It’s been nine years now since that fateful day on Sept. 11, 2001 when nearly 3,000 people died on American soil due to a senseless act of terrorism.

How long ago is 9 years? Today’s high school seniors were in the 3rd grade on September 11, 2001, and the kids now in the 3rd grade have lived a lifetime knowing only war for their nation.  But we promised on the days immediately following 9/11 that we would never forget and so, I invite you to join with me and the men and women of the North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command to remember the innocent people, heroic firefighters, law enforcement and other first responders we lost on that tragic day.

The events of 9-11 continue to have a profound effect on NORAD and USNORTHCOM. What we learned from 9-11 caused the binational command NORAD to reevaluate threats to North America. What was once an outward looking air defense, is now an active, forward-looking and agile response force cooperating with our interagency partners for aerospace warning, aerospace control and maritime warning for all North America.  Additionally, USNORTHCOM was created in the aftermath of 9-11 and became fully operational Sept. 11, 2003 as the first-ever unified combatant command responsible for defense of the continental United States. Together, these commands work with more than 60 interagency partners and connect to 150 command centers across the U.S. and Canada.

Today, NORAD and USNORTHCOM are prepared to respond appropriately to any threats or disasters in or over our nations. Together with our interagency, intelligence, law enforcement, homeland security, and national, state and local emergency response partners, and the sovereign cooperation of our friends and neighbors in Canada and Mexico, we are working to stop terrorism here at home.  And I’m thankful for the American, Canadian, and other coalition forces who have successfully supported friendly governments in foreign lands to prevent further attacks from reaching our soil.

As we honor those who gave their lives in New York, at the Pentagon, in Pennsylvania, and in other ways and in other places in the cause of freedom . . . let it be known that NORAD and USNORTHCOM will remain prepared and alert, that we will defend our homelands, and that we will never forget.

All the best,
Admiral Sandy Winnefeld

This morning, I visited the National Scout Jamboree at Fort A.P. Hill, Va. –and what an experience—to look out at a “sea” of more than 45,000 scouts who travelled here from across the country and, in some cases from countries around the world, to be a part of this spectacular Centennial celebration. 

It was truly an honor to be part of this youth-centered event.  The highlight of the day for the Scouts and for their adult leaders was the opportunity to hear Secretary of Defense Gates speak to a sea of eager and excited scouts.  He shared his personal experiences with scouting, both as an Eagle Scout and “Order of the Arrow” member in his youth, as well as his experiences as a Boy Scout “dad” camping with his young son with his scout troop in the Virginia forests.  A key moment in his speech came when he asked all the Scouts who have family members in the military to stand; I would estimate that 80 percent of the audience came to their feet to hear the Secretary’s personal thanks for their support.  I commend for your reading this superb speech, in which Secretary Gates highlighted the importance to our Nation’s future of the leaders we build through Scouting. 

After attending the Arena show, I had the opportunity to visit with some of the military men and women and a host of inter-agency civilians who make up the Joint Task Force.  The JTF, commanded by Brig. Gen. Robert “Woody” Nolan II, who was commissioned in the Virginia National Guard just days prior to the Jamboree, making him the first active-duty officer to simultaneously hold commissions in both the active Air Force and the National Guard, is providing invaluable military support to this historic event.   The diverse members of the JTF are lending their expertise, unique skill sets and professionalism to ensure that the National Scout Jamboree is safe and successful—I was impressed by the spirit of cooperation among all the organizations.

Seeing these scouts today - and the great service members and civilians supporting them -  was an uplifting experience for me. 

Godspeed,

Admiral Sandy Winnefeld

Last Friday, I had the opportunity to travel to Indiana to see firsthand the foremost Defense Support of Civil Authorities (DSCA) exercise U.S. Northern Command holds – Vibrant Response. After arriving in Indiana, we headed to Camp Atterbury and then onto Muscatatuck Urban Training Center, which is a fantastic 180-acre urban training ground consisting of 68 major buildings including a school and hospital. It is truly a first-rate facility, run exceptionally well by the Indiana National Guard. We were met by Lt. Gen. Guy Swan, commanding general of U. S. Army North, who showed us why their organization is the premier DSCA training organization in the country.

Vibrant Response is the Field Training Exercise for a Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, High-Yield Explosive (CBRNE) Consequence Management Response Force (CCMRF). About 3,500 people from 17 states and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico participated in the exercise and responded to a simulated detonation of a 10-kiloton radiological device – more commonly known as a dirty nuclear bomb. Certainly, a scenario of the unthinkable, but something we must train for nonetheless.

What Gen. Swan showed me was truly impressive. This CCMRF, comprised of forces mainly from the Reserve component, responded to this demanding scenario magnificently and showed me that they will continue to have a significant role in our Nation’s response capabilities. As you can appreciate, the consequence management of a CBRNE event is a challenging mission set, and the Department of Defense is changing how we respond to this important mission area.

From decontamination of people and property, to route clearance and search and rescue operations, these CCMRF warriors proved beyond a doubt that they superbly prepared for their challenging mission. I left Indiana firmly knowing what I believed all along -- that U.S. Army North and the members for the CCMRF are critical assets to the United States in response to a potentially catastrophic event.

Godspeed
ADM Sandy Winnefeld

On Sunday, I had the honor of attending the second Council of Governors meeting with Secretary of Defense Robert Gates in Boston, MA.  Also in attendance were ten governors (including Council Co-Chairs Gov Gregoire (WA)and Gov Douglas (VT)), Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, and Deputy National Security Advisor for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism John Brennan.

This bipartisan Council of Governors was created by President Obama to advise the Secretary of Defense, Secretary of Homeland Security, and the White House Homeland Security Council on matters related to the National Guard and civil support missions.

Today's meeting was a very productive gathering that addressed a number of key topics to ensure Federal agencies respond quickly and in the right manner when governors request assistance from the Federal government for disasters and emergencies.  I believe we made a lot of progress, and will work hard to meet the high expectations set during this meeting.  The next Council of Governors session will be in Colorado Springs in November 2010.

Godspeed
ADM Sandy Winnefeld

I recently returned from my first visit to Canada as the new commander of NORAD and USNORTHCOM.  I traveled to Ottawa with two goals in mind.

My first goal was to build my knowledge of our historic relationship that is represented by NORAD and the shared values between the U.S. and Canada.  NORAD’s existence, evolution and mission-area growth demonstrate the enduring ties between our two countries and our shared commitment of defending our homelands.  I might add that these ties between our two countries are commonly known and demonstrated through prominent organizations such as the Permanent Joint Board on Defense and the Military Cooperation Committee.  Regardless of the organizations that created these links, in total, more than 80 treaty-level defense agreements, more than 250 memoranda of understanding and approximately 145 bilateral forums link us together. 

My second goal was simply to listen and learn. As the commander of NORAD, I answer to both the Canadian and U.S. defense leadership. So it was critical for me to listen and understand what’s important to the Canadian national security team.

This visit was certainly successful.  It was a pleasure and an honor to meet with the Minister of National Defense, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Public Safety (see image below), the National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister, the U.S. Ambassador to Canada, the Chief of the Defense Staff, the Commander of Canada Command, and the chiefs of the Land, Maritime, and Air staffs, to name just a few.  I look forward to continuing to improve on our already remarkable relationship.

Godspeed,

Admiral Sandy Winnefeld

On June 1, I had the pleasure of visiting the Arizona-Mexico border with Senator John McCain.  Our trip began with a visit to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Intelligence and Operations Coordination Center (IOCC) in Tucson.  The IOCC is home to representatives of 63 different law enforcement agencies and other government organizations, and permits Customs and Border Protection to develop operations based upon the intelligence that is disseminated in the IOCC. 

