---
title: 'Army Bases in Florida: Where the Army Actually Is'
slug: army-bases-in-florida
description: >-
  Florida has no large stand-alone Army post, but the Army is here. See where it
  is, what each site does, and 2026 BAH rates. Plan your Florida PCS today.
publishedAt: '2026-09-19T09:00:00.000Z'
updatedAt: '2026-09-20T00:00:00.000Z'
author: VeteranPCS
categories:
  - U.S. Military Bases
  - PCS Help
canonical: 'https://www.veteranpcs.com/blog/army-bases-in-florida'
componentSlug: us-military-bases
stateSlug: florida
---
# Army Bases in Florida: Where the Army Actually Is

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](https://installations.militaryonesource.mil/military-installation/ussouthcom-u-s-army-garrison-miami), 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](/blog/what-military-bases-are-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 |

![Chart of the U.S. Army presence in Florida grouped by type, showing active-duty units at Eglin and MacDill, U.S. Army Garrison Miami, and Florida Army National Guard sites](/images/blog/army-bases-in-florida/florida-army-presence.png)

*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](https://www.eglin.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/810637/7th-special-forces-group-a/) 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](/blog/pcsing-to-eglin-hurlburt-field-northwest-florida-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](https://www.eglin.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/390965/6th-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](https://www.southcom.mil/USAG-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](https://installations.militaryonesource.mil/military-installation/ussouthcom-u-s-army-garrison-miami/housing/housing) 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](https://www.macdill.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Article/4160667/macdill-air-force-base/), 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](/blog/pcs-to-macdill-afb-tampa-2026-guide) covers neighborhoods and commutes.

### Camp Blanding Joint Training Center

Near Starke, in Clay County, [Camp Blanding Joint Training Center](https://fl.ng.mil/Camp-Blanding/Pages/About-Us.aspx) 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](https://fl.ng.mil/about/Pages/default.aspx). 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](https://www.usar.army.mil/81stRD/) 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](https://www.usar.army.mil/News/Article/3128154/usace-81st-readiness-division-breaks-ground-on-first-us-army-reserve-equipment/), in Gainesville, in 2022 to fix that.

## Why Florida Has No Big Army Post

It is not that the Army never came. It is that the Army did not stay.

During World War II, Florida had [more than 172 military installations](https://www.nps.gov/casa/learn/historyculture/florida-in-world-war-ii.htm), and Camp Blanding grew to 180,000 acres and 55,000 soldiers at a time, briefly Florida's fourth-largest city. But Blanding was state land the Army leased. When the war ended it went back to the Florida National Guard, and the Army's permanent maneuver posts in the Southeast stayed in Georgia and the Carolinas.

What Florida kept were installations built around flying weather, long coastline, and over-water test ranges. Those went to the Air Force and the Navy, as our guide to the [Air Force bases in Florida](/blog/air-force-bases-in-florida) shows.

## What Housing Costs Where the Army Sends You

BAH stands for Basic Allowance for Housing, the monthly amount the military pays you toward rent or a mortgage. It is set by pay grade, dependent status, and the housing area of your duty station, not by your branch.

Because Army jobs in Florida sit in four different regions, your allowance depends on which host installation your orders name. Here are the 2026 monthly rates from the official [DTMO BAH rate lookup](https://www.travel.dod.mil/Allowances/Basic-Allowance-for-Housing/BAH-Rate-Lookup/), shown as with dependents / without dependents.

| Army location | Housing area | E-5 | E-7 | O-3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eglin, Camp Rudder | Eglin AFB, FL (FL056) | $2,433 / $2,157 | $2,841 / $2,340 | $3,399 / $2,592 |
| MacDill | Tampa, FL (FL066) | $2,709 / $2,187 | $3,066 / $2,526 | $3,081 / $2,919 |
| Camp Blanding | Jacksonville, FL (FL058) | $2,181 / $1,803 | $2,283 / $2,049 | $2,364 / $2,211 |
| USAG Miami | Miami/Fort Lauderdale, FL (FL061) | $3,660 / $3,048 | $4,026 / $3,465 | $4,437 / $3,738 |

![Bar chart comparing 2026 Basic Allowance for Housing with dependents in the Eglin, Tampa, Jacksonville and Miami rate areas for E-5, E-7 and O-3 pay grades](/images/blog/army-bases-in-florida/florida-army-bah-2026.png)

*2026 Basic Allowance for Housing across the four Florida rate areas where the Army assigns soldiers. Source: DoD DTMO BAH rate lookup, rates effective January 1, 2026.*

Look at the spread. An E-5 with dependents draws $3,660 a month in the Miami rate area and $2,181 in the Jacksonville rate area. That is $1,479 apart, same rank, same state. A line in your orders can change your whole budget.

Rates reset every January, so check your own pay grade in the DTMO lookup before you sign anything. If you want a second opinion on what those numbers buy locally, you can [talk with Mike, a VeteranPCS agent in Florida](https://www.veteranpcs.com/contact-agent?form=agent&fn=Mike&id=0014x00000IFGiO&state=florida). There is no cost and no obligation.

## Four Very Different Florida Housing Markets

The Panhandle around Eglin is a coastal military market. Summer PCS season moves inventory fast, and the beach towns price higher than Crestview, which sits inland.

Tampa is a large metro: more spouse jobs, more school choices, more traffic, and prices that reflect all three. The Jacksonville area near Camp Blanding is the most affordable of the four, which is also why the allowance there is the lowest.

Miami and Doral are their own category. High prices, dense traffic, and a rental market that moves quickly. Because on-post quarters at USAG Miami are limited and still being built, start your search early.

Florida charges no state personal income tax, and it offers property tax breaks many families never claim. Our guide to [Florida veteran property tax exemptions](/blog/florida-veteran-property-tax-exemptions-2026) covers who qualifies, and our broader [PCSing to Florida guide](/blog/pcsing-to-florida-military-bases-2026-guide) is a good next stop.

## Frequently Asked Questions

### Are there any Army bases in Florida?

One: U.S. Army Garrison Miami in Doral, which supports U.S. Southern Command. It is a small headquarters garrison, not a troop installation. Every other Army unit in Florida is a tenant on another service's base, a National Guard site, or a Reserve center.

### Is Camp Blanding an Army base?

Not an active-duty one. It is a 73,000-acre training post run by the Florida National Guard. Active Army, Reserve, and other states' Guard units train there, but soldiers are not assigned to it as a permanent duty station.

### What is the closest Army base to Florida?

Fort Stewart, in southeast Georgia near Hinesville, is the closest large active-duty Army post and the [home of the 3rd Infantry Division](https://home.army.mil/stewart/index.php). Fort Benning, in west Georgia, is next. It was named Fort Moore from 2023 until it was [redesignated Fort Benning in March 2025](https://www.army.mil/article/283521/hegseth_restores_fort_moore_to_fort_benning_in_honor_of_wwi_soldier), so older guides may use either name.

### Where is 7th Special Forces Group stationed?

At Eglin Air Force Base in the Florida Panhandle, near Crestview. It is the largest active-duty Army unit in the state, and its assigned region is Latin America and the Caribbean.

### Does the Army have housing in Florida?

Very little. USAG Miami is building privatized quarters in phases, but the planned total is 60 units for service members and 70 to 80 family sets. Soldiers at Eglin or MacDill use those bases' housing offices. Most Army families here rent or buy on the local market.

*This content is for informational purposes. Consult a professional for personal financial decisions.*