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North American Aerospace Defense Command

Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States

NORAD Emblem

Type Aerospace Warning and Aerospace Control of

North America

Coordinates38.7°N 104.8°WCoordinates:  38.7°N

104.8°W

Built 1961 (Directorate)[1]

In use 1958 – present

Current

owner

Canada / United States

Controlled by Joint operations of

Royal Canadian Air Force and United States

Air Force and co-location

withUSNORTHCOM

Garrison Headquarters: Peterson Air Force Base

Directorate: Cheyenne Mountain Air Force

Station[2]

(west of Colorado Springs, CO)

Commanders General Charles H. Jacoby,

Jr., USA General  Alain Parent CF

Events May 2006 NORAD Agreement Renewal

NORAD Regions and Sectors

North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD,/ ̍ n ɔr æ d / ) is a combined organization of the United

States andCanada that provides aerospace warning, air sovereignty, and defense for North America.

[3] Headquarters for NORAD and the NORAD/USNORTHCOM command center are located atPeterson Air

Force Base in El Paso County, near Colorado Springs, Colorado. The nearby Cheyenne Mountain nuclear

bunker has the Alternative Command Center.

Contents

  [hide] 

1 Organization

o 1.1 Alaska NORAD Region

o 1.2 Canadian NORAD Region

o 1.3 Continental United States NORAD Region

2 History

o 2.1 1968 reorganization

o 2.2 False alarms

o 2.3 1980 reorganization

o 2.4 Post–Cold War

3 Commanders and deputy commanders

o 3.1 Commanders

o 3.2 Deputy commanders

4 In popular culture

5 See also

6 References

7 External links

Organization[edit]

CINCNORAD maintains the NORAD headquarters at Peterson Air Force Base near Colorado Springs,

Colorado. The NORAD and USNORTHCOM Command Center at Peterson AFB serves as a central collection

and coordination facility for a worldwide system of sensors designed to provide the commander and the

leadership of Canada and the U.S. with an accurate picture of any aerospace or maritime threat.[4] NORAD has

administratively divided the North American landmass into three regions: the Alaska NORAD (ANR) Region,

under Eleventh Air Force; the Canadian NORAD (CANR) Region, under 1 Canadian Air Division, and the

Continental U.S. (CONR) Region, under 1 AF/CONR-AFNORTH. Both the CONR and CANR regions are

divided into eastern and western sectors.

Alaska NORAD Region[edit]

The Alaska NORAD Region (ANR) maintains 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week capability to detect, validate

and warn of any atmospheric threat in its area of operations from its Regional Operations Control Center

(ROCC) atElmendorf AFB, Alaska.

ANR also maintains the readiness to conduct a continuum of aerospace control missions, which include daily

air sovereignty in peacetime, contingency and/or deterrence in time of tension, and active air defense against

manned and unmanned air-breathing atmospheric vehicles in times of crisis.

ANR is supported by both active duty and reserve units. Active duty forces are provided by Eleventh Air

Force and theCanadian Forces, and reserve forces provided by the Alaska Air National Guard. Both 11 AF and

the CF provide active duty personnel to the ROCC to maintain continuous surveillance of Alaskan airspace.

Canadian NORAD Region[edit]

1 Canadian Air Division/Canadian NORAD Region Headquarters is at CFB Winnipeg, Manitoba. It is

responsible for providing surveillance and control of Canadian airspace. The Royal Canadian Air

Force provides alert assets to NORAD. CANR is divided into two sectors, which are designated as the Canada

East Sector and Canada West Sector. Both Sector Operations Control Centers (SOCCs) are co-located at CFB

North Bay Ontario. The routine operation of the SOCCs includes reporting track data, sensor status and aircraft

alert status to NORAD headquarters.

Canadian air defense forces assigned to NORAD include 409 Tactical Fighter Squadron at CFB Cold Lake,

Alberta and425 Tactical Fighter Squadron at CFB Bagotville, Quebec. All squadrons fly the CF-18

Hornet fighter aircraft.[5]

In cooperation with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the United States drug law enforcement agencies,

the Canadian NORAD Region monitors all air traffic approaching the coast of Canada. Any aircraft that has not

filed a flight plan may be directed to land and be inspected by RCMP and Canada Border Services Agency.

