As a military isssues advocacy group, the DSI is comprised of 25 community and business leaders, including retired military personnel, defense contractors and representation from the seven Military Affairs Committees from Santa Rosa, Okaloosa and Walton Counties surrounding Eglin AFB. The mission of the DSI is to support and promote the local military installations, missions and their positive
economic contributions to the tri-county area. The 2020 Florida Defense Handbook reported the annual economic impact of the military presence in the tri-county region as exceeding $10,974,200,000—topping $9B in Okaloosa County alone with over 78,000 jobs.