Tampa Bay wins the Abilene Trophy for MacDill support for a second straight year
The award goes each year to a community backing an Air Mobility Command or Air Force Reserve Command base; the chambers say no community had won it twice in a row.
TAMPA - The Tampa Bay community has won the Abilene Trophy for its support of MacDill Air Force Base for the second year in a row, according to a press release dated Nov. 10 and posted Nov. 11 by the Tampa Bay Chamber.
The release calls Tampa Bay the only community to receive the award in consecutive years.
The Abilene Military Affairs Council, with the public affairs offices of Air Mobility Command and Air Force Reserve Command, announced the award on Nov. 7 at the Airlift/Tanker Association Annual Conference in Orlando. Paul Beale and Sam Nichols, Air Mobility Command civic leaders from Abilene, Texas, presented it.
The South Tampa Chamber was selected along with its partners, the Tampa Bay Chamber, the Tampa Bay Defense Alliance, the MacDill Support Council and MacDill Air Force Base, according to the release.
Communities that support an Air Mobility Command or Air Force Reserve Command base or unit submit nomination packages each year, and a selection committee picks the top one before the conference. Air Mobility Command and the Abilene council created the award, first called the AMC Community Support Award, in January 1999.
"Supporting MacDill is more than a responsibility. It is part of who we are," said Kelly Flannery, president and CEO of the South Tampa Chamber.
"The strength of Team MacDill extends far beyond our gates," said Col. Kevin Eley, commander of the 6th Air Refueling Wing at MacDill.
Source: Tampa Bay Chamber, Nov. 11, 2026; press release (PDF), Nov. 10, 2026