After leaving the IOCC, Senator McCain and I went to the CBP Office of Air and Marine to board a helicopter for a flight to the border.  We took off from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base and flew south along Interstate 19.  We flew over the Mariposa Port of Entry in Nogales, AZ and then flew along the border for about 50 miles to a U.S. Border Patrol forward operating base.  Senator McCain and I had the opportunity to meet with a number of Border Patrol Agents who work detection, prevention and apprehension of terrorists, undocumented aliens and smugglers of aliens through surveillance, following-up leads, responding to electronic sensor television systems, aircraft sightings, and following tracks, marks and other physical evidence in some of the most inhospitable terrain in the United States.

This was my first trip to the Southwest Border as the Commander of USNORTHCOM, and I am grateful to Senator McCain for his invitation.  I was struck by the enormity of the challenge of securing our border in this hot, dusty, rugged country.  I was equally impressed by the professionalism and dedication of the men and women of CBP.  Through our military-to-military engagements with Mexico and our military support to the Department of Homeland Security, USNORTHCOM plays a vital role in improving security on both sides of the border.

Godspeed,

Admiral Sandy Winnefeld

It is a great honor for my wife Mary and me, and our two sons to call ourselves part of the NORAD and USNORTHCOM family. We are grateful for the warm and generous welcome by Jill and Gene Renuart, and the whole command family. As the new commander of NORAD and USNORTHCOM, I look forward to the opportunities to build upon General Renuart’s notable achievements.

During my time as the Joint Staff J-5, I’ve observed that there are simply no other combatant commands where support for their partners is more important than right here – two commands, two nations, working together for our mutual defense. I believe there is no greater responsibility than the missions of protecting our people and our way of life -- by leading the last military line of defense for our homelands and by providing support to the federal, state, and local levels during their times of need.

As the commander of NORAD and USNORTHCOM, I will stress the importance of partnership with other combatant commands and service chiefs, the Department of Homeland Security and other federal interagency, state and local partners. I especially look forward to serving with our colleagues and close friends in Canada, and working with our close partners in Mexico. While our relationship with the National Guard and Reserves has never been closer than it is today, I will work hard to build on this foundation and make this partnership even stronger.

I look forward to the challenges ahead, and am humbled by this opportunity to lead the great team that is fully committed to “Defending Our Homelands.”

Godspeed,

Admiral Sandy Winnefeld

The past three years have been a wonderful and challenging experience for me and my family. The time as Commander for NORAD and USNORTHCOM will always be one of the highlights of my career. I can’t compliment our team enough for all the work they have done over the last three years, the relationships they’ve built, and the support they’ve provided to the American or Canadian people.

For most of my career, Jill and I have watched or attended many retirement ceremonies, but always somebody else. Today it is our turn to say goodbye…Not just to NORAD and USNORTHCOM, but to the Air Force uniform that I’ve worn with great pride since 1971. We made serving in the military our way of life, and stayed because of the wonderful people we served beside as well as the privilege and honor of serving something larger than yourself.

As we depart NORAD and USNORTHCOM officially, the two commands will have a warm spot in our hearts for the rest of our lives. I leave here feeling very good about the commands and their future.

We say farewell with confidence that the defense of our country, Canada and our people are in exceptional hands.

With deep respect and humility,

Gene Renuart, USAF

As Director of Training and Exercises for NORAD and U.S. Northern Command, I feel an obligation to comment on a recent Washinton Times article regarding this year’s planned National Level Exercise, NLE-10.

The Department of Homeland Security made a decision earlier this year to restructure and significantly down scale the planned NLE and as a result, USNORTHCOM would have been unable to accomplish our training objectives in the proposed NLE 10 structure.  In order to take advantage of the planning we had invested in NLE 10, we opted to conduct ARDENT SENTRY 10 in two phases.  Phase one is part of DOD participation in the NLE, and phase two will be in conjunction with another previously scheduled exercise.

The change in our exercise participation will in no way erode the expertise and capabilities of NORAD and USNORTHCOM or our commitment to the National Exercise Program. NORAD and USNORTHCOM, and our subordinate commands across the continental U.S., Canada and Alaska, are frequently exercising our capabilities through numerous exercises each year. Most of our exercises are conducted at a regional level, or command-wide, but many are part of the National Exercise Program, which includes participation from our partner federal agencies.

In fact, this week NORAD and USNORTHCOM kicked off Arctic Edge, an exercise within the National Exercise Program. Arctic Edge is a major USNORTHCOM exercise conducted in cooperation with the State of Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management and other federal, state and local agencies.  The exercise will focus on Homeland Defense and Homeland Security actions in Alaska.  Major portions of the exercise will take place in the Anchorage bowl area from April 26 through May 1, 2010.  The major objective of the exercise is to give federal, state and local authorities the opportunity to operate together in a natural disaster scenario requiring an interagency response.

The value and experience we gain from an aggressive exercise program is impossible to calculate.  While we could not achieve this year’s ARDENT SENTRY objective as part of a larger national exercise effort, we are fully committed to ensuring that the command never loses its ability to respond to the threats we face in today’s challenging security environment. 

Thanks – Gene Pino, N-NC Director of Joint Training and Exercises

The day has finally come and the 2010 Vancouver Olympics are starting. A lot of people have talked about the security needed for keeping athletes, spectators and world leaders alike safe during the games. I recently had the opportunity to travel to Vancouver and see the preparations first-hand. I can unequivocally say that the Canadians are ready.

Here at NORAD and USNORTHCOM, we are proud of the support we are providing for the Olympics. We routinely provide support for special security events, like the Super Bowl, presidential inauguration, Space Shuttle launches, and more. For the Olympics, we are adapting our traditional air sovereignty mission of air surveillance and warning, which we do every day, to cover the Olympic venues. Our NORAD airspace security effort reaches from Seattle up to Vancouver and on to Whistler. We'll be using ground-based radar, airborne radar, air defense alert aircraft and helicopters to help identify aircraft in the Olympics airspace.

Canada has worked diligently for three years to help ensure the safety and security of the Olympic Games, and this is good prudent planning to not leave any gaps or seams where our adversaries could take advantage. I for one am confident these will be the best and safest Olympic Games ever.

Good luck to the U.S. and Canadian athletes! Go for the Gold!

Cheers, Gene Renuart

There has been a tremendous worldwide response to the tragedy in Haiti, and I would be remiss in not publicly acknowledging the significant positive role U.S. Southern Command has played in coordinating the U.S. military efforts supporting this devastated country. And, while USSOUTHCOM, and notably LTG P.K. “Ken” Keen, Commander, of Joint Task Force Haiti, and his remarkable team, have led much of the heavy lifting for our military, many other organizations have worked to help play a role in this response effort. When the Haiti earthquake occurred, the Commander at U.S. Southern Command, General Doug Fraser, gave me a call and said, “Hey! We [USSOUTHCOM] could use some help and you guys [USNORTHCOM] are configured as a command to do large-scale disasters. You do that every day. Can you help us?” And, of course, we said, “Absolutely.” So as of today, the US Northern Command headquarters has nearly 125 of our staff deployed forward into Florida, some with FEMA and DHS, some with Customs and Border Protection--and then about 97 or so in Doug Fraser’s headquarters, providing him with that disaster response expertise.

Our interagency two-star-equivalent civilian is there. Our Marine J-4, one-star, not only was in Florida, but now he is forward running the logistic operation in Haiti for General Keen. Our Standing Joint Force Headquarters -- we basically gutted the Headquarters and sent all 60 members down to SOUTHCOM. They are the Future Planning Cell that is operating for Doug Fraser in Miami. It made sense to put that capacity forward and to give him that surge capability to be able to deal with this huge disaster.

