fort Benning, here is the honest answer up front. Florida has no large stand-alone active-duty Army installation. The Defense Department's own directory describes U.S. Army Garrison Miami as the only U.S. Army post in Florida, and it is a small headquarters garrison in Doral, not a troop post.
That does not mean the Army is absent. Thousands of soldiers serve in Florida every day, spread across other services' installations, one small garrison, and a statewide National Guard network. If your orders say Army and they say Florida, the question is not which fort but which host base.
PCS stands for Permanent Change of Station, the military's term for a move to a new duty station. This guide covers each Army location and what housing costs nearby. For every service, see our overview of all military bases in Florida.
Where the Army Actually Is in Florida
| Where the Army is | Nearest city | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Eglin Air Force Base | Crestview | 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne), the largest active-duty Army unit in the state |
| Camp Rudder, on the Eglin range | Niceville | 6th Ranger Training Battalion, the final phase of Ranger School |
| U.S. Army Garrison Miami | Doral | The Army garrison that hosts U.S. Southern Command |
| MacDill Air Force Base | Tampa | Army soldiers on two joint command staffs |
| Camp Blanding Joint Training Center | Starke | The Florida National Guard's 73,000-acre training post |
| St. Francis Barracks | St. Augustine | Florida National Guard headquarters |
| Readiness centers and armories | 55 communities statewide | Florida Army National Guard drill sites |
| Army Reserve centers | Gainesville and other cities | Units under the 81st Readiness Division |
The Army's Florida footprint, grouped by type. Sources: official pages on eglin.af.mil, southcom.mil, macdill.af.mil, and fl.ng.mil.
Each Army Location, Explained
7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) at Eglin
SFG(A) stands for Special Forces Group (Airborne), the Army's Green Beret formations. The 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) is stationed at Eglin Air Force Base in the Panhandle, on a compound near Crestview. It is the largest active-duty Army unit in the state, and its assigned region is Latin America and the Caribbean: 32 countries across roughly 15.6 million square miles.
For families, this is an Army assignment lived inside an Air Force town. Your commissary, clinic, and gate are Eglin's. Your neighborhood is most likely Crestview, Niceville, Navarre, or Fort Walton Beach. Our northwest Florida area guide breaks down commutes and school zones.
6th Ranger Training Battalion at Camp Rudder
Also on the Eglin reservation is Camp James E. Rudder, home to the 6th Ranger Training Battalion. It runs the final phase of the 61-day Army Ranger Course: an 18-day field exercise across swampy terrain with airborne assaults, small boat operations, and river crossings.
Students pass through, but the cadre and their families live here full time.
U.S. Army Garrison Miami
SOUTHCOM stands for U.S. Southern Command, the joint combatant command responsible for Central America, South America, and most of the Caribbean. U.S. Army Garrison Miami runs the installation SOUTHCOM sits on, in Doral, just west of Miami International Airport. SOUTHCOM itself is a joint command of more than 2,100 military and civilian personnel from every service.
Housing here is changing. For years there was no government family housing at Doral. A privatized development is now opening across the street in phases, single service members first and family townhomes later. When it is finished, the USAG Miami housing office projects 60 two-bedroom quarters plus 70 to 80 family sets. That is small for a garrison this size, so plan on the local market.
Army Staff at MacDill Air Force Base
MacDill in South Tampa is an Air Force base, but it hosts two joint four-star headquarters, and joint headquarters run on soldiers. CENTCOM stands for U.S. Central Command, covering the Middle East, Central Asia, and South Asia. SOCOM stands for U.S. Special Operations Command, which builds and deploys special operations forces worldwide.
Both are headquartered at MacDill, alongside 33 mission partners and personnel from more than 40 nations. Army officers, senior noncommissioned officers, and warrant officers fill staff jobs in both. If your orders read CENTCOM or SOCOM, you are going to Tampa, not to a fort. Our MacDill PCS guide covers neighborhoods and commutes.
Camp Blanding Joint Training Center
Near Starke, in Clay County, Camp Blanding Joint Training Center is a 73,000-acre post and the Florida National Guard's main training site in north Florida. Units from the active Army, the Reserve, and other states train there.
It is a state-run training center, not an active-duty installation. It has lodging, ranges, and a permanent cadre, but families do not get assigned to it the way they are assigned to a fort.
The Florida Army National Guard, Statewide
The Florida National Guard manages about 12,000 members, nearly 10,000 of them Army National Guard. Its joint headquarters has been in St. Augustine since 1907, at St. Francis Barracks, and it maintains armories in 55 communities across the state.
Its major Army commands are the 53rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, the 50th Regional Support Group, the 83rd Troop Command, the 164th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, and Camp Blanding itself. By headcount, this is the largest Army presence in Florida.
U.S. Army Reserve Units in Florida
Florida's Army Reserve units fall under the 81st Readiness Division at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, whose footprint covers nine southeastern states and Puerto Rico. For years, Florida units drove out of state to draw equipment, sometimes more than 600 miles. The Reserve broke ground on the first equipment concentration site in Florida, in Gainesville, in 2022 to fix that.
