Jacksonville defense round table links industrial capacity, workforce to military readiness
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 “beacon for talent” while strengthening the workforce and infrastructure behind the military’s global reach.
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.
Participating military organizations included Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Naval Station Mayport, Fleet Readiness Center Southeast, the Florida Air National Guard’s 125th Fighter Wing, U.S. Coast Guard Sector Jacksonville and Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay.
Blount Island Command generates, sustains, modernizes and distributes ready-for-issue, service-managed equipment across the Marine Corps’ global positioning network. Marine Corps Support Facility Blount Island provides the industrial infrastructure and maritime access required for that mission.
“We’re positioning for advantage, so we can close that force,” Merles said, describing how Marines link with equipment already positioned aboard ships or at ashore sites.
He pointed to the facility’s slipway, waterfront infrastructure and rail access, along with neighboring JAXPORT’s commercial Blount Island Marine Terminal, as part of the regional transportation network supporting military power projection.
“Everyone 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,” Merles said.
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.
“Keep those pipelines open for the workforce,” Merles said. “We need people to get hired and come here and do these great things.”
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.
“As we continue to grow, and we attract all this talent, and we’re building this maritime industrial base — we’re all-in on that — we’re keeping an eye on the cost of living for our young junior Marines and Sailors,” Merles said.
He also called for stronger connections between military sustainment requirements and regional expertise in advanced manufacturing, automation, autonomy and predictive maintenance.
Keynote speaker David Norquist, president and CEO of the National Defense Industrial Association and former deputy secretary of defense, reinforced that point.
Norquist described Jacksonville as “the epicenter of defense” 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.
Washington can set priorities, Norquist said, but communities such as Jacksonville ultimately deliver military capability. He highlighted the region’s veteran workforce and industrial capacity.
Harrison Conyers, director of Jacksonville’s Military Affairs and Veterans Department, provided the city’s perspective. He described Jacksonville as striving to remain “the most military-, veteran-friendly community in the United States.”
Conyers highlighted the city’s 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.
“We’re very proud of our military history in Jacksonville, Florida,” Conyers said.
Military and defense activity contributes an estimated $9.1 billion to Duval County’s gross regional product and supports more than 68,000 jobs, according to data cited by the City of Jacksonville.
U.S. Rep. John Rutherford of Florida then connected federal defense spending to industrial capacity and workforce support.
“We have to have a strong industrial base in our country,” Rutherford said. He emphasized workforce development and highlighted funded defense projects in Northeast Florida. “We have to get back to building things in our country.”
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.
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