Personnel for the U.S. Northern Command - plans for Homeland Security Dept - Brief Article

Military Intelligence Professional Bulletin, July-Sept, 2002 by James Harper

This is an extract of two articles published in the Early Bird (Bill Gertz and Rowan Scarborough, American Forces In formation Service, 21 and 29 March 2002) with comments from Lieutenant Colonel James H. Harper, Chief, Ml Branch, U.S Total Army Personnel Command.

A memorandum signed 7 March 2002 by General Richard Myers, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that President Bush will likely approve creating a command responsible for Homeland Defense (HLD) and will probably designate it the "U.S. Northern Command" (NORTHCOM). With a projected operational date of 1 October 2002, NORTHCOM's headquarters will probably be in the Washington, D.C., area. It will have an area of responsibility encompassing the continental United States, Alaska, Canada, Mexico, and the surrounding waters out to 500 miles. General Myers' memo further stated that the Joint Chiefs have approved the following definition of Homeland Security:

The preparation for prevention of, deterrence of, preemption of, defense against, and response to threats and aggression directed towards U.S. territory, sovereignty, domestic population, and infrastructure; as well as crisis management, consequence management, and other domestic civil support.

Lieutenant Colonel James Harper is available telephonically at (703) 325-5502 or DSN 221-5502 and by facsimile at DSN 221-5668/6707.

Regarding future Army Military Intelligence officer assignments to NORTHCOM, LTC James H. Harper stated that-

...at this time we do not have the personnel requirements nor do we know the location for the headquarters. This activation will cause a very accelerated timeline to organize and staff this new joint command. We could possibly receive many requirements for summer 2002 to send qualified officers to this new command. We can anticipate (because it is a joint unit) that most of the requirements will be for majors and lieutenant colonels to staff a J2 section and possibly a joint intelligence center (JIC). To fill this priority headquarters, we may divert officers or move other officers early, and there may be no backfill in either case. We continue to manage wartime requirements in support of engaged units, and this will not change. If you are interested in a not yet specified job ata not yet specified location to setve in the HLD joint headquarters, contact your assignment officer. I expect we will have ver y little time to react and any preparation we can make will save us time and effort.