Where young Arab boys may walk around unescorted.
SOCCENT Forward Operations Base is a United States Military base located in Qatar, under the command of Colonel Sharp and subordinate of the US Central Command (USCENTCOM). As a forward base for special operations, it is home to soldiers belonging to various spec-ops military branches, such as the US Army Rangers, Green Berets, Delta Force, Marine Corps, US Navy SEALS and pilots of the US Air Force. The base is equipped with a variety of hardware including tanks, armored vehicles, helicopters, jets, airplanes and inflatable toys.
More accurately, it was these things until an unfortunate encounter with a hostile alien being.
Fiction
Transformers (2007)
On the same evening that Captain William Lennox and his team of Rangers returned from a mission behind enemy lines, a mysterious MH-53 Pave Low helicopter flew into the airspace of SOCCENT Qatar. Colonel Sharp ordered the unknown bird to Squawk Ident (identify itself) and leave his airspace. When the helicopter did not respond nor comply with the orders to turn back, Sharp dispatched two F-22 Raptors to intercept and escort the helicopter to the base, ordering the helicopter to follow under threat of deadly force.
When they got within range, one of the Raptor pilots identified the helicopter as designation 4500X, a confirmed casualty in Afghanistan three months prior. The Raptors escorted the Pave Low in, allowing the bogey to land on deck at the base as soldiers immediately formed a security perimeter around it. When radar crew in Operations reported that the helicopter was jamming their radar, the power suddenly blinked out and back in. Colonel Sharp attempted radio communications again, ordering the Pave Low pilot to power down and have his crew step out or be killed.
The Pave Low stopped its main rotor, but what followed was not quite what Sharp had in mind.
The "helicopter" killed soldiers attempting to flee before unleashing am electromagnetic pulse that severely damaged the air control tower and shut down all of systems in the base. Shrugging off weapons fire directed at it, the robot tossed aside tanks and aircraft with ease while destroying whatever was in its way. Locating the main computer server, it began hacking the US Military intranet, achieving record download speeds as it assimilated terabytes of classified information before Colonel Sharp physically severed the core's network hardlines with a fire axe.
With its primarily objective a failure, the giant robot proceeded to destroy what remained of the base as well as nearly everyone in it.
The next day, in an emergency session at the Pentagon, Secretary of Defense John Keller personally headed the investigation into the base attack, initially announcing that there did not appear to be any survivors. Transformers (2007)
Trivia
- Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico served as the primary shooting location for the SOCCENT Qatar base.