USNORTHCOM to celebrate fourth birthday
September 27, 2006
By Chief Petty Officer Susan Hammond
U.S. Northern Command Public Affairs
PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. – U.S. Northern Command will observe its fourth birthday Monday, Oct. 2, with a cake-cutting ceremony at its headquarters.
USNORTHCOM became operational Oct. 1, 2002, although the Department of Defense began reviewing the need for a homeland defense combatant command within weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. At that time, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and all the heads of the military services signed a common letter stating that it was time to define what was needed for homeland defense and homeland security. In January 2002, the secretary of defense announced that a new command would be established; nine months later, USNORTHCOM began operations at Peterson Air Force Base.
“(The command) had about 150 personnel at the stand-up,” said Dr. Thomas Fuller, historian for USNORTHCOM and the North American Aerospace Defense Command. The two commands share headquarters facilities and many command components.
“Today we have over 1,200 personnel,” Fuller said. “The two-element mission remains the same.”
USNORTHCOM’s mission is to conduct operations to deter, prevent and defeat threats and aggression aimed at the United States, its territories and interests within its area of responsibility and, as directed by the president or secretary of defense, to provide defense support of civil authorities.
“This is the first time the U.S. military has had a homeland defense commander since President George Washington,” said Michael B. Perini, director of public affairs for NORAD and USNORTHCOM.
“In these four years, we’ve become a very recognizable group of dedicated men and women whose expertise is sought after,” Perini said. “Our exercise and training program is a benchmark for others. We have a new state-of-the art command center that allows us to communicate with 150 other centers and is a template for other organizations to emulate.
"We are getting a reputation for being a leader in c2 - communication and coordination - which is critically important for an organization like ours."
Civil service employees and uniformed members representing all service branches work at USNORTHCOM’s headquarters.
“Everybody has a role in the homeland defense mission,” Perini said, “by staying informed, being watchful and not being apathetic. Terrorists continue to plan, and so USNORTHCOM needs to continue to work in safeguarding our nation around the clock. We are entrusted with protecting Americans where they live and work.”
When the command began operations, Fuller said, “We were expected to reach full operational capability inside a year. We did do that in Sept. 2003, meaning we could execute fully what we were expected to.
“Over the years we’ve built relationships with the multitude of interagency organizations that we have to interact with, most notably the Department of Homeland Security and all its sub-components like the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the U.S. Coast Guard, and the Transportation Security Administration,” Fuller said.
Both elements of the USNORTHCOM mission have been tested in the four short years of its existence. USNORTHCOM supports interagency efforts to deter and defeat possible threats during National Security Special Events, such as the G8 Summit, the Republican and Democratic National Conventions, United Nations meetings, the funeral of former U.S. president Ronald Reagan, presidential inaugurations and state of the union addresses, as well as the Super Bowl.
This summer USNORTHCOM immediately detected missiles launched by the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea and determined they posed no threat to the United States or its territories. When arrests were made in the United Kingdom of suspects in an alleged plot to blow up airliners bound for the United States, the command coordinated with DHS, TSA and other federal agencies to ensure safe travel on aircraft.
In its role of defense support of civil authorities, USNORTHCOM supported firefighting efforts in Washington this summer and in California in 2003, as well as FEMA’s efforts to provide relief in Florida to those impacted by Hurricane Charley in 2004.
The command became the most visible to the public, however, in September 2005, when USNORTHCOM supported the DHS, FEMA and other federal agencies in disaster relief efforts in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. More than 21,400 active-duty service members supported the effort in the U.S. Gulf Coast.
“I believe we have some of our nation's best experts working homeland defense 24-7-365,” Perini said, “all services, active duty, guard and reserve, civilian and contractors, who treat their responsibilities to keep the nation secure as a sacred honor.”