The Purpose of Tyndall Air Force Base NDR Division

A Fulbright Scholar and former senior Pentagon official, Pamela Berkowsky has served as a senior executive defense consultant to the South Florida Defense Alliance (SFDA) since its inception in 2017. With a special interest in the effects of climate change on national security, Pamela Berkowsky has been carefully monitoring climate and extreme weather-related impacts on military installations, including the case of Tyndall Air Force Base (AFB), located near Panama City, FL. In 2018, Category 5 Hurricane Michael caused extensive damage to 484 buildings at Tyndall AFB, destroying most of the installation and its surroundings. In the wake of Hurricane Michael and the historic flooding just a few months later at Offutt, AFB in Nebraska, the Air Force Civil Engineer Center established a National Disaster Recovery Division (NDR) as a “single unit” to optimize and streamline the numerous post-hurricane redevelopment and reconstruction projects. At Tyndall, the NDR serves to reinforce the installation’s disaster-resilient features by overhauling and revamping the structural integrity of the buildings through innovative designs, novel technology, and strong materials. The goal is to create a resilient, sustainable and mission-ready “Installation of the Future”. Already underway, the engineering, design and construction standards for this project exceed baseline Department of Defense standards and Unified Facilities Criteria (UFC); the project is planned to take five to seven years to complete. Tyndall AFB remains operationally ready to project combat airpower for the country, despite its ongoing redevelopment projects.

The Impact of Climate Change on National Security

Virgin Islands resident Pamela Berkowsky is the president of Blue Sapphire Strategies and a senior executive defense consultant to the South Florida Defense Alliance (www.southfloridadefensealliance.org). Pamela Berkowsky currently addresses issues at the nexus of climate change and national security, expertise she gained as a former senior staff member to both the U.S. Secretary of Defense and the Governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands. Climate change, with effects that include rising sea levels, melting polar ice, flooding, wildfires, extreme heat, and severe storms, continues to be a significant challenge to the global population and security agencies internationally, including the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD). The effects of climate change on national security are increasingly evident: the intensification of environmental threats to military bases and readiness at home, and the growing demands on DOD abroad from climate-driven instability, refugees, migration, and conflict over increasingly scarce resources.

Through Executive Order 14008 and its subsequent actions, the Biden Administration has placed the climate crisis at the forefront of its national security strategy and policy. Accordingly, the DOD released its own climate adaptation strategy and plan, promulgating numerous policies and initiatives to mitigate climate threats to national security-related infrastructure. For instance, in 2020, the Department issued instructions to its installations regarding the use of site-specific databases for sea-level rise forecasts in planning and project design. The following year, it published its Climate Adaptation Plan outlining a strategic framework and areas of activity to address climate vulnerabilities, such as establishing robust infrastructure and supply networks. DOD also continues to address its energy efficiency and consumption by shifting to clean energy and minimizing dependence on fossil fuels for both its shore-based and operational requirements.