Photo By Dustin Senger | U.S. Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt. Cameron Fitzgerald, a motor transportation maintenance...... read more read more
Jacksonville’s Great American Defense Community designation came into focus Aug. 7 at Marine Corps Support Facility Blount Island, where defense community leaders saw how regional partnerships support Marine Corps readiness while military families gathered for a festival.
The Association of Defense Communities named Jacksonville one of three Great American Defense Communities for 2026, recognizing the region’s military presence, civic partnerships and support for service members, veterans and families. Shreveport-Bossier, Louisiana, and Augusta, Georgia, also received the designation.
Association board members and executive staff received a command brief on Blount Island’s people, infrastructure and regional partnerships before touring the slipway, maintenance and storage areas, and Improved Navy Lighterage System equipment.
“This community is always responsive,” said Col. David Merles, commanding officer of Marine Corps Support Facility Blount Island. He also leads Blount Island Command, a Marine Corps Logistics Command unit that uses the facility’s specialized slipway, industrial capacity and maritime access to generate and sustain ready-for-issue equipment across the global positioning network.
Merles highlighted integrated base defense planning earlier in the year, when military, government and community partners gathered at the facility to identify capabilities and strengthen regional coordination for potential emergencies and disruptions.
“The local agencies are all-in for readiness, and we couldn’t have benefited more from that,” Merles said. “Jacksonville is a great community, one that attracts a lot of talent for our integrated global sustainment mission.”
Keith Graf, an Association of Defense Communities board member, said the designation reflects support for both military families and the missions performed across the region.
“This designation shows that this community comes together to support the military and their families and their mission,” Graf said. The tour showed how that support connects to Blount Island’s mission.
“I was impressed,” he said. “I am impressed by all the important logistics work that occurs here to support the Marines and the nation.”
Earlier that afternoon, Blount Island personnel and families gathered on the physical training field for the command’s summer festival. A break from recent heat and rain brought a breeze off the St. Johns River as service members, civilians, spouses and children moved among cornhole boards, a water slide, a bounce house and other activities near the blue rubberized running track and wooden obstacle course.
U.S. Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt. Cameron Fitzgerald taught his 13-year-old daughter to play cornhole. A motor transportation maintenance chief, he has served 19 years in the Marine Corps and spent the past two years at Blount Island, his sixth duty station.
“Since I’ve been here, we’ve felt accepted,” Fitzgerald said. “The Marines have a smaller population here, but we can feel the community is supportive — it’s very patriotic in general.”
Fitzgerald said military appreciation events, ceremonies and other opportunities around Jacksonville help his family feel connected despite the Marine Corps’ comparatively small local presence. Fewer than 100 Marines serve at Blount Island, situated along the St. Johns River between Naval Station Mayport and Naval Air Station Jacksonville.
Across the track, U.S. Navy Seaman Apprentice Londell Marshall served hot dogs and hamburgers. After 15 months as a medical logistics quality assurance specialist with Blount Island Command, Marshall said he appreciates Jacksonville’s diversity, events and access to the ocean.
He has attended an air show at Naval Air Station Jacksonville and a Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp military appreciation game but sees room to strengthen connections with the broader community.
“A lot of the civilians don’t know about our bases here,” Marshall said, noting that even longtime residents sometimes know little about individual installations. “I think we need to get involved in more events off base to show our presence and answer basic questions.”
For Fitzgerald, the number of opportunities to connect with the community helps Jacksonville stand out among his six Marine Corps duty stations.
“Seeing what comes across my email,” Fitzgerald said, referring to community events shared in the command’s weekly staff updates, “there are so many different opportunities for us to get involved. It’s a lot more than I’m used to seeing.”
“We’ll definitely miss this place,” he said.
| Date Taken: | 08.10.2026 |
| Date Posted: | 08.10.2026 13:52 |
| Story ID: | 571979 |
| Location: | JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA, US |
| Web Views: | 29 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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