MacDill to get war center

The new $25.5-million facility would beef up the role of Special Operations forces.

TAMPA - As part of its expanded role in the war on terror, the Tampa-based Special Operations Command is expected to get $25.5-million to build a new facility to help accomplish its mission, officials said Thursday.

The two-story, 110,000-square-foot building, which would be called the War Fighting Center of Excellence, would go up next to SoCom headquarters at MacDill Air Force Base.

Its work, largely classified, would involve gathering and assessing intelligence about terrorists and other unconventional threats, and developing and executing plans to deal with the threats.

The facility would house 500 people; 300 would transfer from SoCom headquarters, and another 200 would be brought to MacDill.

The congressional funding process for next year's Pentagon budget still faces several steps. But because the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, Rep. C.W. Bill Young, is behind the project, funding virtually is assured.

Young, R-Largo, toured SoCom headquarters Saturday to review the classified projects that would be run out of the new center.

"What we're dealing with is a far more aggressive role for Special Operations in Iraq and in the future," Young said Thursday. "I would say that their role has expanded dramatically."

The U.S. Special Operations Forces, elite commandos who fight America's wars in the shadows, have played crucial roles in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Operating in units of 12 or fewer, they went into those countries before fighting started to prepare the battlefield for conventional forces.

The performance of special operators, including Navy SEALS, Green Berets and aviation units, has helped to reinforce the Bush administration's thinking that unconventional forces are best prepared to fight terrorists.

In January, the Pentagon unveiled plans to give SoCom greater authority and a bigger budget to pursue al-Qaida and other terrorist networks.

If funding is approved for the war-fighting center, bids would go out in October and construction would begin in December. The center would open in July 2005.

A subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee is scheduled to take up funding for the project today as part of the 2004 defense bill. The full committee has set a vote for Tuesday.

The bill also includes funding for construction projects in Europe and Korea.

On Thursday, Young said he had been working on the deal the past several months. He said Gen. Charles Holland, the SoCom commander, broached the idea for the facility.

Young and Holland, who is scheduled to retire later this year, subsequently put a package together along with Undersecretary of Defense Dov S. Zakheim, the Pentagon comptroller.

Col. Bill Darley, the SoCom spokesman, declined comment. He said SoCom might discuss the project after funding is approved.

The catalyst for the new facility is SoCom's expanded role in the war on terror.

Before the terrorist attacks Sept. 11, 2001, U.S. regional commanders called in Special Ops forces to perform specific missions.

In January, however, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld proposed letting SoCom plan and execute its own operations and draw on the resources of the military.

"The global nature of the war, the nature of the enemy and the need for fast, efficient operations in hunting down and rooting out terrorist networks around the world," Rumsfeld said at the time, "have all contributed to the need for an expanded role for the Special Operations forces."

Next year, SoCom is to get $6-billion, up from $4.9-billion. In each of the next five years, it would receive an additional $1-billion.

By comparison, the SoCom budget in 2000 was $3.8-billion.

Starting next year, the number of Special Ops forces, which stands at about 46,000, is expected to grow by about 4,000.

In keeping with Special Ops' secret role, Young said people would never fully appreciate the work those forces did in Iraq to help achieve victory quickly. "These guys are called special operators because they are very special," Young said.

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