In the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, the Pentagon's homeland defence forces have gone to the highest level of health protection in order to safeguard personnel capable of deterring and responding to adversarial threats,as well as to the pandemic at hand.These troops include those of US NORTHCOM and NORAD.
NORTHCOM and NORAD Commander GEN Terrence O'Shaughnessy, US Air Force,told a Facebook Live town hall with his personnel:
To ensure that we can defend the homeland despite the pandemic, our command and watch teams here in the headquarters have been split into multiple shifts, and portions of our watch team began working from Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station, creating a third team at an alternate location as well.
Our dedicated professionals of the NORAD and NORTHCOM command and control watch have left their homes, said goodbye to their families and are isolated from everyone to ensure that they can stand watch each and every day to defend our homeland.It's certainly not optimal, but it's absolutely necessary and appropriate given the situation.
This is a marathon, not a sprint.
My primary concern was...Are we going to have space inside the mountain for everybody who wants to move in there, and I'm not at liberty to discuss who's moving in there.*
Other sites national security personnel may be relocating to include the Raven Rock Mountain Complex (Site R) in Southcentral Pennsylvania and Mount Weather, Virginia.Both impressive bunkers are hidden in the Appalachian Mountains.Another possibility for isolation may be found at Camp Peary,officially called the Armed Forces Experimental Training Activity,a US Navy holding in York County, Virginia that serves as a training base for the CIA and the DIA.The highly classified 9,000 acre compound includes a 1500 m/ 5,000 foot runway that has been used by CIA aircraft.*
Other military personnel known to be isolating include B-52H Stratofortress bomber crews; ballistic missile submarine crews; ICBM personnel; and certain Special Operations Forces units.*
NORAD and US NORTHCOM normally operate out of Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colorado."
Showing posts with label General Terrence O'Shaughnessy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label General Terrence O'Shaughnessy. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 31, 2020
Tuesday, August 21, 2018
Strategic Challenges:Arctic Defence Symposium Attended by Military,Academic,Intelligence Community Leaders
A wide range of leaders with an interest and expertise in the emerging Arctic gathered at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage,Alaska for the Arctic Maritime Symposium 2018.The symposium is a framework for experienced senior military leaders,intelligence analysts,interagency operators and Arctic maritime subject matter experts to discuss the strategic challenges associated with Arctic maritime operations.
The AMS was held from 14-16 August 2018 and hosted by LTGEN Kenneth Wilsback,US Air Force,commander,Alaska Command.The keynote speakers were ADM Sam J. Locklear,US Navy (Retired),former commander,US Pacific Command and Heather A. Conley,senior vice president for Europe,Eurasia and the Arctic,Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington,D.C.Expert support was provided by the Center for Naval Analysis;the US Naval War College;the National War College;Montclair University;and the Office of Naval Intelligence(ONI).Also represented were the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) and the US Coast Guard Intelligence Coordination Center (ICC).
The International Panel included Cmdre Jamie Clark,Royal Canadian Navy,Deputy Director NORAD&USNORTHCOM J5;CDR Jens Peter Holst-Andersen,Vice Chair/Commander,Danish Ministry of Defence;and CDR Julia Tortell,Deputy Commandant,Finnish Naval Academy.*
Attending AMS from the US Navy was RDML Cedric Pringle,commander,Expeditionary Strike Group-3.*
The Symposium was informed by the following advice and authorities:
1.Maritime Homeland Defense EXORD:
Provide an environment of uncertainty for anyone planning or attempting an attack on the United States.
2.(U) 2009 National Security Presidential Directive 66:
the United States must be prepared to safeguard its National Security Interests in the Arctic.
3.(U) 2016 DOD Arctic Strategy:
need for increased maritime surface and subsurface presence,surveillance and capabilities.*
Addressing AMS was the new NORAD and USNORTHCOM commander,GEN Terrence O'Shaughnessy,US Air Force:
Changes in the Arctic environment could give our adversaries the impression that the Arctic offers a soft underbelly in our ability to defend the homeland.The defence of the homeland requires us to reinvigorate our efforts to ensure we remain ready to operate in and through the Arctic.Secretary (of Defense) Mattis recently said that America has got to up its game in the Arctic.
Russia most notably has aggressively built Arctic military capability,securing planes and expanding access along the Northern Sea Route.We must keep in mind that,for the Russians,the Arctic is their front yard and their back yard.
Given the Arctic's unique challenges,coupled with increased accessability,it is vital that we have the capability to respond in and through the Arctic,GEN O'Shaughnessy pointed out.*
Also representing the US Navy at AMS was the guided missile destroyer USS Momsen (DDG 92),which moored at the Port of Alaska in Anchorage.A US Air Force F-22 Raptor fighter jet executed a flyby over the Momsen.
The AMS was held from 14-16 August 2018 and hosted by LTGEN Kenneth Wilsback,US Air Force,commander,Alaska Command.The keynote speakers were ADM Sam J. Locklear,US Navy (Retired),former commander,US Pacific Command and Heather A. Conley,senior vice president for Europe,Eurasia and the Arctic,Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington,D.C.Expert support was provided by the Center for Naval Analysis;the US Naval War College;the National War College;Montclair University;and the Office of Naval Intelligence(ONI).Also represented were the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) and the US Coast Guard Intelligence Coordination Center (ICC).
The International Panel included Cmdre Jamie Clark,Royal Canadian Navy,Deputy Director NORAD&USNORTHCOM J5;CDR Jens Peter Holst-Andersen,Vice Chair/Commander,Danish Ministry of Defence;and CDR Julia Tortell,Deputy Commandant,Finnish Naval Academy.*
Attending AMS from the US Navy was RDML Cedric Pringle,commander,Expeditionary Strike Group-3.*
The Symposium was informed by the following advice and authorities:
1.Maritime Homeland Defense EXORD:
Provide an environment of uncertainty for anyone planning or attempting an attack on the United States.
2.(U) 2009 National Security Presidential Directive 66:
the United States must be prepared to safeguard its National Security Interests in the Arctic.
3.(U) 2016 DOD Arctic Strategy:
need for increased maritime surface and subsurface presence,surveillance and capabilities.*
Addressing AMS was the new NORAD and USNORTHCOM commander,GEN Terrence O'Shaughnessy,US Air Force:
Changes in the Arctic environment could give our adversaries the impression that the Arctic offers a soft underbelly in our ability to defend the homeland.The defence of the homeland requires us to reinvigorate our efforts to ensure we remain ready to operate in and through the Arctic.Secretary (of Defense) Mattis recently said that America has got to up its game in the Arctic.
Russia most notably has aggressively built Arctic military capability,securing planes and expanding access along the Northern Sea Route.We must keep in mind that,for the Russians,the Arctic is their front yard and their back yard.
Given the Arctic's unique challenges,coupled with increased accessability,it is vital that we have the capability to respond in and through the Arctic,GEN O'Shaughnessy pointed out.*
Also representing the US Navy at AMS was the guided missile destroyer USS Momsen (DDG 92),which moored at the Port of Alaska in Anchorage.A US Air Force F-22 Raptor fighter jet executed a flyby over the Momsen.
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