US Preparing to Put Nuclear Bombers Back on 24-Hour Alert

Article on Defense One website by By Marcus Weisgerber      

BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, La. —  The U.S. Air Force is preparing to put nuclear-armed bombers back on 24-hour ready alert, a status not seen since the Cold War ended in 1991.

That means the long-dormant concrete pads at the ends of this base’s 11,000-foot runway — dubbed the “Christmas tree” for their angular markings — could once again find several B-52s parked on them, laden with nuclear weapons and set to take off at a moment’s notice.

This is yet one more step in ensuring that we’re prepared,” Gen. David Goldfein, Air Force chief of staff, said in an interview during his six-day tour of Barksdale and other U.S. Air Force bases that support the nuclear mission. “I look at it more as not planning for any specific event, but more for the reality of the global situation we find ourselves in and how we ensure we’re prepared going forward.”
Goldfein and other senior defense officials stressed that the alert order had not been given, but that preparations were under way in anticipation that it might come. That decision would be made by Gen. John Hyten, the commander of U.S. Strategic Command, or Gen. Lori Robinson, the head of U.S. Northern Command. STRATCOM is in charge of the military’s nuclear forces and NORTHCOM is in charge of defending North America.

Putting the B-52s back on alert is just one of many decisions facing the Air Force as the U.S. military responds to a changing geopolitical environment that includes North Korea’s rapidly advancing nuclear arsenal, President Trump’s confrontational approach to Pyongyang, and Russia’s increasingly potent and active armed forces

Read the entire article at.http://www.defenseone.com/threats/2017/10/exclusive-us-preparing-put-nuclear-bombers-back-24-hour-alert/141957/

NORAD and USNORTHCOM conducting ARDENT SENTRY 2012 starting tomorrow

PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. - The North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command will conduct a major exercise, ARDENT SENTRY 2012, focused on Defense Support of Civil Authorities, May 2 – 9, 2012.

The exercise will be primarily a Command Post Exercise, but there will be field training events within the exercise. Those events will take place in North Dakota, Oregon, Texas, Alaska, Connecticut and Nova Scotia and involve United States and Canadian military units.

- North Dakota, the Air Force Global Strike Command will respond to a simulated Nuclear Weapons Incident (NUWAIX) on Minot Air Force Base.

- Oregon, the Oregon National Guard will work with state and local officials to respond to numerous weather-related and security events.

- Texas, US Army North will deploy a task force to work through the process of leading a military response to a major hurricane.

- Alaska, Joint Task Force-Alaska will conduct a coordinated response to a major aircraft crash in a remote area.

- Nova Scotia, Canadian and US Naval forces will work together to handle a security related event.

ARDENT SENTRY 12 will validate existing plans, policies, and procedures, including the Federal Inter-agency Response Plan, as well as state and regional plans.

Northcom Weighs Probability, Consequences of Threats

By Lisa Daniel, American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON - How U.S. Northern Command balances its assets in protecting the homeland is a matter of gauging the probability and potential consequences of threats, the new Northcom commander said today.

"We have to look at the capabilities and intent" of U.S. adversaries, Navy Adm. James A. Winnefeld Jr. told reporters during a Defense Writers Group meeting here. "Certainly there are nations with cruise missiles who we don't think have any intention to use them. Then, there are terrorist organizations that certainly want to use them that don't have the capability."

Russia has the capability to perform such an attack but not the intent, whereas Iran and North Korea have shown intent, but evidence indicates they lack the capability, he said.

Winnefeld, who also commands the North American Aerospace Defense Command, added that he is confident in the U.S. missile defense system, including ground-based capabilities to stop an attack.

"I'm very comfortable right now that if you asked me to shoot down a missile at this moment from North Korea or Iran, I could do it," he said.

Northcom and U.S. Strategic Command leaders "have a pretty clear understanding" of why the ground-based system failed a test last year, Winnefeld said. He declined to discuss specifics, other than to say that it is difficult to test a system that is still being developed.

"The operational reality we work with every day is that while we're fielding a system, we're also testing it," he said.

Asked about the probability of a nuclear terrorist attack, Winnefeld said he could not speak to intelligence gathered on the issue, but "as Northcom commander, I have to assume the threat is not going down."

Any nuclear attack would be catastrophic, and prevention is the key, the admiral said.

"One of my most important focus areas is to be prepared for it," he said. "No one should have any illusions about how challenging that would be for the nation. The most important thing is to prevent it from happening in the first place, and to be prepared for it to happen."

Northcom and NORAD are in good coordination with the Homeland Security Department, National Guard Bureau and state officials to ensure quick responses, Winnefeld said. "I'm very optimistic that we are headed in the right direction there," he said.

Winnefeld said he also is working closely with Army Gen. Keith Alexander, who recently was confirmed to head the new U.S. Cyber Command, to determine where responsibilities lie in the event of a major attack against computer networks. Northcom likely would work in support of Cybercom and its parent command, Stratcom, he said.

"It really doesn't matter, as long as we're working closely together so that cyber recovery is coordinated," Winnefeld said. Most importantly, he said, "This has to be done with speed. This is a mission that is very critical and time-dependent."