Continental United States NORAD Region[edit]

See also: Eastern Air Defense Sector and Western Air Defense Sector

The Continental NORAD Region (CONR) is the component of NORAD that provides airspace surveillance and

control and directs air sovereignty activities for the Continental United States (CONUS).

CONR is the NORAD designation of the United States Air Force First Air Force/AFNORTH. Its headquarters is

located atTyndall AFB, Florida. 1 AF became responsible for the USAF air defense mission on 30 September

1990. AFNORTH is the United States Air Force component of United States Northern

Command (NORTHCOM),

1 AF/CONR-AFNORTH comprises State Air National Guard Fighter Wings assigned an air defense mission to

1 AF/CONR-AFNORTH, made up primarily of citizen Airmen. The primary weapons systems are the F-15

Eagle and F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft

It plans, conducts, controls, coordinates and ensures air sovereignty and provides for the unilateral defense of

the United States. It is organized with a combined First Air Force command post at Tyndall AFB and two Sector

Operations Control Centers (SOCC) at Rome, New York for the US East ROCC and McChord Field,

Washington for the US West ROCC manned by active duty personnel to maintain continuous surveillance of

CONUS airspace.

In its role as the CONUS NORAD Region, 1 AF/CONR-AFNORTH also performs counter-drug surveillance

operations.

History[edit]

NORAD (North American Air Defense), was recommended by the Joint Canadian-U.S. Military Group in late

1956, approved by the United States JCS in February 1957, and announced on 1 August 1957;[6] the

"establishment of [NORAD] command headquarters" was on 12 September 1957,[7] at Ent Air Force Base's

1954 blockhouse. The 1958 international agreement designated the NORAD commander always be a US

officer (Canadian vice commander), and "RCAF officers…agreed the command's primary purpose would be…

early warning and defense for SAC's retaliatory forces."[8]:252 In late 1958, Canada and the U.S. started the

"Continental Air Defense Integration, North (CADIN)", for the SAGE air defense network.[8]:253

The 25-ton North blast door in theCheyenne Mountain nuclear bunker is the main entrance to another blast door

(background) beyond which the side tunnel branches into access tunnels to the main chambers.

Canada's NORAD bunker with a SAGE AN/FSQ-7 computer was constructed 1959-63, and each of the USAF's

eight smaller AN/FSQ-8s provided NORAD with data and could command the entire US air defense. The

RCAF's 1950 "ground observer system, the Long Range Air Raid Warning System,"[9] was discontinued and on

31 January 1959, the US Ground Observation Corps was deactivated.[8]:222 The Cheyenne Mountain nuclear

bunker's planned mission was expanded in August 1960 to "a hardened center from which CINCNORADwould

supervise and direct operations against space attack as well as air attack"[10] (NORAD would be

renamed North American Aerospace Defense Command in March 1981). The Secretary of Defense

assigned on 7 October 1960, "operational command of all space surveillance to Continental Air Defense

Command (CONAD) and operational control to North American Air Defense Command (NORAD)".[11]

The JCS placed the Ent AFB Space Detection and Tracking System (496L System with "Philco 2000/Model

212" computer)[12] "under the operational control of CINCNORAD on December 1, 1960";[13] during Cheyenne

Mountain nuclear bunker excavation, and the "joint SAC-NORAD exercise…Sky Shield II"--and on 2

September 1962--"Sky Shield III" were conducted for mock penetration of NORAD sectors.[14] NORAD

command center operations moved from Ent AFB to the 1963 partially underground "Combined Operations

Center" for Aerospace Defense Command and NORAD[15]at the Chidlaw Building. NORAD had an exhibit at

the 1964 World's Fair,[16] and on 30 October 1964, "NORAD began manning" the Cheynne Mountain Combat