It’s what we trained to do. I think that out of this, one of the lessons will be that we have to think about supporting / supported relationships in a very different way. General Glenn Spears, who is the AFSOUTH Commander, needed help in building a Regional Air Movement Coordination Center process. So I chopped Major General Gary Dean, our Joint Force Air Component Commander, over to Glenn Spears and said, “Do whatever he needs for you to do.”

So, this airflow coordination function for AFSOUTH sits in the AFNORTH Air Operations Center--the search and rescue planners, the Joint Personnel Recovery--Forward, these things are things that we pushed to AFSOUTH to build capacity for them on very short notice.

I think these are the kinds of models that we are going to have to use in the future. I would suggest that if something of this nature occurred in another Combatant Command today, you might have a need to do the same thing. The bottom line to all this…we have to think very differently about the way we structure our joint Combatant Commands and how we partner with each other in a crisis to be successful.

Cheers, Gene Renuart

Since Christmas Day, and the unsuccessful terror attempt to blow up a commercial airliner, NORAD scrambled and launched three times for a variety of aircraft disturbances. Many people have wondered and questioned if this is unusual, if NORAD is somehow on a new heightened alert. The answer is absolutely not. Although these events have been highlighted more in the media, these are not unusual events for our commands. In fact, in both 2008 and 2009, NORAD scrambled approximately 200 times each year and we’ve responded more than 3,300 times since 9-11.

When it comes to the decision on whether we scramble fighter aircraft or not, each event is evaluated on a case-by-case basis with the best information we have at the time. Our forces will be in place and ready if we are needed. The simple truth is we lean forward every day...the American and Canadian people deserve it.

Tuesday, I was in Mexico City to attend a ceremony in which the U.S. Government delivered five Bell-412 helicopters to Mexico as part of the Merida Initiative.  As Commander of U.S. Northern Command, I was honored to represent the Department of Defense in this historic ceremony. 

 

The helicopters are to be used by the Mexican Air Force for transport and reconnaissance missions. 

 

The delivery of these five helicopters reflect the U.S. Government’s continued commitment to work with the Government of Mexico as a full partner in dealing with the societal, international and regional challenges posed by the international cartels and narcotics trafficking.

 

U.S. Northern Command is prepared to do its part through continued support for the Merida Initiative and by taking steps here at home that complement those efforts.  We will continue to work with our Mexican military counterparts to increase information-sharing, interoperability, and training and equipping of their military forces.  A great step forward in our continuing relationship.

 

Cheers,

Gene

Another great week highlighted by a trip to New York City!  On Wednesday, we spent some valuable time with the Mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg.  Mayor Bloomberg’s city has really become the gold standard for how municipalities should plan for the spectrum of catastrophes that can come at the hands of either a terrorist or Mother Nature.  They have taken the lessons learned from the tragedy of 9/11 and established a response framework that is obviously one of the best in our Nation. 

 

His leadership style is impressive and can best be highlighted by how he interacts with his staff and his constituents.  One noticeable example was that the Mayor has decided to not have a traditional office.  In fact, his desk is literally at the epicenter of activity for city operations.  He expressed to me that this design was the best way to break down barriers of communication and ensure that information flow between his staff and him is near instantaneous and allows for the least amount of bureaucratic obstacles.  At some level, this information design structure is very similar to NORAD and USNORTHCOM’s integrated Command Center.  Our center, which is tied to every state and territory in the United States, was designed to ensure that all of our domain watch standers (land, air, sea, space, and cyber) could provide information to our N2C2 leadership and then to me in the same unencumbered manner. 

 

We also spent some time talking about and pledging to each other to continue to work together.  I hope in the near future that we will be working with the City on large-scale exercises, which will truly hone our coordinated response should it be necessary. 

 

Next I spent the afternoon with USCG Captain Bob O’Rielly and his team at Sector NY. We had a great opportunity to understand the challenges he faces as Captain of the Port in the complex environment that is NY/NJ/CT. Weather kept us from getting out on the water!

 

The day ended with me attending the 48^th USO Armed Forces Gala & Gold Medal Dinner.  A great night and a great organization.  Thank you USO for all that you do for our troops!

Service Members, Family, and Friends of NORAD and USNORTHCOM,

 

Like many of you, I awoke this morning to a news story titled, “Secret Pentagon e-mails suggest distrust of Canada.”  I would have not spent another moment of thought on this story if I hadn’t realized that someone is actually taking these allegations seriously.

 

Unfortunately, no one called NORAD and U.S. Northern Command to ask us our thoughts on this theory.  If they had, I would gladly have educated the questioner on the long-standing and proud tradition of cooperation between the nations of Canada and the United States under the North American Aerospace Defense Agreement.

 

Since 1940, when U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt and Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King met to discuss the war in Europe and the mutual defense of North America, our nations have expanded and reinforced that relationship. Since 1957, when the first “North American Air Defense Command” was formed, U.S. and Canadian Forces have worked side-by-side under the NORAD banner to perform aerospace warning and aerospace control in defense of our homelands.

 

Today, more than 300 Canadian Forces work in the United States with the “North American Aerospace Defense Command,” where we continue with our original charter and the addition of maritime warning to deter and detect potential threats and ultimately defend our homelands. Under one command, every day, the U.S. and Canada share critical intelligence, resources, policy and procedures necessary to complete our mission. Ours is a trust forged by a half-century of active and comprehensive defense of North America. If any question remains of the trust between our nations, let the success of NORAD be the answer.

To the NORAD and US Northern Command Team,

On Saturday, eight brave members of our Colorado Springs military community were killed in combat in the hills of Afghanistan. By all accounts, the death of these eight soldiers, all members of the 4th Brigade Combat team, marks the deadliest day for Fort Carson since the Vietnam War.

I want to extend, on behalf of our entire command, our heartfelt thoughts and prayers to the families of these brave warriors. The mission of Defending our Homeland is being fought on many different frontlines and we must never forget the dedication and sacrifices of these fallen heroes.

Please take a moment today to remember all who have paid the ultimate price for our freedoms and redouble your efforts in this continued battle against a determined enemy. I will.

It’s been eight years since that fateful day on Sept. 11, 2001 when nearly 3,000 people died on American soil. I invite the citizens of Canada and the United States to join with the men and women of North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command to remember the innocent people, heroic firefighters, and medical and law enforcement responders who died on that horrific day.

This is also an appropriate time to thank the people who have ensured Canada and the United States have not experienced a catastrophic foreign terrorist attack in the homelands during the past eight years. For this success, we must thank the American, Canadian, and other coalition forces who have successfully battled on foreign soil to prevent further attacks from reaching our homes.

We must thank the dedicated intelligence, law enforcement, homeland security, and national, state and local emergency response folks who protect our families here at home every day. And we must thank our good neighbors in Canada and Mexico for their sovereign cooperation in working together to stop terrorism in all our countries. There are few things more important to homeland defense than good neighbors helping each other.

This Sept. 11 also marks USNORTHCOM’s sixth anniversary of full operational capability. USNORTHCOM was established in response to the 9/11 attacks and closely integrated with NORAD. Together these joint and combined commands work with more than 60 interagency partners and connect to 150 command centers across the U.S. and Canada. NORAD and USNORTHCOM anticipate and are prepared to respond to any threats or disasters in or over our nations.

We have demonstrated our will and ability to deter and defeat those who would seek to harm us at home. 