An important part of the Northcom commander's job, Winnefeld said, is to try to predict threats and how to counter them. To that end, he said, he is considering the potential need for a lighter, lower-flying aircraft than the current F-15 to handle certain contingencies, such as those at large, outdoor events.

"It's all about the time, distance and area we can cover," he said. "We can't cover a great, big country 100 percent of the time."

On another topic, Winnefeld called the U.S. military partnership with Mexico a top priority for Northcom and said the command has a "solid, courageous, and sovereign partner" in Mexican President Felipe Calderon's government to counter Mexican drug cartels.

The threat to the United States from the cartels "is very serious," Winnefeld said, but he added that his main worry isn't about violence coming across the border.

"It's really more the slow, corrosive impact that drug cartels ... have on our own society and cities that is really the boiling frog here," he said, as opposed to the "rare, but tragic" violence that occurs along the southern U.S. border.

Northcom is doing everything it can to help the Mexican military, the admiral said, from advancing their capabilities to sharing subject-matter experts and providing human rights training.

"They are voracious devourers of that kind of training," he said. "They really want to get it right, and they realize it's going to take time to get it right."

The admiral said he is encouraged by the sustained effort of the Mexican government to stand up to the cartel problem. "It would be very easy for them to back off on the cartels," he said, "and violence probably would go down."

NORAD and USNORTHCOM exercise starts tomorrow

PETERSON AFB, Colo. – North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command are planning to conduct a combined exercise June 18 - 24 that will incorporate several military exercises with a National Guard exercise. These linked exercises are referred to as ARDENT SENTRY 09. Events will take place in multiple venues across the country including Iowa, Kansas, Oregon, Wyoming, and off the East and West Coasts.

The exercise will allow several Department of Defense organizations and some federal and state partners to implement plans and respond to a variety of notional events. Historically, exercises like these have helped both DoD and other agencies review their processes and procedures and focus their future training efforts on closing gaps and identifying areas that need additional attention.

Major AS 09 venues include:

■ NORAD’s AMALGAM DART exercise involving air defense activities at Camp Rilea, Oregon;

■ The National Guard’s VIGILANT GUARD exercise focused on civil support with major activities in Des Moines, Iowa and Topeka, Kansas; and,

■ A Nuclear Weapons Incident exercise (NUWAIX) with a U.S. Air Force response near Cheyenne, Wyoming;

The activities in the vicinity of Camp Rilea will involve the deployment of an Army National Guard ground-based air defense system that will be integrated with Air Force airborne systems (AWACS and fighters) and a Navy Aegis Destroyer

NorthCom Exercise

Courtesy of Jack NeSmith and the Milcom newsgroup:

Charleston County's Radio Communications is participating in "DICE" (Department of Defense Interoperability Communications Exercise) from 1-5 June at the Mt Pleasant Army National Guard Armory.

The DICE is part of a multi-state communications exercise coordinated by DHS and USNORTHCOM (United States Northern Command, a joint military.[Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, Marine Corp] command responsible for North America).

Texas, Arizona and New Jersey are also participating.

Charleston County's Sheriff's Office Command Post and Air Support Unit will also be participating. We will have our Amateur Radio folks working out of the EOC. They will be passing info to the state EOC, FEMA, local hospitals, etc.

The main objective is to test communications. radio, data (internet) and satellite. We will have our communications trailer, Sheriff's Office command post, state command post and several SCARNG communications vehicles at the armory.

We will be testing FMV (Full Motion Video) from F-16's out of McEntire Air National Guard Base in Columbia and the Sheriffs Office Helicopter The F-16's will be high enough to where it will not be noticeable. The F-16's will be flying on June 2 and June 4.

Emergency Response Units Won't Perform Law Enforcement, Official Says

By Gerry J. Gilmore, American Forces Press Service

The Pentagon's three new rapid-response task forces will assist civil authorities during possible terrorist attacks or natural disasters, but they won't perform law-enforcement missions, a senior Defense Department official said here yesterday.
Some people have surfaced concerns that active-duty soldiers, who make up the core of the first 4,700-member joint task force established in early October, could be used to perform police functions, which would be in violation of the 1878 Posse Comitatus Act, Paul McHale, assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense and Americas' security affairs, told American Forces Press Service and Pentagon Channel reporters.

The Posse Comitatus Act prohibits active-duty military members from conducting domestic law-enforcement operations.

"None of that is true," McHale said of public assertions that active-duty troops assigned to the task force will perform police duties. Instead, he said, the rapid-response units are "task-organized to deal with the technical and very challenging requirements associated with a contaminated environment."

The task force cited in public discussion, McHale said, was established Oct. 1 and is built around a core of active-duty soldiers from the 3rd Infantry Division's 1st Brigade Combat Team, based at Fort Stewart, Ga. This task force, he said, falls under the control of U.S. Northern Command's Joint Force Land Component Command, U.S. Army North, in San Antonio.

Each task force will be capable of performing tasks such as medical response, decontamination, technical rescue, patient evacuation, and communications and logistics support, including air and land transportation assets for transport of supplies, people and equipment, according to U.S. Army North documents.

