H C B A P R E S I D E N T’ S M E S S A G E M a t t h e w H a l l – B a r n e s & T h o r n b u r g L L P
thetipoftheSpear – inourBackyard
almosteverymajormilitarydecisioninrecentmemoryhasrun throughmacdillinsomewayoranother.
People often ask me if my military service ever took me to MacDill Air Force Base here in Tampa. Unfortunately, the US Army decided to send me places that were not as pretty as Tampa Bay. Most of us are aware that Tampa is home to MacDill, but its impact globally and locally is not always appreciated. Whether you know it as MacChill or Tampastan or simply the place where Dale Mabry ends, we really have the tip of America’ s spear right here in our backyard.
MacDill is unique among military bases, not only because it is a joint base( meaning it houses members of multiple military branches), but because it is home to two separate joint combatant commands. To put that in perspective, the US military currently has eleven joint combatant commands, and MacDill houses two of them. Those two commands are the US Special Operations Command
( SOCOM) and US Central Command( CENTCOM). If you have been to the SOF Week demonstrations at the Convention Center or watched old John Wayne or Chuck Norris movies, you understand that Special Forces( i. e. Green Berets, Navy SEALs, Delta Force) are objectively cool. And CENTCOM is the geographic command responsible for operations in the Middle East and Central and South Asia, so Egypt to Pakistan, including Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan, and crucial waterways like the Suez Canel and the Strait of Hormuz. There are estimated to be over 50 flag officers at MacDill( i. e. Marine, Army and Air Force Generals, Navy
Admirals), more than any other US military base other than the Pentagon. Almost every major military
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