{"id":53841,"date":"2020-03-21T01:15:50","date_gmt":"2020-03-21T01:15:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2020\/03\/21\/first-covid-19-case-hits-home-of-centcom-socom\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T07:53:42","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T07:53:42","slug":"first-covid-19-case-hits-home-of-centcom-socom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2020\/03\/21\/first-covid-19-case-hits-home-of-centcom-socom\/","title":{"rendered":"CENTCOM sailor first COVID-19 case at MacDill AFB, home of the global war on violent extremists"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Editor\u2019s note: This story has been updated with official statements confirming previous reporting.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first case of COVID-19<\/a> has appeared at the home of two of the military\u2019s top commands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An active sailor assigned to U.S. Central Command at MacDill Air Force Base <\/a>in Tampa, Florida, is currently undergoing evaluation and treatment following a positive novel coronavirus test, the command said Saturday morning in a media release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sailor is believed to have contracted COVID-19 during recent travel and came back to Tampa on March 15. The sailor did not go to MacDill, instead immediately entering precautionary quarantine at his home. He did not return to MacDill until March 18, when he began developing symptoms. He called ahead to the Macdill Health Clinic, and was met outside the facility by medical professionals for his test.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His test returned positive on March 20 and will receive “all appropriate medical care and treatment, Navy Capt. Bill Urban, CENTCOM\u2019s spokesman, said in the media release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are committed to taking every measure possible to protect the health of our force,” Urban said in the release. “We remain in close coordination with state and federal authorities, and public health authorities to ensure the well-being of our personnel and the local population.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Home of the GWOT<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aside from CENTCOM, MacDill is home to U.S. Special Operations Command, which oversees training and equipping of commandos and coordinates a global fight against extremism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The base hosts several other headquarters that play important roles in ongoing operations, like Special Operations Command Central, which oversees commando operations in the places where most of operators operate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marine Forces Central Command provides thousands of Marines to serve in CENTCOM region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Joint Communications Support Element provides secure and durable communications systems and equipment for the forward deployed. They are often the first troops on scene of a disaster or operation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Naval Operations Support Center Tampa provides training and readiness for Florida\u2019s Reserve sailors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But at it\u2019s heart, MacDill is an Air Force Base, built up in the days before Pearl Harbor and the place where crews went to learn to fly bombers, like the B-17 Flying Fortress or the B-26 Marauder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFrom 1942-45, many thousands of American men passed through MacDill\u2019s gates to train as bomber pilots or crew members and then quickly moved on to other military assignments, eventually destined for the deadly fight raging over Europe\u2019s skies,\u201d reads the base history. \u201cFollowing the end of hostilities in Europe, MacDill began to train crews of the B-29 Superfortress in January 1945, which lasted through 1953.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The base is now home to the 6th and 927th Air Refueling Wings \u2014 which fly the venerable KC-135 Stratotanker aerial refuelers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are also military personnel from about 50 other countries assigned to work with CENTCOM as part of an international coalition fighting extremists in the region and many others at SOCOM as part of their J3I international program.<\/p>\n\n\n\t