Operations Center [13]  and by 1965, about 250,000 US and Canadian personnel were involved in the operation

of NORAD,[not in citation given][17] On 1 January 1966, Air Force Systems Command turned the COC over to

NORAD[18] (the NORAD Cheyenne Mountain Complex was accepted on 8 February.)[13]:319

1968 reorganization[edit]

U.S. Department of Defense realignments for the NORAD command organization began by 15 November 1968

(e.g., Army Air Defense Command (ARADCOM))[19] and by 1972, there were eight NORAD "regional areas...for

all air defense",[20]and the NORAD Cheyenne Mountain Complex Improvements Program (427M System)

[18]became operational in 1979.[21]

False alarms[edit]

On at least three occasions, NORAD systems failed such as on 9 November 1979, when a technician in

NORAD loaded a test tape but failed to switch the system status to "test", causing a stream of constant false

warnings to spread to two "continuity of government" bunkers as well as command posts worldwide.[22] On 3

June 1980, and again on 6 June 1980, acomputer communications device failure caused warning messages to

sporadically flash in U.S. Air Force command posts around the world that a nuclear attack was taking place.

[23] During these incidents, Pacific Air Forces properly had their planes (loaded with nuclear bombs) in the

air; Strategic Air Command did not and took criticism because they did not follow procedure, even though the

SAC command knew these were almost certainly false alarms (as did PACAF).[citation needed]Both command posts

had recently begun receiving and processing direct reports from the various radar, satellite, and other missile

attack detection systems, and those direct reports simply did not match anything about the erroneous data

received from NORAD.[citation needed]

NORAD/USNORTHCOM Alternative Command Center prior to the Cheyenne Mountain Realignment.[24]

1980 reorganization[edit]

Following the 1979 Joint US-Canada Air Defense Study, the command structure for aerospace defense was

changed, e.g., "SAC assumed control ofballistic missile warning and space surveillance facilities" on 1

December 1979 from ADCOM.[25]:48 The Aerospace Defense Command major command ended 31 March 1980.

and its organizations in Cheyenne Mountain became the "ADCOM" specified command under the same

commander as NORAD,[15] e.g., HQ NORAD/ADCOM J31 manned the Space Surveillance Center. By 1982, a

NORAD Off-site Test Facility[26] was located at Peterson AFB.[27] The DEW Line was to be replaced with

the North Warning System(NWS); the Over-the-Horizon Backscatter (OTH-B) radar was to be deployment;

more advanced fighters were deployed, and E-3 Sentry AWACS aircraft were planned for greater use. These

recommendations were accepted by the governments in 1985. The United States Space Command was

formed in September 1985 as an adjunct but not a component of NORAD.

Post–Cold War[edit]

In 1989 NORAD operations expanded to cover counter-drug operations, e.g., tracking of small aircraft entering

and operating within the US and Canada.[28] DEW line sites were replaced between 1986 and 1995 by the

North Warning System. The Cheyenne Mountain site was also upgraded but none of the proposed OTH-B

radars are currently in operation.

After the September 11, 2001 attacks, the NORAD Air Warning Center's mission "expanded to include the

interior airspace of North America."[29]

The Cheyenne Mountain Realignment[30] was announced on 28 July 2006, to consolidate NORAD's day-to-day

operations at Peterson Air Force Base [31]  with Cheyenne Mountain in "warm standby" staffed with support

personnel.

Former NORAD Regions/Sectors

1966

19671968

19691970-1983

19841985-1986

19871988-1990

1991-1992

1993-1995

1996-2005

2006-2009

20th 1966–1967 1969–1983

21st 1966–1967 1969–1983

22d 1966–1987

23d 1969–1987

24th 1969–1990

25th 1966–1990

26th 1966–1990

27th 1966–1969

28th 1966–1969 1985–1992

29th 1966–1969

30th 1966–1968

31st 1966–1969

32d 1966–1969

34th 1966–1969

35th 1966–1969

36th 1966–1969

NW 1987–1995

NE 1987–2009

SE 1987–2005

SW 1987–1995

Commanders and deputy commanders[edit]