Plans are to stand up two more new joint task forces in 2010 and 2011, respectively, McHale said. These units, he said, will comprise mostly reserve-component personnel, mainly National Guard troops.

The new task forces would be ordered into action by the president following requests for disaster-relief assistance from state governors, McHale said.

In the event of civil disturbances and some other types of emergencies, McHale said, active U.S. military units could be ordered by the president to assist civil authorities establish order as part of the Garden Plot domestic security plan.

"There are [active] military units that are prepared, under law, to ensure constitutional rights and the enforcement of federal law, under the Insurrection Act, to be deployed for a domestic security mission," McHale said.

The last time Garden Plot was activated, McHale said, was to restore order during the 1992 Los Angeles riots that followed the trial and acquittal of some local police officers who had been charged with the beating of Rodney King. Federal troops also were employed during the 1950s and 1960s, he said, to ensure the civil rights of African-American citizens.

New Rapid-Response Forces to Bolster Homeland Defense Mission

By Gerry J. Gilmore, American Forces Press Service

Pentagon officials have established a new rapid-response joint task force and plan to create two more in coming years to bolster assistance to civil authorities following potential chemical, biological or nuclear attacks or natural disasters, a senior U.S. official said here yesterday.

The new units will team with other federal agencies in support of local responders following chemical, biological or nuclear terror attacks on the homeland or during natural disasters, Paul McHale, assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense and Americas' security affairs, told American Forces Press Service and Pentagon Channel reporters.

The establishment of the new units "builds upon a decade of improving [Defense Department] capabilities to deal with a domestic terrorist attack involving a weapon of mass destruction," McHale said.

The first new 4,700-member task force was assigned to a component of U.S. Northern Command on Oct. 1, McHale said. The new unit, he said, is built around a core of active-duty soldiers from the U.S. Army 3rd Infantry Division's 1st Brigade Combat Team based at Fort Stewart, Ga. This task force, he said, falls under the control of Northcom's Joint Force Land Component Command, U.S. Army North, in San Antonio.

Plans are to stand up the other two new joint task forces in 2010 and 2011, respectively, McHale said. These units, he said, mostly will comprise reserve component personnel from all the military services.

Each task force will be capable of performing tasks such as medical response, decontamination, technical rescue, patient evacuation, and communications and logistics support, to include air and land transportation assets for transport of supplies, people and equipment, according to U.S. Army North documents.

The task forces would be ordered into action by the president, McHale said, following requests for disaster-relief assistance from state governors.

The new units, he emphasized, do not conduct law-enforcement missions. In the event of civil disturbances and some other types of national emergencies, he said, other designated U.S. military units could be ordered by the president to help civil authorities establish order as part of the Garden Plot domestic security plan.

The Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States prompted U.S. officials to consider whether existing National Guard-staffed civil support teams could provide enough resources to support civil authorities during multiple catastrophic events, McHale said.

McHale said 9/11 also "was the genesis for the creation of U.S. Northern Command." Northcom, he said, is responsible for homeland defense of the continental U.S. and Alaska, while U.S. Pacific Command is responsible for Hawaii. Air Force Gen. Victor E. Renuart Jr. commands Northcom as well as North American Aerospace Defense Command, which are co-located at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado Springs, Colo.

National Guard-staffed civil support teams were developed through a Pentagon initiative dating to the mid-1990s. Today, there are 53 civil support teams distributed across the United States, McHale said. These 22-member units, he said, are trained to test for chemical, biological or nuclear contamination in the event of a weapons-of-mass-destruction-attack on the United States.

Additionally, Marine Corps-operated emergency-response units that specialize in relief operations are available during chemical, biological and nuclear attacks, he said.

NORTHCOM: Guarding the nation's borders

by Staff Sgt. Matthew Bates, Defense Media Activity-San Antonio

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AFNS) -- Thousands of U.S. military men and women are deployed across the globe promoting democracy, guarding freedom and fighting terrorism. They are the fingers of the nation's military, extending its reach and capabilities on an international scope.

But as the events of Sept. 11, 2001, demonstrated, the United States is not impervious to attack. In the aftermath of these tragic actions, Department of Defense officials began to look at homeland defense in a whole new light.

In response, DOD officials in October of 2002 established the U.S. Northern Command at Peterson Air Force Base, Colo. Its charter: Provide command and control of homeland defense efforts and protect the nation's people, national power and freedom of action.

"We've shifted from an external focus to an inward focus," said Gen. Victor E. Renuart Jr., the NORTHCOM commander. "We realized we needed to create an organization responsible for homeland defense."

"We may be small in years, but we are no longer a young command," General Renuart said. "We are a mature organization, highly capable and highly equipped to execute the mission of homeland defense."

NORTHCOM personnel are responsible for monitoring all land, sea and air approaches within the continental United States, Alaska, Canada, Mexico and the surrounding water out to approximately 500 nautical miles. That also includes the Gulf of Mexico and the straits of Florida.

Command officials also are in charge of responding to any threats that arise within the United States and have prepared detailed plans for responding to situations that range from pandemic influenza to chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear events. They also have redefined the command's readiness capabilities since Hurricane Katrina.

