Editing Fort Walton Beach, Florida (section)

==Economy==

The economy of Fort Walton Beach is driven by two primary factors: tourism and the military. There are two major Air Force bases which border Fort Walton Beach. [[Hurlburt Field]] is home to Headquarters, Air Force Special Operations Command ([[AFSOC]]), the [[1st Special Operations Wing]], and the Joint Special Operations University.<ref name="Hurlburt Field, USAF">{{cite web|title=Hurlburt Field - Home|url=https://www.hurlburt.af.mil/|publisher=United States Air Force|access-date=11 January 2013}}</ref>  [[Eglin AFB]] is home to the [[Air Force Materiel Command]]'s [[Air Force Life Cycle Management Center]]'s Armament Directorate and the [[96th Test Wing]], [[Air Combat Command]]'s [[53rd Wing]], and [[Air Education Training Command]]'s [[33rd Fighter Wing]].<ref name="Eglin AFB Home">{{cite web|title=Eglin Air Force Base - Home|url=http://www.eglin.af.mil/index.asp|publisher=United States Air Force|access-date=11 January 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130119105131/http://www.eglin.af.mil/index.asp|archive-date=19 January 2013}}</ref>   Eglin is geographically one of the largest Air Force bases at {{convert|724|sqmi|km2}}, and thus home to joint exercises, and missile and bomb testing. For example, the 'Massive Ordnance Air Blast' or 'Mother of All Bombs' ([[Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb|MOAB]]) was first tested at Eglin AFB on March 11, 2003.

There is support industry in the area that benefits from the presence of the bases, including military contractors and the service industry.

The tourism industry is seasonal, with summer being the primary season, and a smaller peak season during spring break.  The area also boasts a large [[Snowbird (people)|snowbird]] population, which includes the Fort Walton Beach Snowbird Club.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://snowbirdsgulfcoast.com/snowbird-clubs/ft-walton-beach-snowbird-club|title = Fort Walton Beach Snowbird Club|date = 7 December 2014}}</ref>  The Billy Bowlegs Pirate Festival is held annually in June.<ref>{{cite web|title=Billy Bowlegs Pirate Festival|url=http://www.billybowlegsfestival.com/|website=Billy Bowlegs Pirate Festival|access-date=2 October 2014}}</ref>

===Top employers===
According to Fort Walton Beach's 2010 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.fwb.org/images/fwb/Finance/2011/2010FWB-CAFR.pdf|title=City of Fort Walton Beach CAFR}}</ref> the top employers in the city were:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! #
! Employer
! Employees
|-
| 1
| [[Eglin Air Force Base]]
|16,476
|-
|2
| [[Hurlburt Field]]
|11,171
|-
|3
| Okaloosa County School District
|3,278
|-
|4
| [[Okaloosa County, Florida|Okaloosa County]]
|1,383
|-
|5
| [[Hospital Corporation of America|Fort Walton Beach Medical Center]]
|1,305
|-
|6
| [[DRS Technologies]]
|875
|-
|7
| InDyne
|786
|-
|8
| [[Northwest Florida State College]]
|763
|-
|9
| [[ResortQuest]]
|750
|-
|10
| [[BAE Systems]]
|700
|}