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Unified Mission fromtheeditor


T 12 MILITARY OFFICER JUNE 2012


U.S. Northern Command and the North American Aerospace Defense Command work together to protect the U.S. and its interests — and even track Santa Claus on his annual fl ight.


Their mission encompasses air defense, aerospace and maritime warning, drug interdiction, transnational crime preven- tion, monitoring manmade objects in space, disaster assistance, response to pandemic infl uenza, defense against threats to the Super Bowl, and many other elements of national defense. And, I should mention, they also track Santa Claus’ annual fl ight through international airspace! The organization — actually two, under a single commander — is the U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM) and the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). In “Standing Watch,” page 50, we deliver another installment in our series about the unifi ed combatant commands. We spotlight the command whose mission is defending America’s homeland. NORTHCOM was established Oct. 1,


2002, in response to the Sept. 11, 2001, attack. It consolidates under a single unifi ed command a variety of missions that previously were executed by many organizations. The result is unity of com- mand — a critical element for mission ac- complishment. NORAD, colocated with NORTHCOM, is a bi-national command responsible for aerospace warning, aero- space control, and maritime warning for Alaska, Canada, and the continental U.S. “We monitor all domains — air, land, sea, and cyber. We monitor for missile threats using forward-based sensors,” says Brig. Gen. Daniel Hokanson, ARNG, deputy director for strategy, policy, and plans for


NORTHCOM and NORAD. “NORTHCOM will build a threat picture for the secretary of defense and the president, if necessary.” In addition to protecting the U.S. from


terrorist and other human-initiated threats, NORTHCOM performs a civil support mis- sion. This includes domestic disaster relief operations in response to natural disasters. The emergency must, however, exceed the capabilities of local, state, and federal agencies before the command can become involved. “Support requests come through us here at NORTHCOM, saving local au- thorities precious time from sifting through myriad DoD entities and partner agencies for the assistance they need,” says Brig. Gen. Ken Todorov, USA, NORTHCOM deputy director for operations. After you’re up to speed on current mili-


tary operations, we invite you to fl ash back to an earlier page in the annals of military history. With the advent of war in 1939, German troops advancing into Europe ransacked museums, churches, and other cultural centers and sent their treasures back to the Fatherland. But in 1943, the U.S. formed a commission to save those treasures. During the war and continuing to the present day, this group has recovered thousands of priceless artifacts. “Raiders of the Lost Art,” page 56, tells the story of the group known as the “Monuments Men.”


— Col. Warren S. Lacy, USA-Ret.


PHOTO: STEVE BARRETT


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