On Tuesday, January 10, 2012, Miami-Dade County Commissioner Dennis C. Moss joined Navy Rear Adm. Thomas L. Brown II, Commander of Special Operations Command South, and other senior military and civic leaders including Miami-Dade County’s Military Liaison, Commissioner Jose “Pepe” Diaz, Commissioner Lynda Bell and Mayor Steven Bateman, City of Homestead to break ground for the Special Operations Command South Headquarters.  The new SOCSOUTH Headquarters will be a 125,000 square foot structure designed to house more than 400 people and provide category five hurricane protection.  “This project is a benefit to both the U.S. Air Force and Miami-Dade County,” said Moss.  “The headquarters has the ability to satisfy its Force Protection requirements and provides an additional Emergency Management Resource Center for the County.” 

SOCSOUTH Headquarters is a $41 million project to be built on land leased from Miami-Dade County.  It is located immediately adjacent to Homestead Air Reserve Base and is responsible for all special operations in the Caribbean, Central and South America.  Through the command’s Theater Security Cooperation Program, Special Operations Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines work closely with partner nation counterparts in order to better protect their borders. 

Representing all branches of the armed forces this priority military construction project will provide needed Antiterrorism and Force Protection.  As a component of U.S. Southern Command, the location of the SOCSOUTH Headquarters was chosen because of its proximity to the U.S. Southern Command Headquarters in Doral, FL.