{"id":32921,"date":"2023-11-02T10:56:06","date_gmt":"2023-11-02T10:56:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2023\/11\/02\/middle-east-focused-marine-command-cancels-birthday-ball\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T21:14:05","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T21:14:05","slug":"middle-east-focused-marine-command-cancels-birthday-ball","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2023\/11\/02\/middle-east-focused-marine-command-cancels-birthday-ball\/","title":{"rendered":"Middle East-focused Marine command cancels birthday ball"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Marine Corps component of U.S. Central Command canceled its annual birthday ball, citing \u201cunforeseen operational commitments.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Marine Corps Forces Central Command\u2019s birthday ball had been slated for Nov. 16 as a celebration of the Marine Corps\u2019 Nov. 10 birthday, according to a message by commander Maj. Gen. Chris McPhillips.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cBecause of the uncertain situation, the MARCENT Commander wants to avoid a last-minute cancellation that would burden Marines, families, veterans, and members of the community with trying to recoup money from ticket sales, reservations, etc.,\u201d Marine spokesman Capt. Joe Wright told Marine Corps Times via email on Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wright attributed the \u201ctough decision\u201d to cancel the ball to \u201cthe dynamic and uncertain security environment in the CENTCOM (area of responsibility).\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The command <a href=\"https:\/\/www.centcom.mil\/AREA-OF-RESPONSIBILITY\/\">counts 21 countries<\/a> in the Middle East and surrounding regions in its area of responsibility, but it is located at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, just south of Tampa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Days after Hamas\u2019 attack on Israel, the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit and its associated naval element departed an exercise in Kuwait early and sailed out of the Persian Gulf \u201con a high readiness status,\u201d according to Central Command, which declined to provide further details to Marine Corps Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Tuesday, Central Command announced that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2023\/10\/31\/300-us-troops-headed-to-middle-east-amid-israel-hamas-war\/\">300 more troops<\/a> would be deployed to the Middle East to protect U.S. forces, which have come under <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2023\/10\/26\/21-troops-injured-in-iraq-and-syria-drone-strikes\/\">drone attacks in Iraq and Syria<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOur primary responsibility as Marines is to ensure the security and defense of our nation,\u201d McPhillips wrote in the message. \u201cIt is this commitment to duty that has necessitated the cancellation of what would undoubtedly have been an exceptional evening of camaraderie and tradition.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">McPhillips acknowledged the \u201cimmense effort\u201d that had already gone into planning the ball.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The ball had been scheduled to occur in Tampa, according to Wright.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The command posted the message to X, formerly Twitter, on Wednesday morning and deleted it in less than an hour as speculation swirled online about the reason for the cancelation. Wright told Marine Corps Times the command pulled the post from X and posted it to Facebook because the audience it\u2019s trying to reach \u2014 of current and former members of the unit, family members and the larger Tampa community \u2014 is located on Facebook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 2020 and 2021, many Marine commands <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marinecorpstimes.com\/breaking-news\/2021\/10\/13\/marine-corps-commandants-246-birthday-ball-canceled-due-to-covid-19\/\">adjusted or scrapped their birthday balls<\/a> in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Even while deployed to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marines.mil\/News\/News-Display\/Article\/541555\/marines-uphold-time-honored-tradition\/\" target=\"_blank\">Iraq<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.1stmardiv.marines.mil\/News\/News-Article-Display\/Article\/541893\/two-battalions-of-marines-celebrate-corps-233rd-birthday-in-afghanistan\/\" target=\"_blank\">Afghanistan<\/a>, Marines still marked the birthday with cake-cutting ceremonies, though not necessarily full-fledged balls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Marine vet Matthew Cothron, better known as \u201cChaps,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.barstoolsports.com\/blog\/3491703\/not-a-great-sign-the-marine-corps-central-command-canceled-the-marine-corps-ball-which-is-absolutely-wild\" target=\"_blank\">wrote on Barstool Sports<\/a> on Wednesday of his time in the Corps, \u201cOne fact always has remained the same. Marines have a Ball. It doesnt even have to be in a place that is fancy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhen I first saw the letter from the Commanding General, I was shocked,\u201d he added. \u201cUnits this large don\u2019t do something like this without talking to higher levels of Command so when CentCom does it, whew.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i>Editor\u2019s note: This story has been updated with more context on Marine birthday balls, including comments published in Barstool Sports.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A spokesman attributed the \u201ctough decision\u201d to cancel the Tampa ball to \u201cthe dynamic and uncertain security environment&#8221; in the Middle East.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":64898,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":69,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":{"2":{"categories":["your-military","home","newsletters"],"primary_category":"your-military"}}},"categories":[101,23,25,69],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3360],"class_list":["post-32921","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-home","category-newsletters","category-your-marine-corps"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"MX5GKDALFRBHHAQUG4ZXINRFEA","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2023\/11\/02\/middle-east-focused-marine-command-cancels-birthday-ball\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - 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