Sen. Marco Rubio: Protect Homestead Air Reserve Base to secure America’s future | Opinion
We sometimes take our national security for granted. This is a testament to the ability of our armed forces to deter and destroy threats. But they cannot do their job when policymakers undermine or complicate their mission. To keep our country safe, we must protect the U.S. military’s ability to respond to threats in our hemisphere. This means protecting Homestead Air Reserve Base (HARB).
Located in Homestead, Florida, this base was established during World War II to serve as a training facility and logistics hub for Allied operations in Africa and the Caribbean. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, it became the site of three fighter wings poised to strike communist forces.
Later, it helped the United States manage mass migration from Cuba, resupply Guantanamo Bay, and respond to the 1996 shooting-down of two Brothers to the Rescue planes.
HARB remains a crucial asset today. In fact, despite its designation as an air “reserve” base, it plays a commanding role in our regional security. F-15 Eagles and F-16C Fighting Falcons operating from HARB work with Doral’s U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) to defend our nation from air attacks and other threats. The base is also the headquarters of U.S. SpecialOperations Command South and houses numerous U.S. Customs and Border Patrol and U.S. Coast Guard assets.
I have long supported HARB’s mission. To prevent disruptive commercial activity in the area, which also threatens Everglades restoration, I secured a four-year prohibition on civilian aviation at the base in the Fiscal Year 2023 National Defense Authorization Act.
Sen. Rick Scott and I, together with Rep. Carlos Giménez, have introduced legislation that would make that prohibition permanent.
As the world grows more dangerous, the need to protect HARB from intrusive development remains strong. Without HARB, we would be left vulnerable. Much of the world’s oil, food, and natural gas is exported through the strategic marine chokepoint between Florida and Cuba.
We cannot discount the possibility that this area will become a combat zone in a future global conflict, just as it was during World War II when German U-boats sank dozens of ships in the Gulf of Mexico. We may not have to worry about U-boats today, but new threats are emerging.
For the past few months, for example, the Iranian-backed Houthis have assaulted ships in another chokepoint, the Red Sea, with nothing more than cheap, easy-to-use drones. Though it seems unlikely, our adversaries could wreak tremendous destruction by arming terrorists based in Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua or Venezuela to attack shipping near Florida with similar drones. Preparation is key to deterring such proxy conflicts, as well as direct conflict with the world’s most adversarial regimes.
Remember last year’s revelation that China was building a spy base 90 miles off our shores?
That is but one of many actions Beijing has taken to project military power into our region. To date, the People’s Liberation Army has met with Latin American and Caribbean counterparts more than 200 times and shipped weapons to several countries. Most disturbing is Beijing’s investment in close to 40 regional ports, all of which could eventually serve as Chinese military bases. Meanwhile, Russia and Iran are also expanding their presence in the region.
As President Dwight D. Eisenhower said in his farewell address, “Our arms must be mighty…so that no potential aggressor may be tempted to risk his own destruction.”
The threats are different today, but they‘re no less pressing, and in the face of them, we can’t afford to undermine HARB’s operational security. Even as Miami-Dade County grows, the base remains a vital national security asset. It could be the last line of defense for South Florida and America writ large in the event of a large-scale conflict. We may need HARB for that purpose sooner than we think.
Marco Rubio is a United States senator from Florida.
