CENTCOM based at MacDill played a major role in Thursday night’s airstrike in syria
By now most people know that President Donald Trump ordered an airstrike on Al-Shayrat Air Base Syria today in retaliation for the regime of Bashar Assad, for using nerve agents to attack his own people. That attack was in part carried out by the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) whose headquarters is in Tampa at MacDill Air Force Base.
Secretary of Defense James Mattis is a former head of CENTCOM at MacDill and he advised President Trump on his options in Syria.
Trump gave the order from the Southern White House, at Mar-a-Lago, his home in West Palm Beach. President Trump was in retaliation for the Syrian dictator for using banned chemical agents in the April 4 attack that killed over 100 of his own people.
The Pentagon issued a statement about the attack that provided details on what military personnel were used in the attack. According to Navy Capt. Jeff Davis here is how the attack played out from their point of view.
The strike was conducted using Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles, or TLAMs, launched from the destroyers USS Porter and USS Ross in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, Davis said in his statement. A total of 59 TLAMs targeted aircraft, hardened aircraft shelters, petroleum and logistical storage, ammunition supply bunkers, air defense systems, and radars.
“As always,” Davis said, “the U.S. took extraordinary measures to avoid civilian casualties and to comply with the Law of Armed Conflict. Every precaution was taken to execute this strike with minimal risk to personnel at the airfield.”
We are assessing the results of the strike,” Davis said. “Initial indications are that this strike has severely damaged or destroyed Syrian aircraft and support infrastructure and equipment at Shayrat Airfield, reducing the Syrian government’s ability to deliver chemical weapons. The use of chemical weapons against innocent people will not be tolerated.”
Special thanks to Jim Garamone of DoD News and the United States Central Command for the quotes and some of the information used in this story. Pictures are from the Department of Defense and video from CBS.