Further, USNORTHCOM is ready now to support civil authorities in time of need and when directed, whether in the aftermath of a manmade threat, a natural disaster or a pandemic. In just the past year, we’ve responded to fires in California, floods in North Dakota, and hurricanes from the Gulf of Mexico. We’ve zealously watched North Korea’s missile program, grown our missile defense capability, and honed our skills through nationwide exercises such as Ardent Sentry and Vigilant Shield.  

Now, as we monitor the pulse of our nations, and as we remember those who gave their lives in New York, at the Pentagon and in a hallowed field in Pennsylvania, I personally want to thank the men and women of NORAD and USNORTHCOM, whom I have the honor to lead. They are a key part of why the United States and Canada are safe today. They are making a difference and standing to the front in defending 307 million Americans and 34 million Canadians where they live, work and play; where they raise their children and where they build for the future.

As time passes, years will become decades since the 9/11 attacks, but a few facts will remain constant. Our enemies should make no mistake about our resolve. We shall never fail to defend our homes and our families. We shall remain alert and prepared, never letting down our guard. And we shall never forget.  

Gene

As our active duty and TRICARE members received their flu shots Thursday in the headquarters, I am reminded that the flu season is upon us. Whether it’s an uncommon strain such as H1N1 or just the latest seasonal influenza, the flu is a real threat to our mission, our families, and our way of life at home and across our nation.

Even with the world’s best doctors, nurses and medical facilities, each year thousands of Americans die from the flu, which means defeating the flu threat is more than just  an organizational responsibility. We all have the responsibility to take measures to protect ourselves, our families and others from infection.

While NORAD must be ready to respond to air threats, and provide for missile and maritime warning, USNORTHCOM’s Job #1 is homeland defense.  The health of our forces is critical to do both commands’ missions.  Under the National Response Framework, USNORTHCOM could be called upon to assist a primary federal agency such as the Department of Health and Human Services in response to a crisis like pandemic influenza.  Now, more than ever, the health and welfare of our service members, civilians, contractors and the families who support them is incredibly important as we prepare to respond if called upon to assist.

At home we must each do our part. Thanks to the 21st Medical Group, we brought the flu vaccine right to the office for all the NORAD and USNORTHCOM active duty and TRICARE members. We’ve placed hand sanitizer dispensers in major traffic areas, and we continue to encourage the staff to frequently wash or sanitize their hands.  In addition, should H1N1 surge as is anticipated, we are prepared to implement a social distancing program within the headquarters to slow the spread of the virus.

At home and day-to-day, our families can take similar actions to protect against infection. The first defense is the seasonal flu vaccine; ensuring everyone in your family is vaccinated. Encourage family members to frequently wash their hands with soap and water and use hand sanitizers between washes. Remember the old motherly wisdom: cough or sneeze into your sleeve; ; maintain a safe distance from sick people (the CDC recommends six feet); and get plenty of rest and exercise -- a fit body is a healthy body. But most importantly, if you are sick, stay home and avoid contact with other people.

At the very least, flu season is an annoyance but together we can act to keep it from becoming deadly.  We shall maintain the ability of NORAD and USNORTHCOM to respond  as a military force dedicated to defending our skies, defending our homelands and providing support to civil authorities if necessary.

Cheers,

Gene

We have just completed a combined NORAD and USNORTHCOM exercise called ARDENT SENTRY 09 that linked several U.S. and Canadian national exercises with regional, state and local exercise.  ARDENT SENTRY 09, which involved a wide range of participants from DOD, Canadian and U.S. federal, state and local departments and agencies, was conducted in regions across the country including Oregon, Wyoming, Kansas, Iowa and Atlantic and Pacific oceans off the East and West coasts.

 

ARDENT SENTRY 09 included a complex scenario of manmade disasters, terrorist-caused incidents, and homeland defense mission, and ran from June 18-24.  The scenario provided government, non-government and military organizations the opportunity to practice a coordinated response to these events in accordance with established national response protocols, directives, policies and the National Response Framework.

 

It was a great chance to train with our Canadian, DOD, federal, interagency, state and local partners as we practiced our respective response plans to these events.  Exercises such as this one allow us to work out the kinks in our plans and response operations, so that we can better respond in the future.  They also highlight areas where we need to focus our attention more.

 

I am very proud of everyone involved in ARDENT SENTRY 09, many of whom have been planning it since last year.  Your efforts not only demonstrated our current ability to defend and the U.S and Canada, but also testified to the professionalism of the people called to serve their country. 

 

I thank you all!
Cheers,
Gene

A lot has gone on in the last couple of weeks around NORAD and USNORTHCOM.  We have been tracking the progress of H1N1 very closely, and stand ready to support the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Homeland Security should they request military support in response to an outbreak.

Our planners have been working closely with our interagency partners to make sure that, should our assistance be requested by the Department of Homeland Security and approved by the Secretary of Defense, we will be ready to provide whatever services we can while maintaining the health of our forces who stand ready to defend this nation.

In other areas, it was my honor and privilege to present the first NORAD and USNORTHCOM Community Leader Commendation to Mr. William J. Hybl, Chairman and CEO, El Pomar Foundation, and Mr. William B. Tutt, Chairman of the Colorado Thirty Group April 21.  These outstanding members of our community have worked tirelessly to support our military members here in Colorado Springs.  These two not only deserved the recognition, but are part of the reason Colorado Springs is such a wonderful place for our service members to be stationed.

I also had the opportunity to host 20 national and international influential civilian opinion-makers throughout the United States and Canada on the annual NORAD and USNORTHCOM Civic Leader Tour. Tour attendees gained first-hand experience about the roles NORAD and USNORTHCOM have in homeland defense by visiting specific locations. The trip started at Peterson AFB, Colo., before heading to Jacksonville, Fla. to visit USCG Sector Jacksonville, where our civic leaders saw demonstrations on port security.  Additionally, we visited our Joint Task Force Civil Support, Fort Monroe, Va.; United States Fleet Forces Command, Norfolk, Va.;  a Chemical Biological Incident Response Force in Indian Head, Md.; and our Northeast Air Defense Sector, Rome, N.Y.

I also recently traveled to Canada to participate in a border alliance Conference. It was an excellent opportunity to talk with my counterpart at Canada Command and I was able to sit down with Tom Clark at CTV and talk a bit about NORAD’s Air Sovereignty mission and the upcoming Winter Olympics in Vancouver.  Below is a transcript of the interview and a link to the video.

Finally, I would like to welcome aboard our new Command Chief, Chief Master Sergeant W. Allen Usry, who holds the distinction of being the first ever Air National Guard command chief master sergeant to be selected as a Command Senior Enlisted Advisor for a combatant command.  I am certain that the experience and dedication he brings to the battlefield will further advance the professionalism and competence of the NORAD and USNORTHCOM team.

Cheers,

Gene

Regarding The Gazette's April 7 Our View, "Is NORAD safe?". The Gazette is certainly entitled to its opinion. Sadly, the opinion is not supported by fact. The truth is NORAD and USNORTHCOM has instituted many upgrades to our security here at Peterson Air Force Base and at Building 2, most of which are classified. We continue further upgrades.

I understand the importance of this issue to the Colorado Spring's community, to our nation, and to our bi-national partner Canada and I did not make the decision to duplicate elements of the NORAD ops center to our NORAD-NORTHCOM Command Center at Peterson Air Force Base lightly.

Cheyenne Mountain remains an important alternate command and training center for our commands. We utilize it every day and will continue to do so. However, the threats of the 21st century are different than those we faced when Cheyenne Mountain became operational. That's the sobering truth. In this post-Cold War era, This era where our adversaries take advantage of seams and gaps in legacy systems, we have to be think beyond a Cold War mentality. We have to design and build command and information systems that are resilient, redundant, and distributed and allow us to act quickly and decisively with no single point of failure.