The Commander of NORAD is always a United States Department of Defense Officer confirmed by the US

Senate and from 2002 has simultaneously headed USNORTHCOM, while the Deputy Commander is always

Canadian. During the course of NORAD's history there have been four different United States commands

associated with NORAD:[citation needed]

Name of Command

Abbreviations EmblemAssociation

startedAssociation

ended

Type of combatant command

Notes

Air Defense CommandAerospace Defense Command

ADCADCOM

15 November 1957

31 March 1980

specified command

Air Defense Command re-designated as Aerospace Defense Command, 15 January 1968. A new JCS Unified Command Plan designated ADC as a specified command and changed its name to the Aerospace Defense Command (ADCOM) on 1 July 1975. ADCOM inactivated on 31 March 1980 as specified command. Some components of ADCOM were reassigned to the Aerospace Defense Center, a USAF direct reporting unit assigned to Headquarters, NORAD that inactivated on 1 October 1986.

Air Defense, Tactical Air Command

ADTAC1 October 1979

1 July 1987Air Division

Resource management responsibility of ADCOM's atmospheric defense units transferred toTactical Air Command; ADTAC established under TAC at Air Division echelon level for command of transferred ADCOM forces.

United States Space Command

USSPACECOM23 September 1985

1 October 2002

functional unified command

merged withUnited States Strategic Command

United States Northern Command

USNORTHCOM1 October 2002

continuingregional unified command

Commanders[edit]

The NORAD commander is an American four-star General, or equivalent. Since 2004 commanders have

includedAdmirals.

NORAD Commanders

Number

Name PhotoStart of

termAssociation

endedNotable positions held before or after

1General Earle E. Partridge, USAF

1957 1959

World War I enlisted Army combat veteran, participated in two major ground offensives onWestern Front; USMA class 1924; USAAF CS Fifteenth Air Force DC Eighth Air ForceWorld War II; Commander USAF Far East Air Forces, 1954.

2General Laurence S. Kuter, USAF

1959 1962

Commander 1st Bombardment Wing, Eighth Air Force; DC, Northwest African Tactical Air Force; Commander Atlantic Division, Air Transport Command; Commander, Military Air Transport Service; Commander, Far East Air Forces

3General John K. Gerhart, USAF

1962 1965

4General Dean C. Strother, USAF

1965 1966U.S. Military Representative,NATO Military Committee, 1962–1965

5General Raymond J. Reeves, USAF

1966 1969

6General Seth J. McKee, USAF

1969 1973

7General Lucius D. Clay, Jr., USAF

1973 1975

8General Daniel James, Jr., USAF

1975 1977

9General James E. Hill, USAF

1977 1979

10General James V. Hartinger, USAF

1980 1984

11General Robert T. Herres, USAF

1984 19871st Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (1987–1990)

12General John L. Piotrowski, USAF

1987 199022nd Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force (1985–1987)

13General Donald J. Kutyna, USAF

1990 1992 Member of the Rogers Commission (1986–1988)

14General Charles A. "Chuck" Horner, USAF

June, 1992September, 1994

Commander, 9th Air Force, and Commander, U.S. Central Command Air Forces (1987–1992), he led U.S. and allied air operations for Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm.

15General Joseph W. Ashy, USAF

September, 1994

August, 1996

16General Howell M. Estes III, USAF

August, 1996

14 August 1998

17General Richard B. Myers, USAF

14 August 1998

22 February 2000

5th Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (2000–2001)15th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (2001–2005)

18General Ralph E. "Ed" Eberhart, USAF

22 February 2000

5 November 2004

27th Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force (1997–1999)

19Admiral Timothy J. Keating,USN

5 November 2004

23 March 2007

Director of the Joint Staff (2003–2004)Commander, U.S. Pacific Command (2007–2009)

20General Victor E. Renuart Jr., USAF

23 March 2007

19 May 2010

Senior Military Assistant to theSecretary of Defense (2006–2007)

