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With evolving interpretations of the RDF's purpose and geographic orientation, the command structure of the RDF has also undergone repeated change. Operation of an RDF headquarters (formally known until 1 January 1983 as the Rapid Deployment Joint Task Force—RDJTF) officially began at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida on 1 March 1980 . Initially commanded by a Lieutenant General, the headquarters was adjoined to the U.S. Readiness Command (formerly U.S. Strike Command) also located in Tampa. This command relationship proved unsatisfactory, however, as there was no single channel of communication through which the RDF commander could communicate directly to the Secretary Of Defense on matters specifically relating to the RDF.

On 24 April 1981 , Secretary of Defense Casper Weinberger announced that the RDJTF would evolve into a separate command with specific geographic responsibilities. The planned change was favorably received in the Congress, though not unanimously. Both the Senate Committee on Armed Services and the Senate Committee on Appropriations expressed their concern ". . .about the absence of an organized effort to plan and provide for possible power projection requirements in other Third World areas which are also critical to U.S. interests." The decision to focus the attention of the RDJTF solely on Southwest Asia—to the exclusion of other areas, such as central and southern Africa—did little to ease this concern. In 1983 the RDJTF became a separate unified command known as the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM). The commander enjoys the same stature as other theater commanders, and he reports directly to the Secretary of Defense. His operational planning responsibility is limited to Southwest Asia only. The Department of Defense distinguishes between the U.S. Central Command and the RDF. The Central Command is primarily a planning headquarters; the forces available to it are the RDF.


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