And the NORAD-NORTHCOM Response

Last week we reported that two influential lawmakers asked DOD to halt the shift of forces from Cheyenne Mountain AFS, Colo., pending further review of the effort, which Rep. Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) and Rep. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) believe may have “weakened” the NORAD mission by the shift in operations to nearby Peterson Air Force Base. In a Sept. 18 statement, Air Force Gen. Gene Renuart, head of both NORAD and US Northern Command, noted that he had provided an update to the House Armed Services Committee in a close-door session and added: “It’s important for the public to know that we in the military are good stewards of taxpayer dollars and that our decisions, ultimately, make this nation safer. My entire team and I are dedicated to the defense of this nation and its citizens, and that defense begins with the operational effectiveness and the security of our missions in the NORAD and USNORTHCOM Command Center.” He continued, saying that his commands are “protecting mission accomplishment through multiple nodes of command and control. Redundant and distributed nodes provide the guarantee that there is no single point of failure in our mission responsibilities.”