TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The 1st Special Operations Wing Commander, Col. Patrick Dierig, and a team of Wing subject matter experts met with key Florida Legislators at the State Capitol in Tallahassee, Florida, March 12, 2025, to express concerns about the impact of U.S. Highway 98 traffic congestion on mission readiness and to request continued advocacy for infrastructure improvements west of Hurlburt Field.

Florida Representative Patt Maney, District 4, which includes part of Okaloosa County, hosted Dierig and the 1 SOW team at the State Capitol. His staff coordinated opportunities for the team to meet with the Chairs of the Senate Appropriations Committee, the House Budget Committee and the House Transportation and Economic Development Budget Subcommittee as well as the Speaker of the House, Senators representing the Emerald Coast, and the Governor’s Director of Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs.  

“Highway 98 traffic is not a matter of convenience for the 1st SOW,” said Dierig in each of the engagements. “The traffic is a readiness issue.”

The 1 SOW’s primary mission is to rapidly plan and execute specialized and contingency operations in support of national priorities. These missions often come with little notice and require hundreds of Airmen to report to the base to launch the mission on a very compressed timeline.

“I never want to be in the position of calling the Air Force Special Operations Command commander and saying the mission failed because of a traffic jam,” said Dierig. 

While all the legislators acknowledged the high cost of the various improvement options would pose a challenge, all seemed willing to explore options and advocate for funding.  

“The bottom line,” said Senator Don Gaetz, District 1, which includes Escambia and Santa Rosa counties and part of Okaloosa County. “If traffic impacts the mission, you could lose the base. If you lose the base, you lose the economy.”

Okaloosa County is addressing traffic concerns with a project development and environmental (PD&E) study for a new collector road. The proposed 3.2-mile road would run west of Hurlburt Field, parallel to Highway 98. By consolidating highway entrances, the project aims to alleviate traffic congestion stemming from Florosa Elementary School and nearby residential areas. This effort complements a separate Florida Department of Transportation project to widen U.S. 98 from Gulf Breeze to Hurlburt Field.

Similarly, Santa Rosa County is currently undergoing a PD&E to study a proposed Navarre common access road, an east-west corridor north of U.S. 98 that extends from Westwood Drive on the western end to Panhandle Trail on the eastern end. These studies will determine the location and conceptual alternatives of the roads, including any environmental impacts.

At the legislative meetings on March 12, Gaetz committed to advocating for a $4 million funding bill to study the proposed “Connecting the Collectors” project which would ultimately connect the two projects being worked separately by Okaloosa and Santa Rosa Counties.

Likewise, both Representative Lawrence McClure, Chair of the House Budget Committee, and Senator Ed Hooper, Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, agreed U.S. 98 traffic congestion was a problem that needed to be addressed and agreed to support the proposed funding bill. 

“Thank you for your commitment to protecting our nation and keeping us safe,” said Hooper. 

The meetings left 1 SOW officials encouraged about receiving for continued support from the state.

“This will be a many-year project, but the traffic issue is only getting worse,” said Dierig.  “The only wrong answer is to do nothing.”