When it comes to providing forces in response to incidents, the command has nearly 50 National Guard officers fully integrated within its operations, in addition to National Guard civil support teams located within every U.S. state and territory, and 17 regional consequence response units.

NORTHCOM planners also use an active-duty military response unit of nearly 450 Marines who are the "gold standard" for responding to weapons-of-mass-destruction attacks, officials said. There also are pre-identified active-duty and Reserve components on a short string to provide additional muscle to initial response teams.

"The U.S. military absolutely has the capacity to respond to potential threats within our nation today," General Renuart said. "It will get better in this coming year and continue to improve beyond that."

Yet, protecting the homeland isn't the command's only mission.

"It is definitely our No. 1 priority," General Renuart said. "But we are also tasked with a civil support mission."

This mission includes supporting disaster relief operations that occur during fires, hurricanes, floods and earthquakes. The mission sees command officials sustaining counter-drug operations and managing the consequences of a terrorist event that employs a weapon of mass destruction within the U.S. border.

NORTHCOM forces generally support civil authorities through established joint task forces subordinate to the command. These include Joint Force Headquarters National Capital Region, Joint Task Force-Civil Support, Joint Task Force Alaska, and Joint Task Force North. Other service components include U.S. Army North, U.S. Air Forces North, Marine Forces Reserve, and Fleet Forces Command.

"An emergency must exceed the capabilities of local, state and federal agencies before NORTHCOM becomes involved," General Renuart said. "In most cases, this support is limited, localized and specific."

Once the scope of the disaster is reduced to the point that local agencies can re-assume full control and management without military assistance, NORTHCOM personnel will depart, leaving the on-scene experts to finish the job.

Ultimately, NORTHCOM's goal is to prevent another 9/11 from happening -- a goal the command takes seriously and devotes a lot of time and manpower to accomplishing.

"We are continually adjusting our structure and capabilities to meet the demands of a changing world," General Renuart said. "While the threats we face have changed, our charter remains to provide for the security of the U.S. and defend it against any enemy, whether that be a lone terrorist or a full-scale invasion on our shores."

U.S. Fleet Forces Command Tailors Operational Support for Vigilant Shield 09

NORFOLK (NNS) -- U.S. Fleet Forces Command's (USFF) staff enhanced its capabilities to support global regional combatant commanders while simultaneously supporting U.S. federal disaster response efforts as it wrapped up its participation in Vigilant Shield 2009 (VS09) Nov. 12-18.

The focus of the North American Aerospace Defense Command- and U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM)-led exercise was on homeland defense and defense support to civil authorities. The exercise included scenarios to achieve exercise objectives within the maritime, aerospace, ballistic missile defense, cyber, consequence management, strategic communications and counter terrorism domains. A variety of interagency as well as international partners participated.

"Working closely with our partners in North America to support NORTHCOM's mission of homeland defense is essential to improve our responses to continental events," explained Rear Adm. Dennis FitzPatrick, director of USFF's Joint Operation Division.

"Vigilant Shield 09 was an ideal venue to continue increasing our international partnering efforts which will enable more seamless multinational cooperation as we constantly improve our plans and abilities to protect our citizens," FitzPatrick added.

VS09 ran concurrently with other exercises including U.S. Strategic Command's Global Lightning 09 and Bulwark Defender 09, Canada Command's Determined Dragon, California National Guard's Vigilant Guard and the State of California's Golden Guardian.

All of the exercises and participants focused on improving responses to crisis-type scenarios and enhancing interoperability between agencies, services and countries.

Another training objective for USFF's staff was to move toward obtaining full certification as a maritime operations center (MOC).

The MOC is designed to function in a global network with maritime operations centers linked to share information and develop a seamless common operating picture across theater boundaries.

"Operating in the MOC construct improves USFF's ability to operate more efficiently and effectively in the joint arena by using cross-functional organization to streamline information flow. This leverages organizational knowledge to speed and improve operational decisions," said Rear Adm. Mark Buzby, USFF's deputy chief of staff for Global Force Management and Joint Operations (N3/N5).

"We, as a staff, took significant strides towards enabling our commander to make more informed operational decisions while supporting regional combatant commanders. I'm sure we'll continue improving throughout our certification process, but this was a substantial step forward for our team," Buzby explained.

The next major step in USFF's MOC certification process is the pre-accreditation exercise of Ardent Sentry 09, another NORAD/NORTHCOM annually scheduled exercise slated for early next summer.

Homeland Defense Demands Integrated Efforts, NorthCom Commander Says

By Fred W. Baker III
American Forces Press Service


WASHINGTON, Oct. 30, 2008 - In the six years since the Defense Department stood up a combatant command charged with unifying homeland defense efforts, U.S. Northern Command has moved from a past mixed with tension and friction among commanders and agencies to an international model of integration at all levels, its commander said yesterday.
"The synergy that has been created by this continuum of effort, from warning to consequence management, is what this nation deserves and is maybe one of the best examples anywhere in the world," said Air Force Gen. Victor E. Renuart Jr., commander of the North American Aerospace Defense Command and NorthCom. "We have created a true team effort."

