'One storm away from a crisis': Effort underway to keep Blue Angels in Pensacola

When Hurricane Sally tore through the Pensacola area in 2019, it forced the Navy to condemn an aircraft hangar at Naval Air Station Pensacola. Three years later, local leaders are advocating for more federal funding to repair that hangar to avoid a distant but catastrophic scenario of losing the Blue Angels.

The advocacy effort is part of reorganizing how the local business community advocates for bases like NAS Pensacola and NAS Whiting Field.

The Pensacola-Escambia Development Commission is requesting $125,000 from Escambia County to help organize a new group being formed between Escambia County and Santa Rosa County to advocate full-time for area military bases locally and in Washington. D.C.

NAS Pensacola was badly damaged in Hurricane Sally, with more than $500 million in damage to the base, according to the Navy.

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The repair program for the base from the 2020 storm is expected to run until 2025 but does not include a hangar condemned after post-storm inspection.

Debi Graham, vice president of armed services for the Greater Pensacola Chamber of Commerce, told the News Journal that once the building was condemned, it could be demolished for $15 million or repaired for $20 million.

Graham said Pensacola leaders have worked with Congress to advocate the hangar be repaired and put back in service.

Raising more concerns is that the hangar that currently houses the Blue Angels could face the same fate as being condemned with future storms.

"We know that the Blue Angels hanger is also inadequate," Graham said. "There is netting in the ceiling to keep concrete from falling on the aircraft."

The Navy is undertaking $6.4 million in repairs of the current Blue Angels' hangar, according to NAS Pensacola, with work scheduled to begin in the fall, according to spokesperson Bruce Cummins.

The long-term plan is that it could be used as a temporary hangar for the Blue Angels while another modern hangar is built later.

"We're always one storm away from a crisis," Graham said.

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During a PEDC meeting on July 24, Pensacola businessman and PEDC Chairman Dave Hoxeng expressed fear that if the hangars at NAS Pensacola fell into further disrepair, it could affect the Blue Angels.

"If we lose a hangar, then the Blue Angels are going to have to go somewhere for a couple of years while it’s rebuilt," Hoxeng said at the meeting. "There’s a good chance they wouldn’t come back."

Graham noted there's been no hint or any type of communication from the Navy that the Blue Angels would ever relocate, but the fear still exists. Graham pointed out the Blue Angels had to relocate after Hurricane Ivan in 2004.

"We were fortunate that they did come back," Graham said.

Pensacola's identity is synonymous with being the home of the Blue Angels and draws hundreds of thousands of people for the two annual airshows and numerous practices throughout the year.

Escambia County Commissioner Robert Bender, who has been part of advocating for funding the new hangar, agrees there is a fear of what would happen even if the relocation of the Blue Angels was temporary.

"Some people said ownership is 90% of the game," Bender said. "The lawmakers that we spoke to realize the importance of the Blue Angels in Pensacola and what Pensacola means to the Navy. That's why we're trying to put this plan into action. It's trying to position ourselves the best possible way that we can for the future, keeping the missions here in Pensacola and possibly expanding other missions where we can."

U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz announced in June that $20 million in funding had been added to the House version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) in the Navy's operations and maintenance fund.

Gaetz said he was requesting the funding be used to repair the condemned hangar to allow for it to be used by the Blue Angels at NAS Pensacola.

However, Gaetz said in a call with the News Journal this week that the Navy had not taken him up on that request.

"The Navy chose not to put it on the funding list," Gaetz said. "Had they done that, Sen. Scott and I would have been able to get the funding needed."

Gaetz said there is still time, however, to get the hangar repaired.

"I don't think there is anything imminent with the departure of the Blue Angels," Gaetz said.

Pensacola Mayor D.C. Reeves has already traveled to Washington D.C. earlier this year to meet with congressional officials like Scott, Gaetz, U.S. Rep. Michael Waltz and U.S. Rep. John Carter.

Reeves said he's aware of the efforts to get the local business community involved in advocating for local military bases and made his own trip to D.C. because he believes the needs of the local military bases go beyond city or county jurisdictions.

"They're the lifeblood of our community," Reeves said.

Unpacking the NDAA

The NDAA, which usually passes with bipartisan support, sets spending and policy for the U.S. military, but this year's $866 billion bill has become a battleground over "culture war" issues inside the military.

A House version passed earlier this month on a party-line vote that adds controversial policies such as banning diversity and inclusion offices in the military, limiting gender-affirming care for transgender service members and banning the reimbursement of out-of-state travel expenses for service members who receive abortions.

The Senate approved a cleaner version of the NDAA on Thursday that passed with a bipartisan vote. In the coming weeks, the House and Senate will have to come together to agree on which version to send to the president.

NAS Whiting Field is getting attention from Congress as both versions of the NDAA have funding for a new advanced helicopter training hangar at the base. The House version proposes $100 million for the construction of a new hangar, and the Senate version sets $141 million for construction at the base, with $50 million specifically allocated for the new hangar.

While the $20 million might not yet be set aside for NAS Pensacola, the powerful House Armed Services Committee is interested in the state of NAS Pensacola.

The committee that oversees all military spending officially directed the Navy to submit a report with an assessment of the material conditions of NAS Pensacola's facilities, plans for future military construction, and how training operations will continue to be supported during the transition to modern infrastructure.

The report is due to the House Armed Services Committee by March 31.

The directive came as part of the committee's June 30 report on the House version of the NDAA.

While the directives themselves aren't legally binding, the Department of Defense officials have generally regarded them as congressional mandates and respond accordingly regardless of the final passage of the NDAA, according to the Congressional Research Service.

Another directive included in the House Armed Services Committee's report on the NDAA calls for the U.S. Space Force to conduct a feasibility study on using other services' bases to support spaceport activities with a focus on sea-based recovery needs and specifically highlights NAS Pensacola and NAS Whiting Field as potential locations.

"The military here is at least 43% of our economy in Escambia County and 33% of our economy in Santa Rosa based on payrolls," Hoxeng told the News Journal. "This is the major part of our economy. We want to support them and protect them."

News Journal reporters Mollye Barrows and Tom Mclaughlin contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Blue Angels hangar needs repairs for long term future in Pensacola