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Two military construction projects slated for MacDill Air Force Base, worth nearly $100 million, could become collateral damage in a defense budget battle between the White House and Congress, a defense budget expert says. With the Obama administration and Congress unable to agree on a defense budget, the Pentagon may have to operate through December…

The Pentagon wants military headquarters like U.S. Central Command and U.S. Special Operations Command, both based at MacDill Air Force Base, to cut personnel. But what that means in Tampa is hard to say. Centcom officials would only say they have reduced their headquarters budget by nearly 35 percent, to $485 million from $744 million…

For Richard Cicero, U.S. Central Command is becoming a familiar, and welcome place to visit. On Friday, the Weeki Wachee resident and former U.S. Army Special Forces member and military contractor will receive the Secretary of Defense Medal for the Defense of Freedom in the Central Command Reception Center on MacDill Air Force Base. The…

The Department of Veterans Affairs Sunshine Healthcare Network is conducting an internal review of how a veteran in the custody of the Bay Pines VA Police Department was able to overdose on drugs, said Bay Pines spokesman Jason Dangel. The veteran, Carl Giordano, 61, of St. Petersburg, was charged with possession of a controlled substance…

TAMPA — The chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee said consideration should be given to providing more security for soft targets like military recruiting and training centers in the wake of Thursday’s killing of four Marines and a Navy reservist by 24-year-old Mohammad Youssuf Abdulazeez. “Since the Internet communications have been launched, offensively, into…

TAMPA — The head of a group advising communities about how to protect military installations from shuttering during Pentagon cost-cutting measures said he is certain Congress will approve another Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission by 2019. “If I was a betting man, between now and 2019, I’d say 100 percent,” said Anthony Principi, chairman…

TAMPA — Back in the mid-1980s, while serving at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio, Daniel Jones would sometimes put on a dress in the confines of his off-base apartment. “But I would never go outside in a dress,” said Jones, 63, who now lives in Tampa as Nancy Jones and is transitioning to…

TAMPA — One calls it a win-win for the U.S. and Iran. One calls it an imperfect deal, but a step in the right direction with a long-mistrusted adversary. And one calls it a bad deal that will lead to further problems in the Middle East. Three local Middle Eastern affairs experts contacted by The…

Even before Army Master Sgt. Anthony Link could deliver the dreaded knock on the door, he heard a woman inside shout out in despair. “No,” cried Talisa Williams, who pulled up a window curtain and saw the men in their dress uniforms. “My baby. Not my baby.” It was shortly after 5 a.m., July 8,…

More than 300 military representatives from 39 nations concluded a weeklong operational planning conference at MacDill Air Force Base today, that “further developed and refined coalition plans to degrade and defeat” the Sunnin insurgent group Islamic State, according to U.S. Central Command, which hosted the conference. Centcom oversees U.S. military operations in a tumultuous 20-nation…

TAMPA — Do you have an advanced solution to help U.S. Special Operations Command develop its “Iron Man” body armor of the future? If so, the command, headquartered at MacDill Air Force Base, wants to hear from you. Socom is seeking up to 12 vendors to display their technology at the upcoming Special Operations Forces…

U.S. Central Command is hosting its third operational planning conference this week in the fight against the Sunni insurgent group Islamic State. The conference, which runs from today through May 1 at the command’s headquarters on MacDill Air Force Base, will be an opportunity for military planners from 39 nations to “further develop and refine…

Because the Russians and jihadi groups like Islamic State have been so successful in using the internet and other means to tell their stories and deliver their messages around the world, the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee is recommending more than doubling the among of money given to U.S. Special Operations Command for…

Speaking to an audience full of University of South Florida academics and students, the deputy commander of U.S. Central Command was asked to grade military efforts to date against the Sunni insurgent group Islamic State. “B-plus,” said Mark Fox, the first of seven speakers addressing the issue of extremism in the Middle East at a…

About halfway through his deployment to Liberia to help in the fight against Ebola, a member of the Joint Communications Support Element came down with a fever. For most people, that’s not very significant. But when you are working at the epicenter of a deadly epidemic, a fever raises concerns, because that’s one of Ebola’s…

When Dave Scott was an Air Force wing commander at Hurlburt Field from 1999 to 2001, he used to give out special bottles of Jack Daniel’s, made from a single barrel of the Tennessee distillery’s finest product. The bottles were from the Jack Daniel’s By the Barrel program. Created around the turn of the century,…

William Allen lived through one of the worst experiences ever faced by an American soldier then spent the latter part of his life trying to convince the U.S. Postal Service to dedicate a stamp in commemoration. Just 19, Allen was of the first U.S. troops sent over to Korea after South Korea was invaded by…

After 16 years with the Veterans Administration, Roy L. Hawkins Jr., the acting director of the James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital, is leaving for the private sector. Hawkins, 39, will become the chief operating officer at the Chippenham Johnston-Willis Medical Center in Richmond, Virginia working for Hospital Corp. of America. Hawkins leaves Jan. 9 and…