Renuart told the attendees of the National Homeland Defense Foundation symposium in Colorado Springs, Colo., that effectively defending the homeland and responding to natural or man-made disasters requires an integrated approach that involves federal, state and local governments, and even international and private organizations.

In the end, Renuart said, the average citizen doesn't really care how relief is delivered, only that it is delivered.

"Our citizens really don't care if it's a hurricane or a flood or an airplane striking towers in New York City. They want to see if the nation is prepared to take care of them when these events occur," Renuart said. "So we have to have an integrated organization, ... a team that prepares for the worst that always questions the way we ought to be in the future, not [one that] just worries about what we've done in the past."

Renuart said over the past six years organizations have blended together that once operated somewhat autonomously, each caring for its own particular piece of the homeland defense puzzle.

Within the Department of Homeland Defense, 22 organizations were pulled together. Within DoD, commands were dissolved as others were standing up. Many agencies were suddenly responsible for working together that had not traditionally had a relationship.

Now, the agencies have been successful at growing teams, rewriting policy and securing funding and support, Renuart said. He now has the ability to plan alongside support agencies. This allows commanders and leaders to understand gaps in support and resource needs, he said. This type of collaboration will make homeland defense successful, Renuart said.

The commander cited recent support in California during its forest fire season, where as many as 2,000 fires were burning at one time in areas not accessible by traditional fire-fighting resources. A joint task force already was in place, and aviation assets flew 470 sorties, Renuart said.

Also, while hurricanes Gustav and Ike did not render the devastation that was projected, teams were in place to coordinate aid even before the storms hit land.

"In each case, we had the support of the nation to put a collaborative team on the ground pre-landfall to ensure that we could assist the states of Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas as they prepared for what at least looked to be a near-catastrophic event," Renuart said.

Renuart said 72,000 military servicemembers were deployed after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf coast. For Gustav and Ike, a few thousand were in place before landfall, and 15,000 were on alert. Integration of search and rescue efforts after the hurricanes was the best this nation has seen, Renuart said.

"That pre-event planning, that understanding and integration of capabilities, ... allows us to not just throw mass at the problem, but rather quick precision against the problem," Renuart said. "That's the nature of working in the homeland. It's not a mass-against-the-problem challenge. It is the ability to put the right kind of ... support against a challenge in the community so that the citizens of that community are cared for."

Renuart said the nation can never again consider NORAD, with its missile, cyber and maritime warning systems, and NorthCom, with its response capabilities, operating distinctly. The general said the strength of terrorism often lies in the fact that its groups can move faster than governments.

"Warning requires an integrated team. Action requires a national effort. If you separate those, you lose the ability to operate effectively in a ... decision cycle where our enemies can move faster than government," Renuart said. "We have to accelerate that process. One of the ways we have done that is to make the missions of warning and deterrence integrated into missions of response and consequence management."

Renuart said NorthCom and NORAD are integrated across their staffs. It improves efficiency, he explained, and it helps in integration, planning, coordination and timeliness of execution.

Renuart praised the Defense Department's recent approval of the assignment of a brigade-sized contingent of troops to NorthCom. The 4,700 troops will belong to the command for the next year, and are dedicated to training and preparing to respond to a large-scale chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear event or other major explosion. The force is designed to support civilian agencies that might be overwhelmed by the size of a large-scale disaster, Renuart said.

Before, forces were earmarked by the services for support to NorthCom, but the command had no control over their training or equipping. This led to an ad hoc, mismatched effort that was largely reactive, he said.

"That model showed itself during Katrina to be flawed," Renuart said. "If you wait for an event to occur and then you say 'I need forces to come and help,' ... those forces aren't prepared. They're not trained. They may not be equipped the way we want. There is no command structure established. There is no way to integrate those with the national effort in a way that is truly effective."

Now, DoD will annually assign forces to the command and NorthCom will mandate their training and equipping and integrate their command staffs into planning. This will add to the 11,000 servicemembers that NorthCom has identified for its missions who already are serving mostly in specialty units such as medical, aviation and rescue.

This first brigade-size element is made up of aviation and medical assets and nuclear, biological and chemical warfare specialists. But the bulk of its troops come from an active-duty brigade combat team at Fort Stewart, Ga. This has caught the attention of some in the media and activists who are wary of the use of federal troops on American soil.

Renuart said the forces will not be used to quell an insurrection or to usurp the authority of local governors or law enforcement.

"That is absolutely not the concept," he said. "These forces are ... organized, trained and equipped to go in and assist in an event that is of such a scale that local and even federal first responders are not able to manage."

Renuart said a second element, roughly the same size, will be built in 2009, largely from National Guard forces.

During the speech, Renuart cited NorthCom's successes working with the U.S. Coast Guard in its efforts to secure the nation's ports. The command also works with U.S. Southern Command on counternarcotics efforts and collaborates with Canada and Mexico to share intelligence on drug shipments and cartel movements, Renuart said.

The command also has worked to integrate its efforts with international agencies such as the Red Cross, and with private organizations. And it regularly collaborates with the Department of Homeland Security in what Renuart called "the model" for interagency planning.

"All of us have a vested interest in ... securing the communities in our nation," Renuart said. "All of us have to be prepared, and if we can't plan for that ahead of time, we will not be successful."

