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The Tampa Tribune / TBO.com Military News In May 2014, Iraqi Staff Gen. Talib Shagati Mshari Alkinani, commander of the Iraqi Joint Special Operations Command, visited the U.S. Special Operations Command war game center at MacDill Air Force Base and talked about a dangerous new group of jihadis that was only beginning to garner attention.…

The Tampa Tribune / TBO.com Military News TAMPA — President Barack Obama, who has relied heavily on Special Operations Forces in the battle against Islamic extremists, has given U.S. Special Operations Command a budget boost in his final spending plan, details of which were unveiled in Washington on Tuesday. And though the budget request calls…

U.S. Special Operations Forces, spread out over more than 80 countries around the globe at any given time, are at the forefront of the Obama administration’s military strategy, including training Iraqi and Syrian forces in the fight against Islamic State. From the Quadrennial Defense Review to the Defense Strategic Guidance to President Barack Obama’s recent…

ST. PETE BEACH — Though the fight against the Sunni insurgent group Islamic State and similar groups is a global responsibility, Jordanian Princess Aisha bin Al Hussein told an audience of international commandos that, ultimately, it is up to the Muslim world to combat ideology espoused by groups like al-Qaida, Islamic State, Boko Haram and…

For Kim Allison, the pain of loss did not end Sunday when Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel presided over a ceremony in Kabul officially closing out the 13-year-long war in Afghanistan. On March 11, 2013, Allison’s youngest son, Army Spc. Zachary Shannon, died in a Black Hawk helicopter crash in Afghanistan. Shannon, a 2010 graduate of…

Sen. Bill Nelson, just back from a trip that took him to Turkey and Ukraine, says he will raise the issue of the use of U.S. force in Syria against the Sunni insurgent group Islamic State when the Senate returns from vacation and takes up the 2015 defense spending bill. He also said it is…

The 35-year-old man from Miami headed to Clearwater in January, according to court documents, thinking he was going to meet up with Emily Millerson, who placed a personal ad on Craigslist soliciting opinions on which branch of the military to join. As he got closer to Clearwater, Alexander Levi Blackwell, a civilian, received a text…

Ever since returning from Afghanistan, where he was severely injured when his vehicle hit an improvised explosive device in 2010, Army Sgt. Thongpane Thongdeng touched a lot of lives in the area’s military community. A St. Petersburg High School graduate affectionately known as “TD,” he was a fixture at monthly dinners supporting the wounded at…

Like a lot of veterans, Michael Henry says he has been waiting a long time for help from the C.W. Bill Young VA Medical Center in Pinellas County. But unlike most, Henry, a medically discharged Army staff sergeant, had armed agents from the Department of Veteran Affairs’ Office of Inspector General show up at his…

TAMPA — The images showing on CNN at the Tampa Club feature two very different developments: President Barack Obama explaining why he is sending commandos into Iraq while the text crawl underneath reports NATO concerns about Russian tanks massing on border of Ukraine.

U.S. Special Operations Command, headquartered at MacDill Air Force Base, will be getting a new commander. Army Lt. Gen. Joseph L. Votel, commander of the Joint Special Operations Command, has been nominated by President Barack Obama to be promoted to general and replace Adm. William McRaven, who has served as Socom commander since Aug. 8.…

From the eighth floor of a Tampa office building with a stunning view of Derek Jeter’s sprawling manse jutting out onto Old Hillsborough Bay, a company that owns five satellites — and is about to launch a sixth — helps predict the future. Officials at DigitalGlobe can’t tell you how many runs the Yankee shortstop…

Oliver North, one of the most controversial and colorful U.S. military officers of the past century, is coming to Tampa. North, once a Marine lieutenant colonel little known outside national security circles, became an iconic figure of mythic proportions in the mid 1980s when what became known as the Iran-Contra scandal erupted. Now a Fox…

On his first day at his new job as commander of Marine Corps Forces Central Command, Marine Lt. Gen. Kenneth “Frank” McKenzie has a lot on his plate. An amphibious troop ship with more than 500 Marines and several V-22 Osprey tilt-wing aircraft just entered the Persian Gulf as Iraq is in turmoil with Sunni…

With the war in Iraq over, the war in Afghanistan winding down, and downward spending pressures on the Pentagon, the Florida defense industry is feeling the squeeze. Defense spending in the state dropped by about $3 billion over three years, according to the Florida Defense Contractors Association. That represents about a 20 percent cut since…

The furor over Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who spent five years as a prisoner of insurgents in Afghanistan, came to Tampa last week. A sign at the Veterans Memorial Park and Museum, calling for his return, was defaced when someone painted the word “desertion” on it, park officials say. Workers at the park, 3602 U.S.…

As the man responsible for synchronizing the global war on terrorism, Adm. William McRaven, commander of U.S. Special Operations Command, laid out for congress his vision for the future of a force that continues to fray, but will be increasingly called upon around the globe. “The greatest threat to the homeland is al-Qaida in the…

TAMPA — David Kilcullen, who helped write the military’s guide to waging the counterinsurgency campaign used in Iraq and Afghanistan, says it is time to rethink that effort as the world continues to change. Speaking on the opening day of a two-day conference put on by the University of South Florida’s Citizenship Initiative, Kilcullen says…

Changes by President Barack Obama to how information collected by the National Security Agency is handled won’t quell concerns about violations of civil liberties, say local intelligence experts who differ on the effect the changes may have on national security. The changes, laid out during a speech at the Department of Justice, came in the…

