The Joint Service Color Guard of the United States Special Operations Command is composed of men and women volunteers from the Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force. They perform as part of this unit, often at night and on weekends, in addition to their regular military duties. The unit is stationed at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida.
The U.S. Special Operations Command Joint Service Color Guard has performed at many events on national television including Super Bowls played at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. The color guard has also performed at Tampa Bay Buccaneers games, the Outback Bowl, major league baseball spring training games and other local and regional sporting events. The Joint Service Color Guard has appeared in events with a patriotic theme at Walt Disney World, Sea World, Universal Studios Florida and Busch Gardens.
Other events at which the U.S. Special Operations Command's precision unit has appeared include the Florida Governor's Inaugural Parade and Ball, United Way and Savings Bond kick-off luncheons, and numerous military retirements, changes of command, visits to the command by U.S. and foreign dignitaries, and memorial services.
All Armed Forces units, such as the Joint Service Color Guard, have specific military missions and training requirements. Participation in public programs will only be authorized when such support is in the best interests of the Department of Defense and the Military Services and does not interfere with mission or training programs. In all cases, operational commitments must take priority and can cause previously scheduled appearances to be cancelled.
The United States Special Operations Command, formed in 1987 and headquartered at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, is composed of nearly 60,000 active, Reserve and National Guard forces of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. It is one of nine unified commands in the U.S. military's combatant command structure. Missions for the Special Operations Command's forces include foreign internal defense, unconventional warfare, special reconnaissance operations, direct action and counter-terrorism. Army special forces teams (Green Berets), Rangers, civil affairs and psychological operations troops, Navy SEALs (sea, air and land), Air Force combat controllers and special operators, and Marine Corps special operations compose the bulk of the command's special operations forces.