U.S. Northern Command gains dedicated response force

Editor Blog Note: For my HF ALE friends, here is a new challenge for us to monitor.

PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. -- For the first time in its existence, U.S. Northern Command is gaining a dedicated force to respond to potential chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and high-yield explosive (CBRNE) incidents in the homeland.

"We are now building the first of three CBRNE Consequence Management Response Forces," said USNORTHCOM Commander Gen. Gene Renuart. "On the first of October, we’ll have an organized force, a trained force, an equipped force, a force that has adequate command and control and is on quick response – 48 hours – to head off to a large-scale nuclear, chemical, biological event that might require Department of Defense support."

The CBRNE Consequence Management Response Force, or CCMRF, is a team of about 4,700 joint personnel that would deploy as the Department of Defense’s initial response force for a CBRNE incident. Its capabilities include search and rescue, decontamination, medical, aviation, communications and logistical support.

Each CCMRF will be composed of three functional task forces – Task Force Operations, Task Force Medical and Task Force Aviation – that have their own individual operational focus and set of mission skills. Depending on the different mission requirements and the incident commander’s priorities, Task Force Operations, Task Force Medical and Task Force Aviation units would have varying roles and responsibilities based upon the type of catastrophe and the size of the geographical area. In USNORTHCOM’s first CCMRF, the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team, assigned at Fort Stewart, Ga., will form the core unit of Task Force Operations.

Although CCMRFs are a joint force comprised of Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines, the first CCMRF will fall under the operational control of USNORTHCOM’s Joint Force Land Component Command, U.S. Army North, located in San Antonio, Texas. Joint Task Force Civil Support, USNORTHCOM’s subordinate command in Fort Monroe, Va., would serve as the operational headquarters and work closely with state and local officials and first responders.

“U.S. Army North has done an outstanding job anticipating the needs of our federal, state and local partners, and training the CCMRF to be prepared to respond when called upon,” said Army Col. Michael Boatner, USNORTHCOM future operations division chief.

“We’re excited about obtaining a ready and capable team that we can quickly activate and deploy as part of a federal response package when responding in the aftermath of catastrophic events,” Boatner said. “This response force will not be called upon to help with law enforcement, civil disturbance or crowd control, but will be used to support lead agencies involved in saving lives, relieving suffering and meeting the needs of communities affected by weapons of mass destruction attacks, accidents or even natural disasters.”

USNORTHCOM is the joint combatant command formed in the wake of the Sept.11, 2001, terrorist attacks to provide homeland defense and defense support of civil authorities.

C-130s continue aerial firefighting operations in California

by Staff Sgt. Luke Johnson, 302nd Air Expeditionary Group Public Affairs
A C-130 Hercules from the Air Force Reserve Command's 302nd Airlift Wing at Peterson Air Force Base, Colo., equipped with the modular airborne firefighting system, taxies to the runway at McClellan Airfield, Calif., July 5 to begin firefighting operations. Aircraft from the 302nd AW are conducting firefighting support missions as part of the 302nd Air Expeditionary Group. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Hector Garcia)

Aircraft from the 302nd Air Expeditionary Group continued aerial firefighting support missions July 5 in a coordinated effort to control wildfires in California.

C-130 Hercules aircraft flew 25 sorties in approximately 50 flight hours. Twelve sorties flew to the Goleta, or Gap, fire located approximately six miles northwest of Santa Barbara and delivered approximately 33,000 gallons of fire retardant. Seven sorties flew to the Piute fire located in the Sequoia National Forest fire, delivering more than 19,500 gallons of retardant.

Finally, six sorties were flown to the Shasta Humbolt Complex located in northern California's Shasta and Trinity counties, delivering approximately 16,800 gallons of fire retardant.

The California Air National Guard's 146th Airlift Wing moved critical reloading supplies to the Channel Islands Air National Guard Station July 4 to increase modular airborne firefighting system-equipped C-130 efficiency in battling the fires in southern California, according to Tom Hoffman, the military liaison officer with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

For the C-130 aircraft operating out McClellan Airfield, Calif., but covering the fires in southern California, crews will reload fire retardant at Channel Islands ANGS in order to save time traveling to the Gap and Piute fires. The aircraft will then return to McClellan airfield at the end of the flying day for maintenance and the next day's launch.

The 302nd AEG aircraft units include three Air National Guard units -- the 145th Airlift Wing from Charlotte, N.C.; the 146th Airlift Wing from Channel Islands ANGS; and the 153rd Airlift Wing from Cheyenne, Wyo. -- and one Air Force Reserve unit -- the 302nd Airlift Wing from Peterson Air Force Base, Colo.

The 302nd AEG comprises eight Air Force MAFFS-capable C-130 aircraft operating out of McClellan Airfield, and Navy Reserve and Marine Corps helicopter units operating out of Naval Air Station Lemoore, Calif.

Three Marine helicopter units -- Medium Helicopter Training Squadron 164 and Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 268 based out of Camp Pendleton, Calif., and Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 465 based out of Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego -- fly CH-46 Sea Knight and CH-53 Sea Stallion helicopters equipped with 2,000-gallon specialized fire fighting buckets.

