Steve Balestrieri | December 20, 2022

What does a Child Development Center (CDC) have to do with special operations and the 7th SFG? To quote Salahadin in the film the Kingdom of Heaven, “Nothing… everything.” 

The 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) has been critically short of child care for its soldiers’ families for more than a decade at Camp Bull Simons, which is part of Eglin Air Force Base. The SF base is located north of Eglin and the commute can take nearly an hour in peak traffic. During high-tourist times and holidays, it is bumper-to-bumper for miles.

Congress authorized funding for a CDC on Eglin a few years ago, but that didn’t help the 7th SFG, 6th Ranger Training Bn, and EOD families living on the north side of the base. That rounds out to about 450 kids without base childcare. 

Florida Senators Marco Rubio and Rick Scott wrote a letter to the Secretary of the Army, Christine Wormuth, and Secretary of the Air Force, Frank Kendall, asking for a solution.