I have listened to the concerns of congressional and local leaders. As I have discussed with them, for the first time ever, the combined command center provides a common operational picture of the complementary missions of both North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command. This enables national decision-makers to maximize synergy in collaboration with federal, state, and local mission partners. We see this every day in events like the North Korean missile test, flood support in North Dakota, the Cessna 172 event and the plethora of other events we monitor each day that have the potential of becoming a national security event. And of course, should the unthinkable become a reality, NORAD and USNORTHCOM continues to provide the same level of homeland defense capabilities for the nation it always has.

Survivability is no longer defined by how deeply underground our systems are buried, but how efficiently those systems work to prevent and deter acts of aggression targeting American citizens. Indeed, our citizens all deserve to know the truth regarding their security, and the truth is we have worked diligently to respond to all questions or concerns as they have been brought to our attention.

Gen. Gene Renuart
Commander, NORAD and USNORTHCOM
Colorado Springs

Friends of NORAD and USNORTHCOM,

 

It’s been an exciting last 72 hrs.  These last 3 days have shown the importance of our NORAD and NORTHCOM Command Center as we quickly shifted focus and effort from our civil support operation in North Dakota to our Homeland Defense responsibilities. 

 

As you have probably seen in the press, on Saturday night we were closely monitoring and assessing the threat of the North Korean launch of a Taepo Dong TD-2 missile.  NORAD assessed the space launch vehicle as not a threat to North America and USNORTHCOM took no action in response to the launch.  Make no mistake, this combined effort is enhanced by our combined NORAD and USNORTHCOM Command Center (N2C2), which allows for a significantly better unity of effort between the commands.

 

Finally, NORAD was very much involved in the assessing and tracking of the Cessna that flew last night from Canada into the United States.  While many in the media wanted to talk about “rules of engagement” and “shoot down authorities” this puts this actual situation into the wrong context.  The reality is that NORAD fighters respond frequently to situations like this nearly every week and we will continue to do so to ensure the safety and security of Canada and the United States.

 

Thanks for all that you do to help tell our story and do not hesitate to contact me should you have any questions or concerns. 

 

Cheers -- Gene

As you may have heard, I testified on the "state of the commands" March 17 and 18 in Washington, D.C., to the Senate and House Armed Services Committees.  While much of the media focused on the issue related to Mexico and the Southwest border violence, I did speak on many other issues relative to the commands’ missions of homeland defense, air defense and civil support.

I was questioned by Senators and Representatives on a number of other issues, including air sovereignty operations, aircraft recapitalization, civil support operations (including hurricane and wildfire response), support to federal law enforcement agencies, and partnerships with Canada and Mexico. I also answered questions from committee members on the drug violence in Mexico, missile defense and the CBRNE Consequence Management Response Force.

In my testimony, I made it clear that homeland defense is the preeminent mission of NORAD and USNORTHCOM and NORAD.  Personnel in our commands remain vigilant in protecting our citizens from threats that exist in the air, space, land, maritime and cyberspace domains. 

As we look to the future, our aim is to secure our environment by deterring and, if necessary, defeating those who threaten our way of life.

Cheers,

Gene

Date-Time/Date-Heure: 27 2009 0830

A Joint Media Availability with Minister of National Defence Peter MacKay, Chief of the Defence Staff General Walt Natynczyk and Commander of NORAD and USNORTHCOM General Gene Renuart to Discuss Canada and U.S. Military Relations.

Moderator: Hi, folks. Thanks very much for joining us here today. My name is Jay Paxton, the Press Secretary for the Minister of National Defence. We're joined here today by the Honourable Peter MacKay, Minister of National Defence and Minister for the Atlantic Gateway, General Renuart, U.S. Northern Command and Commander of NORAD and of course General Natyncyzk, Chief of the Defence Staff. Each person will be giving an opening address very, very quickly. We'll have time for about three or four questions, one of those questions in French. Unfortunately, we don't have time for follow-up questions. With that, I'll open up the floor to Minister MacKay.

Hon. Peter MacKay: Well, thank you very much. Merci beaucoup. As has been mentioned, I'm joined here this morning by General Walt Natynczyk, the Chief of the Defence Staff for Canada and also our guest General Gene Renuart who is the Commander of NORAD and NORTHCOM. We've had a very good discussion this morning. Coming on the heels of President Obama's visit, this was an ideal time to discuss the tremendous, strong working relationship that we have between our military and a common cause and purpose when it comes to the defence of the continent of North America.

NORAD is perhaps both symbolically and pragmatically the most important reflection of that close working relationship. We have Canadians serving in Colorado Springs as part of the Colorado Springs NORAD relationship. We obviously have a tremendous working relationship across the various branches of the Canadian Forces and with the 60th anniversary of NORAD and the expansion of NORAD to now include the Maritime surveillance aspect, this is again in keeping with the renewal and the constant modernization that occurs in this important working relationship and of course there are technical advances that are occurring quite regularly, whether it be the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, whether it be the upgrades that are occurring in various aspects of military technology and this is again symbolic of how this relationship will evolve.

When the President was here, clearly one of the signals that was sent is that the ongoing security relationship is one that will be a focal point for both countries. And so the visit of General Renuart is very timely. We're extremely appreciative of his time here in Canada and the opportunity to have these very important discussions among which of course is the cooperation that will occur in Vancouver in 2010 around the Olympics and because of the size and scope of the venue, the proximity to the United States, there is an obvious discussion around joint security and there has been an exercise recently that was completed that very much involved the participation of the United States and, again, this is clearly symbolic of the cooperation and the level of professionalism that we enjoy at all levels of the Canadian and American forces.

Je suis très heureux de bienvenue général Renuart qui est ici pour discussions dans le sujet de notre militaire et la coopération avec NORAD et les autres enjeux pour augmenter les relations et augmenter le niveau de coopération ici au Amérique du Nord. La sécurité maritime maintenant c'est une pièce très importante pour nous et pour protéger notre citoyen ici en Amérique du Nord. Donc je répète nous sommes très, très heureux d'avoir l'occasion pour une discussion aujourd'hui pour la continuation, une augmentation de relations de militaires au Canada et les États-Unis.

So thank you very much. I think perhaps I'll give General Renuart the opportunity to come to the mic and say a few words. General.

Gen. Gene Renuart: Minister, thank you very much. Appreciate it. Well, Mr. Minister, General Natynczyk it's great to be in many ways home in Canada. It's good to be with my two bosses and to have a chance to have some good discussions following the visit of President Obama and I know, Minister, you'll be in Washington next week to meet with my other boss. I have two bosses at the same time; it's hard some days. But both of you are so supportive and I look forward to the results of your meetings there as well. Great to be here to have some discussions about how NORAD continues to evolve and to be more relevant each day.

This binational relationship has flourished for many, many years and maybe is today more relevant than ever in the past. The minister mentioned preparations for Vancouver. For sure NORAD wants to be supportive of the Olympic Committee and the RCMP and others who are ensuring that it is a successful Olympics and we will continue to work. The exercise was very successful. A chance to talk with General Natynczyk about the future of Canadian Forces not just as they conduct missions around the world and have been great supporters, by the way in our joint fight against illicit trafficking in our hemisphere but also how we continue to develop our technologies in increasingly interoperable ways in the future as we conduct NORAD missions that may evolve. So great to be here and I really appreciate the chance to spend a few minutes with you today. General Natynczyk.

Gen. Walter Natynczyk: C'est un grand plaisir d'avoir général Renuart avec nous autres. Il a un lien canadien avec la famille vraiment de Manitoba et hier soir nous étions sur le Canal Rideau patiner un peu.