U.S. Navy Reserve helicopters flying from NAS Lemoore are assigned to the Helicopter Sea Combat Support Squadron 85 based out of Naval Air Station North Island, Calif. The squadron is flying MH-60 Knighthawk helicopters with 420- and 360-gallon specialized fire fighting buckets.

The 302nd AEG military airborne assets flew a total of 55 missions July 4 and have flown approximately 270 missions and dropped nearly 600,000 gallons of fire retardant since June 26.

The 302nd AEG provides unique capabilities and is part of a unified military support effort of U.S. Northern Command to provide assistance to the U.S. Forest Service, CAL FIRE and the National Interagency Fire Center.

USNORTHCOM continues to closely monitor the California wildfires to anticipate additional requests for Department of Defense assistance to local, federal, and state civil authorities and will launch as many missions as officials require to battle the wildfires.

Fighters respond to Temporary Flight Restriction violation

PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. (AFPN) -- Two F-16 Fighting Falcons and a Coast Guard helicopter under the direction of North American Aerospace Defense Command intercepted a small Cessna aircraft flying through the Temporary Flight Restriction zone March 12 over the National Capitol Region.

The civilian aircraft entered the TFR from the north. After being alerted by the Visual Warning System there, the pilot turned the aircraft west to leave the restricted area.

The fighters intercepted the aircraft and escorted it to a landing at a facility in Leesburg, Va.

The Visual Warning System is designed to warn pilots who are violating the Air Defense Identification Zone established by the Federal Aviation Administration over Washington, D.C.

VWS is a ground-based system that uses safety-tested low-level beams of alternating green and red lights to alert pilots that they are flying without approval in designated airspace. These visually conspicuous lights, distinct from other light signals currently used by FAA air traffic control, provide a clear warning to pilots who enter the ADIZ without authorization and cannot be contacted on radio by air traffic control.

Only aircraft that are unauthorized or unidentified and unresponsive are visually warned. This visual warning is designed to prompt immediate action by the pilot to contact air traffic control and exit the ADIZ.

NORAD's mission -- in close collaboration with homeland defense, security,and law enforcement partners -- is to prevent air attacks against North America, safeguard the sovereign airspaces of the United States and Canada by responding to unknown, unwanted and unauthorized air activity approaching and operating within these airspaces and provide aerospace and maritime warning for North America.

NORAD may be required to monitor, shadow, divert from flight path, direct to land
and/or destroy platforms deemed a potential threat to North America. NORAD is the bi-national Canadian and American command that is responsible for the air defense of North America and maritime warning.

The command has three subordinate regional headquarters: the Continental NORAD Region at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., the Alaskan NORAD Region at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska and the Canadian NORAD Region at Winnepeg, Manitoba.

The command is poised both tactically and strategically in our nation's capital to provide a multilayered defense to detect, deter and prevent potential threats flying over the airspace of the United States and Canada.

More information on the Visual Warning System can be found at on the FAA's Web site at http://www.faasafety.gov/visualWarningSystem/Visualwarning.htm.

USNORTHCOM Responds to Commission: Ready for Homeland Defense

PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. (Army News Service) -- U.S. Northern Command's primary mission is Homeland Defense, and its commander said Friday that USNORTHCOM stands ready to respond to any homeland-defense or civil-support mission requirement.

"The U.S. military absolutely has the capacity to respond to potential threats within our nation today. It will get better in this coming year and continue to improve beyond that," said Gen. Gene Renuart, USNORTHCOM commander.

The Commission on the National Guard and Reserves issues a wide-ranging report to Congress and the Defense Department Thursday, stating that DoD should improve its capabilities and readiness so the military can take a primary role in response to major catastrophes inside the United States.

USNORTHCOM was established in 2002 as a result of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and has dramatically expanded DoD's focus on all aspects of Homeland Defense, command officials said, including planning and exercising, as well as organizing new headquarters and units that are specifically tailored for domestic response.

USNORTHCOM has prepared detailed plans for responding to situations that range from pandemic influenza to Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear events, and the command has redefined its readiness capabilities since Hurricane Katrina.

When it comes to providing forces in response to incidents, the command has nearly 50 National Guard officers fully integrated within its operations, in addition to National Guard Civil Support Teams located within every U.S. state and territory, and 17 regional consequence response units.

USNORTHCOM also utilizes an active-duty military response unit of nearly 450 Marines who are the "gold standard" for responding to weapons of mass destruction attacks, USNORTHCOM officials said. They said there are also pre-identified active-duty and Reserve components (4,000 members each) on a short string to provide additional muscle to initial response teams.

USNORTHCOM's primary mission remains defending the homeland, and Americans can be assured the U.S. military is ready and capable of responding to attacks within the United States, according to a USNORTHCOM statement released Friday.

NORTHCOM ready to help save lives

U.S. Northern Command officials continue to monitor the progress of Hurricane Dean and are working closely with the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the National Guard and the state of Texas on hurricane response preparations.

"While we remain fully engaged in defense of the homeland, our collective Department of Defense capabilities and resources will be utilized for significant events such as hurricanes and other natural disaster contingency operations," said Gen. Victor E. Renuart Jr., the NORTHCOM commander.