A Tampa-based Immigrations and Customs Enforcement undercover operation sold a Gulfstream II turbojet — which crashed in Mexico seven years ago with nearly four tons of cocaine onboard — to suspected drug smugglers in Clearwater shortly before the mishap. That’s according to federal documents in an ongoing drug case involving some of the people in…

Months after Suzanne Jensen was sent to a federal prison medical center to determine whether she is competent to stand trial for sneaking onto MacDill Air Force Base four times, her current mental condition is a mystery to her family and public defender. During a status hearing Thursday morning in U.S. District Court, Jensen’s federal…

The U.S. Central Command international coalition, formed after 9/11, will not leave MacDill Air Force Base at the end of this year with the scheduled departure of the bulk of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, according to the coalition’s current leader. With Iran, Syria, Pakistan, Egypt, Yemen and Iraq among the 20 nations in the Centcom…

TAMPA — A Tampa woman has filed a federal lawsuit against the Navy, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and two defense contractors over her sister’s death in the Sept. 16 Washington Navy Yard shooting. Patricia Delorenzo, who represents the estate of Mary Frances Delorenzo Knight, filed a wrongful death suit in Tampa against the two…

A major national intelligence symposium that was scuttled by the government shutdown last month has been rescheduled for April. The GEOINT Symposium, billed as “the preeminent event of the year for the defense, intelligence and homeland security communities,” will take place at the Tampa Convention Center from April 13 to 17, according to Rick J.…

Nearly four years after a bloody Afghanistan ambush that left five American troops dead, including the son of a Riverview woman, U.S. Central Command is still ensnared in an ongoing controversy of why it took so long to award a former Army captain a Medal of Honor for his role in that battle. Last week,…

One table had a helmet, bristling with communications and situational awareness equipment. Another had what was essentially high-tech long johns with built-in coils designed to keep the wearer cool. And yet another had gloves containing sensors that, among other things, would allow remote control operation of driverless vehicles. The products were among 60 being showcased…

TAMPA – On July 8, the Tampa Bay community will begin taking an economic hit that will hurt thousands of military families who will lose about $8 million in wages over the next three months. About 3,500 civilian employees at MacDill Air Force Base will begin taking furloughs, each taking 11 days without pay through…

In the wake of security concerns about two contractors hired by Booz Allen Hamilton, including one in Tampa, Sen. Bill Nelson is calling for an Intelligence Committee investigation into who gets high level security clearance. On Thursday, the Senate Homeland Security Committee began reviewing how the government manages security clearances. The review was sparked by…

TAMPA – Inside Hangar 5 at MacDill Air Force Base may be the future for missions flown by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. NOAA operates the storied fleet of P-3 Orions that fly out of MacDill into hurricanes, but the agency also is responsible for flying aircraft on a wider variety of missions including…

They make small footprints at the edges of the Earth. Sometimes they hunt and kill. Sometimes they teach rural tribes how to govern and farm. But after more than 12 years of war, special operations forces are frayed — and in more demand than ever. With the military facing big spending cuts and a new…

TAMPA – Carlos del Castillo leans over a suppressor-fitted sniper rifle, sights the target 100 yards away and slowly squeezes the trigger, sending a .338 slug ripping through the paper target about an inch above its center. “That’s a sweet weapon,” says del Castillo, taking part in “Shooting with SOF,” (Special Operations Forces) an event…

During a career that began in the battlefields of Vietnam, Army Col. Warner “Rocky” Farr helped revolutionize special operations medicine, prepared for a Soviet invasion of Germany and found himself quoted by writer Noam Chomsky for his research into the Israeli nuclear weapons program. Today, in a ceremony at MacDill Air Force Base, Farr retires…

The MH-53 Pave Low helicopter was flying south out of Fallujah, about 100 feet off the ground, when it flew into an “unknown ambush site,” says Christian “Mack” MacKenzie. They were on the way to pick up a fallen commando. But they never made it. MacKenzie, 44, was recounting the story last week as one…

For tens of thousands of veterans seeking benefits owed to them for serving their country, the process starts in a pink building on Bay Pines Boulevard in St. Petersburg. But the St. Petersburg Veterans Affairs Regional Office is struggling to keep up with the massive influx of requests. Adding to the problem is a nationwide…

To Steven Scott, the horrific pattern of injuries suffered by those killed and injured by the bomb blast at the Boston Marathon Monday was something the medical profession has spent years preparing to handle. “We have always thought blast injuries would be one we need to learn more about,” says Scott, director of physical medicine…

The owner of Aviation Engineering Consultants Inc., a Clearwater company that supplies and manufactures aerospace products, was arrested after indictment on charges of providing “substandard aircraft parts” that were used on a Navy jet. Owner Kamran Rouhani was arrested April 11 after a federal grand jury indictment last month on fraud charges relating to “substandard…

TAMPA — Veterans suffering from wounds physical and mental can find healing diversion through special sports shooting events offered in Tampa. But one program sponsoring these events is under review because of the shooting death this month of former Navy SEAL Chris Kyle at a Texas gun range. The suspect is a former Marine whom…

TAMPA — As a scientific intelligence officer for the Central Intelligence Agency, Gene Poteat specialized in radar technology. He could make fake aircraft appear on Soviet radar screens. In 1964, he analyzed radar images from the Gulf of Tonkin and tried unsuccessfully to dissuade the White House from escalating the war in Vietnam. Now 83,…

Restaurateur Chris Sullivan and post-traumatic stress disorder researcher Carrie Elk have created a new nonprofit to study the effectiveness of a promising new treatment for an invisible injury affecting hundreds of thousands of troops and veterans. Sullivan, a partner in Carmel Café and Wine Bar, is a big supporter of military charities and helped create…