I tell you, the general is binational and he actually has some roots back from Manitoba. Great to have him here and we speak actually almost on a monthly basis. We were at the Iceland conference in January, NATO Conference on the Arctic and indeed learning about the issues in terms of security and sovereignty of the Arctic. It's great to have him here just a couple weeks after Exercise Silver that was run in Vancouver led by the RCMP, as the minister indicated. And we're going through lessons learned together.

And so, again, it's security today but it's also looking at what we're doing in terms of Canada Defence, Canada First Defence Strategy into the future, as the general indicated, to look at ways and means to ensure that what we're doing in terms of modernizing the Canadian Forces is relevant through our -- for our continental security.

Thank you very much.

Moderator: Thanks very much to you all. We'll begin with Bob Fife from CTV News.

(Questions off microphone.)

Question: Minister, I understand that 24 hours before the President arrived here, a Russian Bear (inaudible) Canadian airspace. (Inaudible) scrambled some F-18s. Can you confirm that and give us some background? And I also wonder if General Renuart can give us his sense of whether this is (inaudible) provocation or how serious the problem is with the Russians (inaudible).

Hon. Peter MacKay: Well, there's no question that we have seen increased activity and this has been going on for a relatively short time. It began just a few years ago and then President Putin had made some very public statements I think that indicated Russia was going to take a more active role in asserting itself and that apparently includes coming close to and up to Canadian air space. I want to be very clear on this: at no time did Russian planes enter Canadian air space. But within 24 hours of the President's visit here to Canada last week, we did scramble two F-18 fighter planes from NORAD and Canada Command. They met a Russian aircraft that was approaching Canadian airspace and, as they have done on previous occasions, they sent very clear signals that are understood that aircraft was to turn around, turn tail and head back to its own airspace, which it did. This is not, as I said -- it wouldn't be unusual because we have seen previous activities in the North but they have increased.

And for that reason it puts the emphasis back on the importance of NORAD, the importance of our being diligent in defending our airspace, exercising that sovereignty and the most obvious way to do that is by using the equipment at our availability, using the existing systems that are there are NORAD for this very purpose and it's an example of the utility and the timeliness of having this discussion about NORAD, how to modernize it, how to breathe even further interoperability into the organization and, again, for that I'm very grateful for the presence of General Renuart here today to have discussions along those lines.

Question: General Renuart (inaudible).

Moderator: We can take another one.

Gen. Gene Renuart: Just very quickly, the minister hits it exactly right. We have seen increased activity on the part of the Russians. They have been professional in the way they have conducted their aircraft operations but I think it's prudent for both countries to continue to maintain that solid, integrated air defence posture that we have to ensure that any aircraft that approaches our airspace that is not on a flight plan, that is unidentified, whose intentions we're not sure of is identified and allow us to gage whether there is a real threat or not and we continue to do that on a routine basis. You may know a little while ago Canadian fighters actually helped the United States when our F-18s were grounded for a period of time because of an aircraft accident. So we work this relationship transparently back and forth to ensure that the airspace around both of our countries is maintained sovereign as it should be.

Moderator: Allan Woods, Toronto Star.

Question: (Inaudible)

Hon. Peter MacKay: Well, it's close to that. I'm going to let a pilot answer that question but, Allan, the reality is we don't receive any kind of notice. There is no heads-up given by the Russians when they're going to undertake this type of activity. They simply show up on a radar screen and this is -- we're thankful for the technology that we have, the capability that exists at NORAD and at Canada Com to allow us to prepare for this. We scramble planes. We have extremely able Canadian Air Force and U.S. Air Force pilots who perform these tasks. In fact, I can tell you that one of the very first pilots that we had come into contact with a Russian aircraft in recent years, and it has been on an upward scale, but a Canadian Air Force pilot Riel Erickson, who is a female CF-18 fighter pilot, came in contact with a Russian Bear, indicated clearly that this was not a welcome encroachment and that aircraft, that Russian Bear aircraft was escorted back in the direction towards Russia.

Question: So it's a game.

Hon. Peter MacKay: It's not a game. It's not a game at all. These aircraft coming into Canadian -- approaching Canadian or U.S. airspace are viewed very seriously. We have asked on a number of occasions and I've personally asked both the Russian Ambassador and my counterpart that we are given a heads-up when this type of air traffic is to occur. And to date we have not received that kind of notice that would be preferable. But there are other -- obviously other activities that we're vigilant in keeping an eye open on and that now includes a maritime approaches.

One of the issues that we have not touched on here is the -- and I'm sure that both generals may want to say a word about the response time in times of natural disaster. When we've had ice storms in Canada, when we have seen tremendous violent storms in the Caribbean and throughout the Americas including those that touched the United States, Canadian Forces and U.S. Forces have deployed and we have a formal relationship now that allows for a quick response time to help people in need. But to your question of the actual escort of airspace, I'll perhaps turn that over to a pilot.

Gen. Gene Renuart: But me on the spot, Minister. Actually, there are -- there are internationally-recognized visual signals. They're published in the international flight guidelines that we use as the principal means of communicating since we are not on the same radio frequencies. We do broadcast on a common frequency that you're approaching Canadian or U.S. airspace and you must turn to avoid entering that airspace but there are also visual signals from as simple as wagging wings to making turns to kind of lead that aircraft off in another direction that while we do not speak the common language they are trained in those common signals just as we are and to date those have been effective in deviating or deterring those aircraft from entering into either Canadian or U.S. airspace.

Minister, I'll just follow up just very quickly on your comment and I apologize for not making the comment in my opening remarks but it should not be -- it was not lost on the citizens of our country and should not be lost on the citizens of Canada that the last medical patients that we evacuated out of New Orleans prior to Hurricane Gustav making landfall left on a Canadian C-17 and we have a wonderful picture that was taken of an elderly woman in very poor health giving a big hug to a Canadian aeromedical evacuation technician on your C-17 as she was being evacuated out of harm's way. And that is a great depiction of the partnership that we have -- that we have built not just in the NORAD world but in the area of assistance during disasters and we were really proud to have that support.

Gen. Walter Natynczyk: Can I just say that that is part again of the civilian assistance plan that Canada Command on my behalf working with NORAD, NORTHCOM has put together that plan. And I am reminded that when we had the ice storm in this area that it was U.S. aircraft that flew up to Edmonton, C-17s, picked up the brigade of soldiers, flew them down to Montreal to assist in that area. So this really does go both ways.

Moderator: Raymond Filion, TVA.

Question: (Inaudible) c'est quoi exactement? Est-ce que c'est de la provocation ou bien est-ce que les Canadiens devraient s'inquiéter (inaudible).

L'hon. Peter MacKay: C'est une bonne question. C'est difficile de dire. Je crois que c'est un autre signal à la Russe à la retourne la capabilité militaire peut-être. C'est -- je crois que c'est un exemple des efforts des Russes d'avoir une démonstration de capacité militaire peut-être mais plus sérieux c'est la question de souveraineté dans l'Arctique au Canada. Donc c'est nécessaire pour nous d'avoir la viligeance (ph) et les efforts d'avoir une présence vraie dans l'Arctique dans tout l'espace, l'air spatial, de terrain, sur la marine, d'avoir une présence très vraie et à le même temps d'avoir la capabilité vraie et c'est tout facile d'avoir notre armée, notre Rangers et les autres exemples et Op Nanook c'est un effort des Forces canadiennes d'avoir une présence dans tout l'Arctique pour démontrer notre capabilité, de démontrer notre présence au Arctique maintenant et au futur.

