{"id":196192,"date":"2026-03-18T11:07:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T11:07:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/196192\/"},"modified":"2026-03-18T11:07:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T11:07:11","slug":"macdill-air-force-base-on-high-alert-after-suspicious-package-scare-what-fpcon-charlie-means","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/196192\/","title":{"rendered":"MacDill Air Force Base on high alert after suspicious package scare: what \u2018FPCON Charlie\u2019 means"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p data-v-f1afc186=\"\">TAMPA &#8211; MacDill Air Force Base in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox13news.com\/tag\/us\/fl\/hillsborough\/tampa\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Tampa<\/a> ramped up security Tuesday, moving to Force Protection Condition (FPCON) Charlie.<\/p>\n<p data-v-f1afc186=\"\">That\u2019s a significant step up. It\u2019s used when military officials believe a threat could be likely.<\/p>\n<p original-article-post=\"\" origination_station=\"WTVT\" data-v-ec26887a=\"\" data-v-f1afc186=\"\">What we know:<\/p>\n<p data-v-f1afc186=\"\">The change comes a day after crews found a suspicious package Monday morning near the Dale Mabry Gate visitor center.<\/p>\n<p>  <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/vlcsnap-2026-03-18-06h24m25s239.jpg\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"auto\" data-v-2fe2fe3e=\"\"\/>  <\/p>\n<p data-v-f1afc186=\"\">Base officials say someone reported the package around 11:20 a.m. First responders quickly blocked off the area and redirected traffic to the Bayshore Gate.<\/p>\n<p data-v-f1afc186=\"\">That disruption lasted several hours. Authorities cleared the scene just before 5 p.m. and reopened normal operations.<\/p>\n<p original-article-post=\"\" origination_station=\"WTVT\" data-v-ec26887a=\"\" data-v-f1afc186=\"\">What we don&#8217;t know:<\/p>\n<p data-v-f1afc186=\"\">The FBI is still investigating.<\/p>\n<p data-v-f1afc186=\"\">Officials haven\u2019t said what was inside the package or whether it posed a real threat.<\/p>\n<p data-v-f1afc186=\"\">FPCON Charlie is one of five military threat levels, just below the highest level, Delta.<\/p>\n<p data-v-f1afc186=\"\">At this level, security tightens across the base:<\/p>\n<p> More ID checksFewer open gatesMore security forces on sitePeople heading onto the base should expect delays and longer lines. <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/vlcsnap-2026-03-18-06h25m08s602.jpg\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"auto\" data-v-2fe2fe3e=\"\"\/>  <\/p>\n<p original-article-post=\"\" origination_station=\"WTVT\" data-v-ec26887a=\"\" data-v-f1afc186=\"\">What they&#8217;re saying:<\/p>\n<p data-v-f1afc186=\"\">MacDill leaders are urging everyone on base to stay alert. &#8220;All personnel should remain vigilant, follow the direction of security forces, and report any suspicious activity immediately,&#8221; the base said.<\/p>\n<p data-v-f1afc186=\"\">MacDill Air Force Base plays a major role in U.S. military operations.<\/p>\n<p data-v-f1afc186=\"\">It\u2019s home to U.S. Central Command and U.S. Special Operations Command \u2014 making any shift in security posture especially important.<\/p>\n<p data-v-f1afc186=\"\">READ: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox13news.com\/news\/major-cody-khork-return-home-polk-county-wednesday-community-prepares-honor-fallen-soldier\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Major Cody Khork to return home to Polk County Wednesday, community prepares to honor fallen soldier<\/a><\/p>\n<p original-article-post=\"\" origination_station=\"WTVT\" data-v-ec26887a=\"\" data-v-f1afc186=\"\">What&#8217;s next:<\/p>\n<p data-v-f1afc186=\"\">Base officials say conditions could change as the investigation continues.<\/p>\n<p data-v-f1afc186=\"\">They plan to share updates as soon as new information becomes available.<\/p>\n<p class=\"group-source-paragraph\" data-v-4fbf7207=\"\">The Source: Information in this story comes from MacDill Air Force Base officials and statements released following the incident, along with details from the FBI investigation.<\/p>\n<p>    <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox13news.com\/tag\/military\/macdill-afb\" class=\"tags-tag\" data-v-f1afc186=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">MacDill Air Force Base<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox13news.com\/tag\/us\/fl\/hillsborough\/tampa\" class=\"tags-tag\" data-v-f1afc186=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Tampa<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TAMPA &#8211; MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa ramped up security Tuesday, moving to Force Protection Condition (FPCON)&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":196193,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[47,629,37633,2583,115,202,204,203,199,201,200,135,628],"class_list":["post-196192","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-fl","tag-hillsborough","tag-macdill-afb","tag-military","tag-news","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news","tag-tampa","tag-us"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196192","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=196192"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196192\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/196193"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=196192"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=196192"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=196192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}