"We can help save lives, mitigate suffering and prevent property loss," the general said.

NORTHCOM members continue to respond to requests for DOD support in preparation for Hurricane Dean's possible landfall in the United States.

The staff at NORTHCOM has deployed the following people to support the federal response:

-- The Region VI Defense coordinating officer, or DCO, and a six-person Defense coordinating element, called DCE, deployed to Corpus Christi, Texas, at FEMA's request prior to landfall of Tropical Storm Erin. The DCO and DCE have moved to Austin, Texas, where they are co-located with FEMA and other responding agency assets.

-- The Region X DCO and DCE deployed to Baton Rouge, La., at FEMA's request to assist the Region VI DCO.

-- A joint regional medical planner deployed to Austin to support the Region VI DCO.

-- A 17-person team from Standing Joint Forces Headquarters-North deployed from Peterson Air Force Base, Colo., to Texas. Ten people will support the Region VI DCO in Austin; seven members will support Army North at Fort Sam Houston, Texas.

-- An eight-person Joint Patient Movement Team from Scott AFB, Ill., deployed to Austin to help coordinate aeromedical evacuation efforts.

-- A Joint Interagency Air-Ground Coordination Team from Tyndall AFB, Fla., deployed to Austin at FEMA's request to assist FEMA and the Texas Emergency Operations Center and to help with aeromedical evacuation and search and rescue efforts.

-- The Region II DCO and DCE deployed to the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico Aug. 15 where they supported a FEMA Emergency Response Team-Advance. Those members are redeploying to their home station in New York.

Should active-duty forces be requested to respond for hurricane operations, the regional DCOs will provide their command and control and will also facilitate requests for any additional DOD support through NORTHCOM.

"Local and state officials, in concert with the National Guard, are the first line responders," General Renuart said, "but USNORTHCOM is prepared to respond in support of the needs of the state and we are anticipating the kinds of capabilities they might require."

NORTHCOM officials are coordinating with FEMA, DHS and the National Guard to ensure full situational awareness and an appropriate response posture to Hurricane Dean.

"We have created stronger ties with our National Guard and civilian agency partners with mutual understanding, respect and appreciation of each others' missions, capabilities and practices," General Renuart said.

NORTHCOM supports civilian federal agencies as part of a comprehensive national response plan to manage consequences of natural or man-made disasters. The command staff remains vigilant to anticipate, deter, detect and defeat threats to the homeland and is prepared to prevent any attempt to exploit this crisis.

USNORTHCOM Takes Part in Annual DICE Exercise

US Army Photo: Master Sgt. Michael Winkler, left, and Chief Warrant Officer Ken Drennon of the South Carolina Army National Guard set up a Web Cam as part of Defense Interoperability Communication Exercise 2007 at Fort Monroe, Va., Feb. 28, 2007.

BY Sgt. 1st Class Gail Braymen
NORAD and USNORTHCOM Public Affairs

PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. - As the military combatant command charged with defending the American homeland, one of U.S. Northern Command's missions is providing defense support of civil authorities, such as support to state and local first responders, as directed by the president or secretary of defense during a national emergency.

Having Department of Defense personnel and their civilian counterparts working side-by-side at incident scenes means that everyone needs to be able to talk to each other. And that means having compatible communications equipment.

To that end, USNORTHCOM is participating throughout this month in the annual Department of Defense Interoperability Communications Exercise, or DICE. One of USNORTHCOM's subordinate commands, Joint Task Force Civil Support, is hosting part of the exercise at Fort Monroe, Va., while other participants are at Fort Huachuca, Ariz.

"The DICE venue is an opportunity for Department of Defense, National Guard and local first responders to get together to test their communications systems and work with each other to ensure that the systems are interoperable and we can share information between DoD, federal and local responders," said Jim Rizzo, chief of USNORTHCOM's command, control, communications and computers plans section.

DICE participants include personnel and equipment from each of the military services and the Coast Guard, the National Guard, the Department of Homeland Security and state and local agencies.

The seven-week DICE exercise has two main goals, according to Rizzo.

"One is ... Joint Interoperability Test Center certification of military equipment," Rizzo said. "There's also, at the end of the certification period, an exercise on how we communicate so that the local responders and the other folks ... at the venue have an opportunity to get some hands-on experience with interoperating with military forces."

JTF-CS has medium and heavy tactical communications packages undergoing certification at DICE, said Patty Critzer, deputy of the JTF-CS communications systems directorate.

"We're working with the 20-some other units that are out here and actually doing radio checks and communication checks, making sure that we can talk from our command post down to our first responders," Critzer said.

Radios and hardware aren't the only components that need to be compatible at the scene of emergencies. Responders themselves may not communicate clearly due to cultural and language barriers, Rizzo said. But DICE and other exercises build cultural ties and help groups understand a little more about each other's point of view, he added.

"Every time we have an exercise where it affords us the opportunity to start working with the local responders and the local community or the state or the National Guard," Rizzo said, "it breaks those barriers down just a little bit more, so that we can effectively interoperate with each other."