Maybe I'll just repeat that in English quickly. Our intention is very much to demonstrate our sovereignty, our capability to protect our territory, our airspace, our water, our people in the Arctic and that includes our resources. And so this has been a major priority of our government and one of the major reasons why we have gone to great lengths to up our game both militarily and in terms of our presence with deep water refuelling stations in the Arctic, with an Arctic research station, with putting more resources behind the Arctic Rangers and increasing their presence and capability throughout the Arctic. We know that the waters are opening up. We know that other countries have expressed interest in the Arctic and that we intend to have a very real and current activity and presence in the Arctic. Operation Nanook was an example of that. It's an ongoing exercise that happens each year.

C'est un effort annuel d'avoir les coopérations avec tous les ministères au Arctique pour démontrer notre capabilité dans le Nord.

Moderator: Final question will go to David Ljunggren from Reuters.

Question: (Inaudible) you're saying that this plane approached within 24 hours before ---

Hon. Peter MacKay: Twenty-four hours before, that's correct.

Question: (Inaudible) was there any link (inaudible). The Russians cannot not have been aware that the President was coming.

Hon. Peter MacKay: No, clearly it was a well-kept secret that President Obama was coming to Canada. It's difficult to say whether this was a coincidence or it was an effort on the part of the Russians to simply perhaps be up to some mischief or cause a bit of a diversion. Clearly, it's a coincidence that it happened at a time when, you know, our security focus would be Ottawa. It's not to say that our resources were stretched or put to the test in any way because we had ample capability during that time as we have in previous visits, as we have on previous occasions when we've hosted summits or when there has been international events. Canada is ready. Canada will always be able to meet any encroachment and with this partnership in NORAD that only enhances our capability to conduct that type of response. But I'm not going to stand here and accuse the Russians of having deliberately done this during the presidential visit but it was a strong coincidence which we met with a presence, as we always do, of F-18 fighter planes and very -- world class pilots that know their business and send a strong signal that they should back off and stay out of our airspace.

Moderator: Thanks very much, folks. Thanks very much. The minister will be speaking at the Conference of Defence Associations. Thanks very much.

As I mentioned last week on my blog, I had the opportunity to participate in the first many joint hurricane planning workshops. This workshop gave us an opportunity to pull together the National Guard Bureau, U.S. Northern Command, civilian first responders, state emergency managers, and a variety of federal agency partners as we prepare for the upcoming season.

Planning workshops like this are important because we don't want to repeat the lessons we learned from the Hurricane Katrina response. The only way to ensure that we don’t repeat those lessons is to pull together all of the players and to pre-plan the kinds of responses that’ll be necessary. Clearly the governors, the state emergency managers, the adjutants general will have the lead. But federal partners such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency have additional capability and planning early allows us to integrate all of our efforts ahead of time so that the total response can be more appropriate, effective and certainly more timely.

In the aftermath of a hurricane, each agency brings unique capabilities. Some of the unique tools that USNORTHCOM brings include pre-incident aeromedical evacuation, post-incident airlift support, search and rescue capabilities, and incident assessment capabilities.

We at USNORTHCOM recognize each state has unique capabilities and needs, and it’s important to know what those are ahead of a disaster.

And when a state and the emergency management assistance compacts have exceeded their capacity, the Department of Defense can be helpful.

Although the workshop focused on hurricanes, much of the discussion can be applied to other incidents such as earthquakes, wildfires or terrorism. We have to be realistic in recognizing that hurricanes are not the only natural disaster that can affect citizens of our nation, our families, our communities, our homes. It is a no-fail responsibility.

Cheers -- Gene

While we are in the early months of the year, folks here and those at the National Guard Bureau have already started to think about the upcoming 2009 hurricane season. Although the National Weather Service and its Hurricane Center have yet to make any predictions about this coming season, one thing I can tell you from being at NORAD and U.S. Northern Command for the past two years, each hurricane season brings its own set of unique challenges and unpredictability.

To improve our overall preparedness efforts, I have the honor next week in participating with the State National Guard and the National Guard Bureau leadership at a hurricane planning conference in South Carolina where we will be looking at ways to better integrate state and federal response efforts. I look forward to the conference and reporting back to you on what was discussed, what I learned and what I had to offer.

Last year, our commands assisted the States of Texas and Louisiana with Search and Rescue, movement of supplies, air transportation, and a host of other efforts to affected citizens in the aftermath of Hurricanes Gustav and Ike. For our collective efforts, U.S. Northern Command was recognized Feb. 10 by the National Institute for Urban Search and Rescue and humbly accept the Eagle Award from the institute after being nominated by Ed Brickley, Search and Rescue Coordinator for Texas Engineering Extension Service. In essence, the award is being given for the multi-agency coordination of helicopter air support to local and state government that rescued 400 Galveston citizens after Ike hit the Texas gulf coast in September 2008.

I am honored that we have been recognized by the State of Texas for the significant national contributions made by individual, self-sacrificing men and women within the Department of Defense. In my mind, this is not an award so much for our commands, but for the significant contributions made by the men and women of our Armed Forces who helped support our nation's first responders, many of whom risk their lives daily to help citizens in their states, counties and cities.

It is also important to note that the support of men and women from the National Guard units from states around the country provide the bulk of the follow-on response when our nation's first responders are overwhelmed. I am truly amazed at how often and how significant an impact these Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines as well as our Coast Guard partners have in supporting civil authorities. The plans and planning we have in place should make Americans feel comfortable that we have the right response matrix and personnel in place.

As I watched the news of fires in Australia, I am also very aware that, once again in 2009, we as a nation are faced with the dual threat of fires and flooding in the very near future. Let us hope the hurricane and fire seasons will be kind to all Americans. And if not, I want assure you that personnel from our commands are prepared to respond in support of our mission partners.

Cheers, Gene

On Jan 30, with well-deserved fanfare at McClellan Air Park, Calif., the California Air National Guard's 146th Airlift Wing rolled out an upgrade to the Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System (MAFFS) that will be used to battle the nation's wildfires this season.

The MAFFS II capability was approved for use in the wing's C-130J Hercules cargo aircraft and allows the California Air National Guard to provide significant aerial fire fighting capability around the country for the 2009 wildland firefighting season.

MAFFS are owned by the U.S. Forest Service, managed by the National Interagency Firefighting Center and flown on Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve C-130 aircraft.

U.S. Northern Command, the National Guard and Air Force Reserve wings, the governors, and firefighting and federal agencies team up to operate MAFFS nationwide during wildfire responses. The aircraft and air crews are always ready to deploy in anticipation of a state emergency, which is very heartening to me as a commander responsible for assisting local and state first responders during a wildland firefighting emergency.

According to officials who operate these systems, the MAFFS II is capable of dropping a more effective wildfire retardant line and is thus more efficient. And the addition of these assets for airborne firefighting is especially good news in light of recent predictions coming out of California, where officials believe the state is in for its worst drought in modern history (USA Today, Jan. 30, 2009) and water is expected to be in short supply due to an almost 40-percent drop in the State's normal snowpack this winter (San Jose Mercury News, Jan. 29, 2009).

To clarify our role, military (DoD) support for wildfires is provided when requested by the National Interagency Firefighting Center (NIFC) for wildfire support and approved (by the Secretary of Defense). USNORTHCOM then provides operations coordination of these MAFFS-capable aircraft.

In addition to the C-130Js in California, there are two C-130s available from the 302nd Airlift Wing at Peterson Air Force Base, Colo., two with the 153rd Wyoming Air National Guard and two with the North Carolina Air National Guard's 145th Airlift Wing available for fighting wildfires around the nation should DoD support be necessary.