21Admiral James A. Winnefeld, Jr., USN

19 May 2010

3 August 2011

Director for Strategic Plans and Policy, The Joint Staff which he concurrently served as the Senior Member, U.S. Delegation to the U.N. Military Staff Committee (2008–2010)

22General Charles H. Jacoby, Jr.,USA

3 August 2011

Director for Strategic Plans and Policy, J5

Deputy commanders[edit]

In recent years deputy commanders have always been Canadian air force lieutenant generals. Prior to the

1968 unification of the Canadian Forces, the deputy commanders were RCAF Air Marshals.[32]

NORAD Deputy Commanders

Number

Name PhotoStart of

termAssociation

endedNotable positions held before or

after

1Air Marshal Roy Slemon, CB, CBE, CD

12 September 1957

14 August 1964

Chief of the Air Staff (1953–1957)

2Air Marshal Clarence Rupert Dunlap,CBE, CD

15 August 1964

25 August 1967

Deputy Chief of Staff (Operations) at Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (1958–1962), Chief of the Air Staff (1962–1964)

3Air Marshal William R. MacBrien OBE,CD

26 August 1967

22 January 1969

4Lieutenant-General Frederick Ralph Sharp CMM, DFC, CD

23 January 1969

14 September 1969

Chief of the Defence Staff(1969–1972)

5 Lieutenant-General Edwin ReynoSeptember 1969

August 1972Chief of Personnel of the Canadian Forces (1966–1969)

6Lieutenant-General Reginald J. Lane,DSO, DFC, CD

September 1972

October 1974

Deputy Commander ofMobile Command (1969–1972)[33]

7Lieutenant-General Richard C . Stovel,AFC, CD

October 1974

September 1976

8Lieutenant-General David R. Adamson

September 1976

August 1978

9Lieutenant-General Kenneth E. Lewis

18 August 1978

24 June 1980

10Lieutenant-General Kenneth J. Thorneycroft

June 1980 May 1983

11Lieutenant-General Donald C. MacKenzie

May 1983 August 1986

12Lieutenant-General Donald M. McNaughton

August 1986

August 1989

13Lieutenant-General Robert W. Morton, CMM, CD

August 1989

August 1992 [34]

14 Lieutenant-General Brian L. SmithAugust 1992

August 1994 [34]

15 Lieutenant-General J. D. O'BlenisAugust 1994

August 1995

16Lieutenant-General L. W. F. Cuppens

August 1995

April 1998

17Lieutenant-General G C Macdonald,CMM, MVO, CD

April 1998 August 2001Vice Chief of Defence Staff, Canadian Forces(2001-2004)

18Lieutenant-General Ken R. Pennie,CMM, CD

8 August 2001

14 July 2003 Chief of the Air Staff (2003–2005)

19Lieutenant-General Rick Findley, CMM,MSC, CD

14 July 2003

2 August 2007

Chief of Staff for Personnel, Training, and Reserves; Chief of Staff for Operations at 1 Canadian Air Division; Director of Combat Operations at NORAD

20Lieutenant-General Charles Bouchard,OC, CMM, MSC, CD

2 August 2007

10 July 2009

Deputy Commander for Continental NORAD Region, Deputy Commander of Allied Joint Force Command Naples

21Lieutenant-General Marcel Duval,CMM, CD

10 July 2009

15 August 2011

Canadian Contingent Commander Middle East; Commander of 1 Wing

21Lieutenant-General Thomas J. Lawson,CMM, CD

15 August 2011

4 September 2012

Chief of the Defence Staff(2012–present)

22Lieutenant-General Alain Parent, OMM,CD

4 September 2012

Commander of 1 Canadian Air Division and Canadian NORAD Region

In popular culture[edit]

1955 Sears ad with the misprinted telephone number that led to the NORAD Tracks Santa Program

Beginning in 1955 when a local Sears store in Colorado misprinted the telephone number for Santa, Air

Defense Command [35]  NORAD Tracks Santa follows Santa Claus' Christmas Eve journey around the world.[36][37]

Cheyenne Mountain is a setting of the 1983 film WarGames and the Stargatetelevision series.