MacDill Air Force Base, Florida

An Air Force Base established in 1947, which is home to a number of interesting units. One of these is the United States Special Operations Command, a multifaceted military organization involved in small-scale, counterinsurgency, psychological, and covert operations worldwide. There is a "Special Ops" unit in the Army (at Fort Bragg, NC), Navy (at Coronado, CA), the Marine Corps (Camp Lejeune, NC), and the Air Force (at Hurlburt, FL). The unit at MacDill is the unifying command for these four. The other primary unit here is the United States Central Command (CENTCOM), which also draws on the human and technical resources of all of the armed forces. Their mission is to protect the Middle-Eastern oil interests of the United States, by maintaining secure relations with oil-producing nations, and nations along major oil routes. They are assigned to 19 Middle Eastern countries, including Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Also at MacDill AFB is a fleet of aircraft used by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), including three sophisticated "Hurricane Hunter" research aircraft. NOAA has an engineering facility at the base for designing, building and servicing research equipment. The largest air-to-ground bombing range east of the Mississippi is operated by MacDill AFB. The Avon Park Air Force Range covers over 106,000 acres and is located 95 miles east of MacDill.