With the 2009 wildfire season officially starting in spring and continuing through the fall, I am grateful to the men and women who worked so hard to bring the new MAFFS II capability on line ahead of the wildland firefighting season's start.

This past week took me to two very familiar spots -- D.C. and Atlanta, and one not so familiar but exciting destination - Iceland. I just wanted to provide you with a couple of my thoughts following visits and meetings at these locations.

Starting off at the Department of Defense Biometrics Conference 2009, my focus was to begin to build support for the use of biometric tools at our bases around the country. We are probably more advanced in this effort on bases overseas than we are here in the U.S. The benefits are considerable and too important to ignore. Biometric tools will enable us to identify and screen people at our stateside bases and enable us to protect our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines, all of whom deserve nothing less than the best security biometric technology has to offer. I'm going to continue to push for these technologies to be implemented. The Biometrics Task Force, the organization that leads DoD activities in this area, has done exceptionally well in developing these tools and finding was to implement them; now it's time to leverage their fine efforts.

At Georgetown University, I spoke at the Center for Peace and Security Studies, and I highlighted that the establishment of USNORTHCOM was a transformational event for DoD and a direct result of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on our nation. We have redefined jointness to include full-time close partnerships and dedicated pre-planning by supporting civil authorities, not just happenstance response to disasters with a pick-up team but with operations based on anticipation of the needs that develop across the local, state and federal partners during contingencies. It is and will continue to be the focus of the men and women of NORAD and USNORTHCOM.

Next, we moved to Atlanta where I met with members of the National Guard and Active Duty personnel as well as people from various defense agencies assisting in our Weapons of Mass Destruction support operations. We spent time discussing the National Guard's Civil Support Teams (CSTs) supporting state governors. These teams have tremendous capability to support during a WMD event. If those assets are overwhelmed, the National Guard has another level of support called the CBRNE Enhanced Response Force Packages or CERFPs. Both CSTs and CERFPs are fully capable resources that states can use but we have to ask ourselves the question: When something is so big that it overwhelms those forces, what are the next steps? The next level of support comes from both Active Duty and National Guard assets that create the CBRNE Consequence Management Response Force or CCMRF. Let's be clear: this force is an augmentation force for the CST and CERFP, and let me also say that the CCMRF is not the end-all solution either. It is with this combination of resources from the State National Guard units, from the Department of Defense, and from local and state first responders that provide a national response capability that can respond to help save lives, mitigate suffering and effectively meet the needs of our citizens during a catastrophic CBRNE event.

Finally, I spent some time in Iceland at the Security Prospects in the High North seminar. I'm grateful to Iceland for hosting this conference and for its leadership in calling upon NATO allies to explore the range of issues impacting security in the Arctic. We have to remember the recent increase in international interest in the opportunities in that region only reinforces the region's importance. We need to consider such things as how to best facilitate protection and opportunities for cooperation with Allies and partners in the Arctic, including Russia. Arctic issues offer the opportunity for positive action and deepen our partnerships along lines of mutual interest and benefit. There are many issues still to be addressed, such as access, oil, the environment and shipping, but with summits such as the one I attended this week, we can all continue to press forward with a common understanding of this largely unexplored region of the world.

My best to all of you.

Sincerely, Gene

I'd like to take a moment to address a topic brought up in an LA Times article this past weekend. In the article, there was a reference to the military using surveillance systems to monitor the National Mall in Washington D.C. during the inaugural events.

I want to assure everyone that USNORTHCOM did not use any airborne platforms to monitor the inaugural events. USNORTHCOM had separate P-3 aircraft both on the ground in standby/alert and in the air with sensors slewed upwards, away from the ground on Jan. 20th. The assets were present to be activated only in the event of a catastrophic incident in order to provide potentially critical information in support of the local, state and federal emergency response to assist in providing search and rescue, medical aid and evacuation, and to assess damage.

Federal, State and local law enforcement agencies were responsible for ensuring the safety and security of all individuals attending the Presidential Inaugural events. The Department of Defense and National Guard received various requests from civilian law enforcement agencies for unique capabilities to assist them in their security role. In addition to those airborne assets belonging to civilian law enforcement agencies, both State and District of Columbia National Guard units provided airborne platforms to assist Federal and District of Columbia civilian law enforcement in their security responsibilities.

Additionally, the Department of Defense provided bomb dog detection teams and other capabilities on the ground to assist law enforcement where requested.

The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) also provided overhead CAP support, as it always does to protect against any airborne threats.

"Today marks an historic event and we view the inauguration of our new Commander-in-Chief with hope and purpose. Our mission continues … Our task clear …Our leadership resolute. The people in our commands commemorate this historic transition with renewed focus on the families we protect, on the communities we protect and on the Nations we protect. We are the defenders of our Democracy and of the Democracy of all in this Hemisphere … as Canadians and Americans today we are proud of the efforts of our two militaries and proud of what we do each day. We are looking forward, anticipating our Nations' needs and ready to respond at a moment's notice. We are honored to participate as just one of myriad local, state and federal agencies working hard to make today's events safe and secure." Gen. Gene Renuart, Commander, NORAD and USNORTHCOM.

As you may or may not know, NORAD and U.S. Northern Command and its subordinate, Joint Task Force - National Capitol Region, are intimately involved in assisting the Department of Homeland Security and the United States Secret Service in planning and executing Department of Defense support for the ceremonial and non-ceremonial portions of the Presidential Inauguration. This is no easy task, as you can imagine, as recent press reports that more than 2 million people are expected to converge on Washington D.C. on this historical day. We don’t believe there is an imminent threat, but anytime you have a high profile event and a large number of people compressed into a small area --- you want to be prepared for any kind of event. As we approach any large scale event such as this regionally, we take a collective all-hazards approach to disaster planning, which includes planning for the possibility of a Weapons of Mass Destruction attack. We do have a number of capabilities we can use in chemical, biological, or medical disaster response. In the unlikely event of a large scale incident during the 2009 inaugural period, we have highly trained and specialized response teams standing by ready to assist first responders with consequence management operations, including responding to a WMD attack. They are ready and on alert and can respond very quickly. As part of an interagency team, we are prepared to assist in consequence management operations of any type to save lives and mitigate damage when needed. NORAD will be on alert and airborne throughout the inaugural period. Our active air presence will be combined with a variety of ground capabilities to provide the best possible air defense that we can. Now this active duty and National Guard presence can be misconstrued by some to mean that we have created a police state for this event…A question asked in the recent Time Magazine article at http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1871963,00.html.

Let's be clear. We are very careful to make sure that we don’t cross the line of the active-duty, federal, Title-10 military, conducting anything that is law enforcement. The National Guard, Title 32 military, has in its mandate, the authority to provide support to law enforcement when directed by the governor of a particular state or the district in which they operate. They’re trained for that. They have the relationships to do that. And General Schwartz, who is the Commander of the District of Columbia National Guard, is really working that support. So, the men and women in uniform providing what would be law enforcement such as crowd control, traffic control, support to local police, they are national guardsmen. And we really do watch that very carefully. The active duty, Federal military role - the Title-10 military’s role - is to provide the support to those other agencies such as medical support, consequence management planning and expertise, logistics support, military working dogs and approved ceremonial support through the Armed Forces Inaugural Committee. There was some concern as we created this consequence management response force that it would sort of signal an attempt to push back the restrictions of Posse Comitatus. That’s absolutely not the case. We are providing assistance as requested by the inaugural committee and as directed by the Department of Defense. We are providing support to civil authorities. We have that capability everyday. We train in those skills. We’re good at those skills. Why would we not make those available to the American public if there was a real need. And so that’s really the change in our presence in states and certainly in the national capital region for this event. It’s to be there to provide assistance."