Tyndall displays new award logo

if you've driven past Tyndall Air Force Base recently, you may have noticed a new design on its water tower.

That's because Wednesday the base unveiled the Association of Defense Communities' logo for the Great American Defense Communities award on its water tower.

Bay County is one of 2019's five select members of the Great American Defense Communities.

Colonel Brian Laidlaw says the Navy base and Air Force base have been part of the community since the 1940s, so this new recognition has been decades in the making.

"From the very beginning this has been a welcoming place for soldiers, sailors, airmen, coast guardsmen to serve. There's a reason why 15 percent of the population of Bay County are veterans. These are people who got assignments here, weren't necessarily from this area and were so welcomed here and loved it so much that they decided to stay," said Laidlaw.

Attendees at the event included community leaders like Callaway Mayor Pamn Henderson, and commissioners Griff Griffitts and Bill Dozier, among others.