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To further strengthen ties between the military and Tampa civic community, a pair of units stationed at MacDill Air Force Base, the 927th Air Refueling Wing and 6 Air Mobility Wing, have created an honorary commander program.
Bill Carlson, president of Tucker/Hall, a Tampa-based public relations, crisis communications and consulting firm, is one of 37 civilian leaders to be named an honorary commander. Carlson took on the role in October. Over the next two years, he'll spend time integrating with the base's military personnel and taking part in activities ranging from networking events and social cookouts to flights aboard one of the base's KC-135 aerial refueling aircraft to visit another U.S. Air Force base in the southeast.
“I'm excited to be part of it,” says Carlson, whose father served in the U.S. Air Force and who served in the Civil Air Patrol while in high school. “It's an honor because MacDill is so important to our community.”
Other 2018-19 honorary commanders include Joe Lupo, president of the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino and Jamie Harden, president of Creative Sign Designs and treasurer of the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce.
Capt. Joseph Simms, chief of the 927th Air Refueling Wing's public affairs department, calls the program “the crown jewel of our community relations program here at MacDill.”
Adds Simms: “What we do is try to find opinion leaders, leaders of industry, civic leaders, and then we let them see behind the curtain of what we do here at MacDill so they can go out and educate people.”
The civilians also bring some of their own knowhow to the base. “We have them speak to the airmen about networking, money management, entrepreneurship and how to make yourself attractive to potential employers,” Simms says. “We really try to leverage their contacts and expertise.”
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