Post Cold War and BRAC 1991 MacDill Air Force Base

1 post cold war , brac 1991

1.1 6th air mobility wing , 927th air refueling wing (associate)
1.2 tenant units
1.3 super bowl flyovers
1.4 cyberwarfare

post cold war , brac 1991

by 1990s , end of cold war, u.s. looking downsize military , eliminate large number of bases in united states cost-savings measure. macdill afb figured prominently in this: tampa area had seen substantial increases in commercial air traffic @ 2 international airports within ten nautical miles of macdill, creating hazardous conditions f-16 training, , noise associated high-performance jets deemed unsuitable high-density residential areas around macdill. result, 1991 defense base realignment , closure commission ordered flightline activities cease @ macdill afb 1993.

as result of brac decision, f-16 training mission , 56th fighter wing moved without personnel or equipment luke air force base, outside of phoenix, arizona, , reassigned air education , training command (aetc). wing s f-16 aircraft transferred other regular u.s. air force, air force reserve command , air national guard wings , squadrons.

6th air mobility wing , 927th air refueling wing (associate)

in august 1992, prior landfall of hurricane andrew in southern florida, 31st fighter wing (31 fw) , air force reserve s 482d fighter wing (482 fw), both based @ homestead afb, executed emergency hurricane evacuation of of flyable f-16c , f-16d aircraft, bulk of aircraft temporarily staging @ macdill. given level of destruction @ homestead afb, these fighter aircraft remained @ macdill several months thereafter.

in 1993, of local representative bill young (r-fl), flight line closure order macdill rescinded , national oceanic , atmospheric administration (noaa) transferred former aircraft operations center @ miami international airport hangar 5 @ macdill afb in order use base , flight line new home station weather reconnaissance , research flights.

on 1 january 1994, air mobility command s 6th air base wing (6 abw) stood @ macdill afb operate base , provide support services uscentcom, ussocom, , large , growing number of other tenant units, provide services transient air units. later year, base served primary staging facility operation uphold democracy in haiti.

this staging considered evidence of quality , usefulness of macdill runway , flight line, in light of high civilian air traffic levels in tampa bay area nearby tampa international airport, st. petersburg-clearwater international airport , peter o. knight airport. further congressional prodding , lobbying, macdill chosen site kc-135 air refueling mission. arrival of 12 kc-135r tankers , 91st air refueling squadron malmstrom air force base, montana, 6 abw renamed 6th air refueling wing (6 arw) on 1 october 1996.

in january 2001, 310th airlift squadron (310 as) activated @ base, flying ct-43a , ec-135y, former aircraft providing executive transport commander of united states southern command (ussouthcom) in miami , latter aircraft providing executive transport , airborne command post capabilities commanders of uscentcom , ussocom @ macdill. new c-37a aircraft delivered starting in 2001, , ct-43 , ec-135s subsequently removed service. 310th s primary mission dedicated airlift support commanders of uscentcom, ussocom , ussouthcom. addition of 310 as, wing given current designation 6th air mobility wing (6 amw).

in april 2008, pursuant base realignment , closure (brac) action, air force reserve command s 927th air refueling wing (927 arw) relocated selfridge air national guard base, michigan macdill afb, became associate wing 6 amw, flying same kc-135r aircraft.

tenant units

in late 2003/early 2004, u.s. naval forces central command vacated tampa rear headquarters @ macdill afb, complex established in 1990s following first gulf war , commanded flag officer, either upper half or lower half rear admiral concurrently assigned usnavcent/us 5th fleet deputy commander (depcomusnavcent/depcomfifthflt), , staff when not forward deployed persian gulf region. in vacating macdill afb facility, usnavcent staff activities consolidated @ comusnavcent/comfifthflt headquarters in manama, bahrain.

navcent s facility @ macdill afb subsequently turned on deputy commander, u.s. marine forces central command (depcomusmarcent), , staff. later become overall headquarters, u.s. marine forces central command, while commanding general marcent (comusmarcent) remain dual-hatted function of commanding general, marine expeditionary force (i mef) @ camp pendleton, california. late 2003 until 2012, commanding general remained in california, while marcent staff resided @ macdill afb additional forward element @ naval support activity bahrain in manama, bahrain. in 2012, comusmarcent , cg mef billets broken separate billets , comusmarcent took full-time residency in marcent s headquarters facility @ macdill afb, upgrading facility 3-star headquarters.

