Since the F-15 Eagle draw down at Tyndall Air Force Base began last month, many in the military community have been wondering what would be the replacement.

Wednesday, we found out it could be additional F-22 Raptors.

Congressman Allen Boyd announced Tyndall is one of four bases that could land operational F-22's units. Boyd says he's met with top military brass over the past 18 months, hoping to land new missions at Tyndall.

"This is extremely promising news for our community as placement of additional F-22's could bring up to 500 new jobs to the area," Boyd said via a phone conference with reporters.

"I think this is a step in the right direction of replacing the jobs lost by the f-15 training mission. It's really the result of teamwork," Tom Neubauer, President of the Bay Defense Alliance said.

Tyndall already is the Air Force's only training base for F-22 pilots. It will be competing with Elmendorf AFB in Alaska, Langley AFB in Virginia and Holloman AFB in New Mexico.

Over the next few months, Air Force officials will evaluate each base's specific qualifications including environmental impact studies and operational needs.

Bay Defense Alliance members tell us Tyndall has a number of resources including the Gulf Range along with several other tenants that already make the base a very attractive candidate.

"The fact that we've been training there and we were the first base to receive F-22's and the collaboration between the training units an operational units make it a great location," Glen McDonald, a Bay Defense Alliance member said.

The Air Force will announce which base will get the additional F-22's in August.

The Air Force is trying to reassign as many as 187 of the F-22 Raptors. It's not clear yet if the Air Force will split those among several bases.

Boyd says he included language in the 2011 Defense Authorization Bill, encouraging the Secretary of the Air Force to speed up the decision to replace missions at Tyndall.