Personal information from more than 1,300 employees of the Veterans Administration nationwide was compromised in a computer breach involving security clearances, according to a memo being delivered this morning to VA employees. They are among more than 48,000 employees across the federal government whose information may have been compromised, according to the memo, a copy…

After regaling the gathering of combat wounded with his stories of helping hunt down drug lord Pablo Escobar then taking part in the invasion of Panama, Nelson Corbin gets serious. “We are the only military group here,” says Corbin, a retired Green Beret sergeant major as he addresses the nine men about to board 23-foot…

The defense spending bill passed by the House of Representatives today authorizes a 10 percent budget increase for U.S. Special Operations Command, extended authority for it to carry out its missions and more money to keep its troops healthy. But it also includes reductions in benefits for troops and their families. It also includes funds…

It’s been more than two years since he resigned his position as director of the Central Intelligence Agency over an affair, but David Petraeus is still being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the nation’s top law enforcement agency won’t say why. “The Petraeus investigation is still ongoing,” said Christopher Allen, an FBI…

TAMPA — Sometime in January, if all goes according to plan, forces with the terrorist Islamic State holed up since June in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul will be hit with a double whammy — Kurdish Peshmerga forces attacking from the west and Iraqi security forces from the south. If successful, the operation will…

The Pentagon may be 800 miles to the north, but what happens inside the world’s largest low-rise office building has a huge effect on Tampa, where MacDill Air Force Base is the only installation in the United States with two major military commands. So when the President announces the Defense Secretary is stepping down, people…

Back in April, the Department of Veterans Affairs released the results of its investigation into cancer deaths that occurred as the result of delayed gastrointestinal treatment. The report found that none of the deaths occurred at either the James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital in Tampa or the C.W. Bill Young VA Medical Center in St.…

Iraqi Security Forces have initiated a counterattack against the Islamic State to relieve troops in Bayji, said Army Gen. Lloyd Austin III, commander of U.S. Central Command headquartered at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa. Austin, speaking to reporters at the Pentagon Friday morning, said while it was difficult to pinpoint exactly when Iraqi troops…

A federal court ruling in North Carolina this week will have a devastating impact on many of the nearly 20,000 Floridians currently registered with the Marine Corps for their exposures at Camp Lejeune to three known human carcinogens found in the camp’s drinking water, said a man who contracted breast cancer as a result. Those…

MacDill Air Force Base would like an Olympic-sized swimming pool. The city of Tampa would like one as well. A year ago, the base and the community would likely have gone their separate ways in pursuit of a mutual desire. Not anymore. Thanks to a program implemented by the Air Force, the 6th Air Mobility…

Almost every day, U.S. Central Command sends out an email listing Islamic State targets the U.S. and its coalition partners have hit in Syria and Iraq. The latest came Thursday, with two emails touting that a combination of U.S. bomber, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 11 airstrikes in Syria south of the Kurdish town…

TAMPA — Kathleen Fogarty, director of the James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital, has been named to temporarily take over the Veteran Administration’s Southwest Healthcare System, including the troubled Phoenix VA hospital that has been at the center of controversy over patient deaths as the result of treatment delays. Fogarty, 55, told The Tampa Tribune she…

When the U.S. military deploys forces to far away places, members of the Joint Communications Support Element, headquartered at MacDill Air Force Base, are among the first to ship out. That’s the case with Operation United Assistance, the Pentagon’s efforts to provide command and control, logistics, medical, training and engineering assets to contain the Ebola…

TAMPA — One of the biggest complaints about the James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital is the time it takes to get someone to answer the phone. Kathleen Fogarty, director of the Tampa hospital, wants to change that. On Monday morning, she sent an email blast to all 4,900 hospital employees calling on them to be…

It’s been a tough few years for Tampa’s defense industry. With the war in Iraq ending in 2011 and about two-thirds of the remaining 30,000 U.S. troops set to leave Afghanistan by the end of the year, the Pentagon was on a course to reduce its global footprint and the White House and Congress were…

TAMPA — Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald says he knows firsthand the attraction Florida has for veterans. “Florida is a veteran magnet,” said McDonald, speaking to reporters after touring VA facilities in St. Petersburg and Tampa. “I know that because I am one of the ones who’s been magnetized.” An Army veteran, McDonald purchased a…

President Barack Obama reiterated his long-standing position on how to battle the Sunni insurgent group Islamic State. “American forces deployed to Iraq, do not and will not have a combat mission,” Obama told a packed gymnasium at MacDill Air Force Base, where he spoke after receiving a briefing on efforts by U.S. Central Command on…

TAMPA — U.S. Central Command leadership will brief President Barack Obama and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel this morning at MacDill Air Force Base on a wide range of efforts to degrade and defeat the Sunni insurgent group Islamic State, including plans to train vetted Syrian fighters in Saudi Arabia, top military leaders told senators Tuesday.…

