WEBVTT 00:20.090 --> 00:22.380 in the spring of 1981 tensions between 00:22.380 --> 00:24.491 Iran and the United States threatened 00:24.491 --> 00:26.602 to boil over into major theater war . 00:26.602 --> 00:28.602 An international crisis in which 52 00:28.602 --> 00:30.769 americans were held captive by Islamic 00:30.769 --> 00:32.824 revolutionaries in Tehran just ended 00:32.824 --> 00:35.340 for 444 days . Iranians controlled the 00:35.340 --> 00:37.720 U . S . Embassy catastrophe . Finally 00:37.720 --> 00:41.060 ended in Jan 1981 with the release of 00:41.060 --> 00:43.790 all hostages . Images of americans at 00:43.790 --> 00:45.901 the mercy of Iranian college students 00:45.901 --> 00:47.901 still haunted the american psyche . 00:47.901 --> 00:49.846 President Reagan was concerned the 00:49.846 --> 00:52.068 Islamic revolution would further engulf 00:52.068 --> 00:53.930 Iran . A major concern Ayatollah 00:53.930 --> 00:56.152 Khomeini might prevent the free flow of 00:56.152 --> 00:58.500 oil in the Persian gulf . Still shaken 00:58.500 --> 01:00.990 by the stunning 1979 soviet invasion of 01:00.990 --> 01:03.190 Afghanistan . The US Department of 01:03.190 --> 01:05.290 Defense was also concerned about a 01:05.290 --> 01:09.260 soviet move on Iran . Well , you 01:09.260 --> 01:11.371 have to look at the context which was 01:11.371 --> 01:13.371 amidst the Cold War and there was a 01:13.371 --> 01:15.560 very real possibility of a global war 01:15.560 --> 01:17.727 against the soviet union and there was 01:17.727 --> 01:19.949 a recognition that if the Soviets could 01:19.949 --> 01:22.120 take Middle East oil that represented 01:22.120 --> 01:24.520 an Achilles heel for the West . Two 01:24.520 --> 01:26.631 thirds of all the proven oil reserves 01:26.631 --> 01:28.631 at the time stemmed from the Middle 01:28.631 --> 01:31.820 East Defense Secretary Caspar 01:31.820 --> 01:33.653 Weinberger realized the boundary 01:33.653 --> 01:35.876 between two massive four star command's 01:35.876 --> 01:37.931 european command and pacific command 01:38.020 --> 01:40.242 ran through the most volatile region in 01:40.242 --> 01:41.909 the world , the Middle East . 01:44.430 --> 01:46.541 Prior to the formation of centcom , a 01:46.541 --> 01:48.652 number of commands came and went that 01:48.652 --> 01:50.874 had a supplementary focus on the Middle 01:50.874 --> 01:52.986 East . These are all headquartered at 01:52.986 --> 01:55.208 MacDIll Air Force base in Tampa florida 01:55.208 --> 01:57.319 and they all had a focus on deploying 01:57.319 --> 01:59.319 rapidly anywhere in the world . The 01:59.319 --> 02:01.970 final such command was formed in 1980 . 02:01.980 --> 02:04.620 This is the rapid deployment joint Task 02:04.620 --> 02:07.810 force or the R . D JTF . RG 02:08.820 --> 02:10.820 RJ Jeff was a command under a three 02:10.820 --> 02:12.987 star general with a responsibility for 02:12.987 --> 02:15.098 quickly moving a large force overseas 02:15.098 --> 02:17.209 to any contingency in the world . The 02:17.209 --> 02:19.910 RJD also had responsibility to plan to 02:19.910 --> 02:22.132 respond to a crisis in the Persian gulf 02:22.132 --> 02:25.060 or Iran to ensure a single command 02:25.060 --> 02:27.116 would lead american efforts . In the 02:27.116 --> 02:29.171 event of a war in the Persian gulf , 02:29.171 --> 02:31.338 Weinberger approved the formation of a 02:31.338 --> 02:33.449 new command , US Central Command , or 02:33.449 --> 02:35.449 centcom . The new combatant command 02:35.449 --> 02:37.560 would be headquartered at MacDIll Air 02:37.560 --> 02:39.782 Force Base in Tampa florida . Centcom's 02:39.782 --> 02:41.838 command area would span 19 countries 02:41.838 --> 02:43.949 from Egypt in the west to Pakistan in 02:43.949 --> 02:45.782 the east to kenya in the south . 02:46.140 --> 02:47.880 President Reagan and Secretary 02:47.880 --> 02:50.102 Weinberger selected army General robert 02:50.102 --> 02:52.213 Kingston as the first commander of US 02:52.213 --> 02:54.380 Central Command . Kingston who led the 02:54.380 --> 02:56.436 rapid deployment joint task force in 02:56.436 --> 02:58.491 1981 had coincidentally been the man 02:58.491 --> 03:00.491 who recommended the name US Central 03:00.491 --> 03:02.658 command for the new organization known 03:02.658 --> 03:04.658 as barbed wire bob . Kingston was a 03:04.658 --> 03:06.547 proven war fighter who led troops 03:06.547 --> 03:08.380 through some of the most violent 03:08.380 --> 03:10.269 moments of the korean war and led 03:10.269 --> 03:12.380 covert operations in Vietnam where he 03:12.380 --> 03:12.155 earned the Distinguished Service Cross 03:12.365 --> 03:14.421 Kingston new readiness , he knew the 03:14.421 --> 03:16.532 threat posed by Iran , he knew how to 03:16.532 --> 03:18.754 mobilize large forces , so when january 03:18.754 --> 03:21.085 1st 1983 the United States had a new 03:21.085 --> 03:23.465 command , centcom was born .