Merchants who depend on MacDill Air Force Base expect that the coming of a new fleet of tankers will be good for business.
By RON MATUS
Published June 15, 2003
TAMPA - Every weekday at lunch time, dozens of soldiers swarm China Gardens Supper Buffet on S Dale Mabry Highway. For $4.99, they wolf down fried rice, crab rangoon and General Tsao's chicken until bellies tighten and eyelids droop.
"Sometimes 40, 50 at a time," said restaurant manager Lelia Zheng. "That's normal."
China Gardens is just one of scores of businesses in and around Tampa that benefit from the presence of MacDill Air Force Base.
On Saturday, it was just one of many breathing a little easier.
The collective sigh of relief followed news that MacDill, for years the potential target of base closures, will be the new home for 32 new KC-767A refueling tankers.
The giant planes will replace an aging fleet of 12 KC-135 Stratotankers. They'll also give MacDill another reason to exist.
"It's the best possible news," said Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio.
Even though MacDill is home to U.S. Central Command - the nerve center for wars in Afghanistan and Iraq - there has been anxiety about its future for years. It faced the possibility of closure in 1991 and 1995. The Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce even has a special task force to guard against its shuttering.
Part of the problem: Not enough planes.
"The critical part for MacDill has always been having more aircraft," said Al Austin, who chairs the chamber task force and is also a member of Gov. Jeb Bush's base protection committee.
On Saturday, Austin described himself as "cautiously optimistic."
The KC-767A will replace tankers more than 40 years old, and allow fighter jets that refuel in mid air to strike targets even farther away. The base will receive 16 of the new planes in 2010, and another 16 the following year.
Also part of the package: 103 officers, 252 enlisted personnel and $202.1-million to build new hangars, parking aprons and fuel pits.
"If things click, we should be in fantastic shape," Austin said.
But with the next round of base closings scheduled for 2005, Austin said MacDill supporters should remain vigilant. The planes won't be coming for years, and the political winds are changeable in such matters, he stressed.
"The key is . . . to not drop our guard," he said.
With more than 7,000 workers, MacDill is one of Tampa Bay's biggest employers. Its economic impact is estimated at $3.5-billion.
"If they close, I'd have to lay off waitresses, cooks," said Lee Antoniou, who co-owns Mamas Kitchen, a soldier-friendly diner a mile from the base.
MacDill is also a prime shopping destination.
Some 125,000 people within a 50-mile radius of the base, most of them retirees, shop at the base exchange and commissary. Prices there can be substantially lower than off base.
MacDill's impact isn't limited to Tampa, either.
Plenty of MacDill personnel live in Pinellas County, said Russ Sloan, president and CEO of the St. Petersburg Area Chamber of Commerce. Even more stroll the beaches, shop at BayWalk and enjoy Devil Rays games.
Sloan welcomed Saturday's news.
"I'm glad it's here and I'm glad it's going to grow," he said of MacDill.
Closer to the base, the military influence is as thick as gravy on egg foo yung. At China Gardens, military personnel are responsible for half the sales, said Zheng, the manager.
She didn't know about the coming fleet until told by a reporter, but said any developments that will keep soldiers coming back are welcome.
