Historically, Pensacola has always been a strategic naval post. During the war, Naval Air Station Pensacola was an important training base for U.S. and Allied naval aviators. Panama City was the site of a naval amphibious training base, as well as a base for the Civil Air Patrol and the location of Wainwright Shipyards. Tyndall Army Air Field, at Panama City, was used for gunnery training for Army bomber crews. Eglin Army Air Field and its ten auxiliary fields provided a proving ground for the Army Air Corps. It was at Eglin that Colonel James Doolittle trained his men for the raid on Tokyo. Dale Mabry Army Air Field in Tallahassee, at the current location of Tallahassee Community College, was a training site for the famed Tuskeegee Airmen.

The Army established Camp Gordon Johnston as an amphibious warfare training base at Carabelle. Infantry and Airborne infantry units were trained there for amphibious operations in Europe and the Pacific. General Omar Bradley's 28th Infantry Division also trained at Carabelle. The base was highly unpopular with many of the soldiers who trained there. They complained about the quarters, the mosquitoes, and the sand and wrote poems and songs mocking their rations and living conditions. Bradley himself complained that "The man who selected that site should have been court-martialed for stupidity."

Northeast Florida

Naval Air Station Jacksonville was a major naval aviation training base. Until 1944, the Army used Jacksonville Municipal Airport in the air war against U-boats. Jacksonville was also the site of the Gibbs Shipyards, which specialized in the construction of the famous PT boats.

The Army’s Replacement Training Center, known as Camp Blanding, was located near Starke. New soldiers destined for infantry units were assigned there for basic training. It was also used for training the 31st Infantry Division, "The Dixie Division," which was made up of Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi National Guardsmen who later saw combat in the Pacific.

Camp Blanding was not only a temporary home to thousands of American troops, it was also a prisoner-of-war facility for German and Italian personnel. It was first used for German sailors rescued and captured from U-boats. Later, it also housed Axis army prisoners taken in North Africa and France. These prisoners provided an important source of labor for Florida agriculture.

Central Florida

Naval Air Station Melbourne was used for gunnery training and was a base for Navy WAVES. The U.S. Naval Amphibious Training Base at Fort Pierce saw the joint training of Navy and Army personnel in amphibious landings. Fort Pierce was also the site of a scouts and raiders school and an underwater demolition training facility. Orlando became an important training site for the Army Air Forces. The civil air schools at Orlando Air School and Rollins College were used for training both American and Allied pilots, and the Army also set up two training operations there for its amphibious Air Combat Control Squadrons.

Ocala, Lakeland, Avon Park, and Arcadia were also the sites of civilian operated air schools that trained pilot cadets destined for military aviation. These air schools were vital during the time leading up to the war when the Army Air Corps was desperate for trained pilots. The schools were so successful that they expanded their facilities during the war as they became important training bases for Allied pilots sent to the United States for training.

The Tampa and St. Petersburg areas were vital sites for the training of Army pilots. MacDill Air Force Base is active to this day. Tampa was also important for the wartime shipbuilding industry. The Tampa Shipbuilding and Engineering Company (TASCO) was Tampa's largest wartime employer, and concrete ships were constructed at Hooker’s Point Yard.

Southwest Florida

Southwest Florida saw the establishment of several important Army Airfields, usually with auxiliary fields of their own, at Sarasota, Venice, Punta Gorda, Fort Myers, and Naples. Allied pilots were trained at Sarasota, Venice, and Fort Myers. Clewiston provided a location for the Riddle Air School, an Army Airfield and an auxiliary field, as well as a camp for POWs who were used to harvest sugar cane. Sarasota and Fort Myers were also the sites of Civil Air Patrol operations. Fort Myers played an important role in one early American offensive: Colonel James Doolittle used Page Field Army Air Field to determine the feasibility of launching B-25 bombers from a carrier deck, before his famous raid on Japan.

Southeast Florida

Florida's Southeast coast provided important training sites and military installations for several branches of the military, as well as key production facilities for the defense industry. Palm Beach and West Palm Beach had training facilities for women for both the Coast Guard and the Army, and provided a headquarters for the Air Transport Command for the Caribbean. Naval Air Station Fort Lauderdale was one of the bases where former President George Bush received his training. Port Everglades was the location of a Coast Guard Station and Navy ammunition storage facilities. Fort Lauderdale was vitally important for the defense industry as the site of Dooley's Basin & Dry Dock, as well as the H.A.K. Corporation which produced artillery shells, and Goodwin Awning, which provided the Army with tents. The surrounding Broward County area provided necessary food supplies for the American war effort.

Miami and Key West were both strategically located for U.S. military installations, both for training and defense. Miami Beach was an important Replacement Training Center for enlisted personnel in the Army Air Corps. Miami also had an important Coast Guard Air Station. Embry-Riddle operated a pilot-training program for women preparing to become Women's Air Force Service Pilots (WASPS.) NAS Miami trained fighter and dive-bomber pilots, gunners, and female personnel serving as WAVES. Prigg Boat Works in Miami constructed sub-chasers for the Navy.

The Navy stationed blimps at NAS Richmond, near Miami, to patrol Florida waters for U-boats. Key West was heavily used by the Navy during the war. The Army and the Navy used Boca Chica and Marathon Key in their anti-submarine operations. This operation became NAS Key West in 1945. Key West was also the site of a Coast Guard Patrol Base, Marine Barracks, and a Navy Submarine Base.