For years, Anthony Zinni, a retired Marine General who once ran U.S. Central Command, blistered the administration of George W. Bush for its handling of Iraq. Now Zinni is teeing up on President Barack Obama’s approach in Iraq, saying he is “worried” by Obama’s cautious approach to the current crisis and the Sunni insurgent group…

For Kendra DiMaria, a former law enforcement officer with the Bay Pines VA Healthcare System police department, her problems with management began in the summer of 2009 when a supervisor began making sexual innuendos, according to a lawsuit she and other former and current officers filed in 2010 against the Department of Veterans Affairs. The…

As the 10th commander of U.S. Special Operations Command, a job title that became official Thursday afternoon in a ceremony at the Tampa Convention Center, Army Gen. Joe Votel assumes leadership in what he and his predecessor called “the golden age” of special operations. But he takes command at a time of flux. The days…

Military News Three years ago, Adm. William McRaven, the new commander of U.S. Special Operations Command, stood in a hangar at MacDill Air Force Base and delivered his vision for the future to 3,000 workers at the commando headquarters. Support current combat operations. Strengthen the global special operations forces network. Take care of the health…

A Tampa woman, whose husband serves at MacDill Air Force Base, is one of 11 people who will be honored by the White House for “doing extraordinary work across the country as leaders in entrepreneurship,” according to a White House media release. Adrianna Domingos-Lupher, chief executive officer of MSB New Media, a digital media marketing…

Only one of more than 40 Americans taken hostage in Iraq between 2004 and 2006 was rescued, despite the presence of more than 120,000 U.S. troops, a robust intelligence network, ownership of the skies and relatively friendly relations with the host nation, says a former Navy SEAL who helped organize rescue efforts. Overall, only five…

TAMPA — The body of Marine Cpl. Rob Richards, a St. Petersburg native and war hero who touched off international outrage through a video showing him and three others urinating on dead Taliban fighters, is coming home later this week. Richards, 28, died in North Carolina on Aug. 13 from what a family spokesman described…

“Miss Piggy” is getting new wings. “Kermit,” too. The two old, lumbering Orion P-3 propeller driven aircraft that fly into hurricanes out of MacDill Air Force Base for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, will be getting a major overhaul over the next three years. But the $35 million refurbishing job won’t take the planes,…

In 2012, military spending in the three-county Tampa region accounted for nearly $14 billion in economic output, 141,000 jobs and represented about 7 percent of the economies of Hillsborough, Pinellas and Polk counties, according to the Florida Chamber Foundation. Statewide, defense spending brought in about $70 billion, or about 10 percent of the gross domestic…

Sen. Bill Nelson, gearing up for a trip this week that will take him to Ukraine, the Baltic states and Turkey, departed from the Obama administration’s more measured approach and called for providing lethal arms to Ukraine’s military, which is battling Russian-backed rebels and facing down 20,000 Russian troops amassed along the border. However, Nelson…

Mike Jernigan can’t watch fighters from an al-Qaida splinter group push closer to Baghdad. It’s not that he is trying to avoid the images. But on Aug. 22, 2004, while a squad leader with Company E 2nd Battalion 2nd Marine Regiment, Jernigan was severely wounded by an improvised explosive device in Mahmudiyah, Iraq. He suffered…

With the forces of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria advancing toward Baghdad, the State Department is drawing up contingency plans for a possible evacuation of the U.S. Embassy there, according to a spokesman for U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson. Nelson, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, today attended a classified briefing on…

In the wake of the attacks of 9/11, an international coalition of nations was formed at U.S. Central Command headquarters at MacDill Air Force Base to coordinate a global response. With the war in Iraq over (though that nation is still in turmoil) and the war in Afghanistan winding down, the original impetus for the…

As the command responsible of overseeing two wars, U.S. Central Command saw huge increases in personnel and budget at its MacDill Air Force Base headquarters after 9/11. Since 2001, the command’s Tampa-based contingent of military and civilian personnel jumped 70 percent by 2013, to nearly 2,730, with another 1,300 positions allocated to its subordinate commands.…

In a snapshot of an overwhelmed Veterans Health Administration system, auditors found more than 57,000 veterans waiting at least 90 days to be scheduled for care and nearly 64,000 others enrolled in the system in the past decade who have yet to be seen for an appointment. In Florida, more than 8,500 new patients were…

During his time in Tampa as commander of U.S. Central Command, Marine Gen. James Mattis said he saw no evidence to confirm that Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, released in a prisoner swap last week, collaborated with his captors. “I have never seen one bit of verified or confirmed evidence of that,” Mattis said in a…

Arch Bush, now almost 91 and living in Sun City Center, says he has no special plans in store for today. Ed Bialy, 88, says he may wander over to the local VFW post in Brooksville, for some hot dogs and beer. Maurice Johnson, 90, says he will continue an annual tradition, dinner with friends…

One by one, veterans or their relatives told about the problems they’ve experienced dealing with the Department of Veterans Affairs. Waiting too long for medical attention. Inaccurate diagnoses, Waiting too long to have claims processed. About 100 people filled the auditorium at New Port Richey City Hall Thursday morning, attending a town hall meeting called…