also in late 2004/early 2005, naval reserve center tampa vacated obsolescent waterfront location in downtown tampa, consolidated former naval reserve center st. petersburg adjacent coast guard air station clearwater, , relocated newly constructed facility on south side of macdill afb. in 2006, facility renamed navy operational support center tampa, concurrent shift in name of u.s. naval reserve u.s. navy reserve , greater integration fleet , shore establishment of regular navy. under command of active duty full-time support (fts) u.s. navy captain, nosc tampa provides administrative support navy reserve personnel assigned both local independent navy reserve units @ nosc tampa , various joint , service commands , activities @ macdill afb, cgas clearwater , marine corps reserve center tampa.

the joint communications support element (jcse) joint command headquartered @ macdill afb deploys provide en route, entry, scalable command, control, communications , computer (c4) support geographical unified combatant commands, u.s. special operations command, , other military commands , u.s. government agencies directed. on order, jcse provides additional c4 services within 72 hours support larger commander, joint task force/commander, joint special operations task force (cjtf/cjsotf) headquarters across full spectrum of operations. jcse commanded u.s. army colonel , consists of headquarters support squadron (hss), communications support detachment (csd), 3 active duty joint communications squadrons: 1st, 2nd , 3rd joint communications squadrons, , 4th joint communications squadron, 4th being u.s. army reserve squadron. located on jcse compound @ macdill afb. jcse comprised of 2 additional joint communications support squadrons air national guard: 224th joint communications support squadron (224 jcss) of georgia air national guard in brunswick, georgia, , 290th joint communications support squadron (290 jcss) of florida air national guard located in own compound separate jcse @ macdill afb.

as mentioned above, 290th joint communications support squadron (290 jcss) of florida air national guard tenant unit @ macdill afb. 290 jcss provides chairman of joint chiefs of staff-directed globally deployable, en route, , entry communications support geographic combatant commands, united states special operations command, individual u.s. armed services, other department of defense activities , combat support agencies, other u.s. government agencies, , state of florida. squadron deploys modular, scalable support large joint , combined war-fighting command , control (c2) headquarters nodes. under title 10 usc federal mission, 290 jcss associated u.s. transportation command s joint enabling capabilities command (jecc) , joint communications support element (jcse). usaf organization, 290 jcss operationally-gained air mobility command (amc). under title 32 usc state mission, squadron reports governor of florida via assistant adjutant general air (atag-air) , adjutant general (tag) of florida national guard./

the newest tenant command @ macdill afb 598th range squadron (598 rans), air combat command (acc) unit activated @ macdill afb auxiliary field @ avon park air force range, florida on 22 september 2015. 598 rans replaced detachment 1, 23d fighter group, had managed range , additional facilities @ macdill afb. 598 rans operates both avon park air force range (apafr) , 23rd wing deployed unit complex (duc) located @ macdill afb. duc separate flight line facility on west side of macdill afb transient military flight crews, maintenance crews , fighter , attack aircraft utilizing apafr. permits visiting squadrons have ready access apafr while concurrently taking advantage of more robust billeting, messing , aircraft maintenance support capabilities @ macdill afb. combination of facilities between macdill afb , apafr provides extensive, diversified , convenient training airspace , ranges unique training capabilities military air, ground , air-to-ground training. squadron s higher headquarters, 23d fighter group, located @ moody air force base, georgia.

super bowl flyovers

the flyover , missing man formations super bowl xxv, super bowl xxxv , super bowl xliii, played @ raymond james stadium, came kc-135 aircraft macdill s 6th air mobility wing, additional flyovers b-2 spirit 509th bomb wing , f-22 raptor aircraft 325th fighter wing. former flyover first super bowl flyover telecast in high definition.

cyberwarfare

in 2011, several news outlets, primaily in united kingdom, reported ntrepid, california software , hardware company, had been awarded $2.76 million u.s. government contract create false online personas counter threat of terrorism , possibly run operation macdill afb. these reports never confirmed or acknowledged u.s. military.