Supporting homeland partners

Joint Force Quarterly, Jan, 2008 by James M. Castle

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At this writing, a tropical storm floods south Texas. A major hurricane churns west across the Caribbean with a potential landfall along the Texas coast. Wildfires in the Western United States consume nearly 75,000 acres. U.S. Navy divers assist in the recovery of victims of a bridge collapse in Minneapolis. The space shuttle is aloft with a worrisome gouge in its protective tiles. Russian long-range bombers have resumed patrols that in the past have probed American and Canadian air defense identification zones. Vessels of interest approach American ports with suspicious persons on board.

Each of these events could require the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) or U.S. Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) to respond to defend the homeland or support U.S. civil authorities in their response to various threats. These are the mission essential tasks of the dual commands at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs. Many organizations see themselves as unique, and we are no different. Our claim to that status flows from our area of responsibility for USNORTHCOM and our area of operations for NORAD: the North American continent.

Mutually Beneficial Collaboration

The events of September 11, 2001, revealed gaps and seams across government that both contributed to the success of the attacks and hampered an effective response to the consequences. One result was that the traditional NORAD focus on the external threat changed radically to address the need to look inward. Another was the creation of the first new geographic combatant command for the American homeland since George Washington's Continental Army. In 2002, the National Security Advisor and Secretary of Defense directed that each combatant command establish a Joint Interagency Coordination Group (JIACG) in order to enhance interdepartmental coordination. (1)

As USNORTHCOM became a reality, the plankholders saw that the JIACG concept could be invaluable in building and maintaining relationships with Federal departments and agencies as well as state and local governments, nongovernmental organizations, and the private sector, all key players in homeland defense and security. The bicommand leadership established the Interagency Coordination Directorate as a primary staff directorate, "dual-hatted" to both NORAD and USNORTHCOM, to facilitate the interagency coordination process across the commands.

As 9/11 was instrumental to the establishment of USNORTHCOM and its interagency structure, Hurricane Katrina provided impetus to move beyond interagency communication and coordination to mutually beneficial collaboration. The hurricane's aftermath demonstrated that no single state or Federal agency has the resources to respond to a catastrophic event, whether natural or manmade. Furthermore, while there have been significant areas for improvement, the Title 10 military response coordinated by USNORTHCOM to support the national effort demonstrated processes and capabilities that the other departments and agencies recognized as valuable. Doors opened across government--to include non-Federal agencies--to embrace closer integration of plans and operations. Our challenge has been to pursue integration within the unique strategic environment of homeland security.

We at NORAD and USNORTHCOM must become adept at integrating our efforts with those of our mission partners. The USNORTHCOM commander's Vision 2020 states that supporting and enabling other agencies, working toward common objectives, and building the capacity of partners are indispensable elements in this effort. Unity of effort requires that strategies, plans, operations, and future technologies be closely coordinated with partners. We must work as part of a unified interagency team to address threats and to support other agencies in complex interagency operations.

In addition to Department of Defense (DOD) mission guidance to the commands (such as the Unified Command Plan and Joint Strategic Capabilities Plan), three key documents define our interagency engagement and relationships with Federal, state, tribal, nongovernmental, and private sector mission partners. First and foremost is the U.S. Constitution; second is the National Response Plan; and last is the Building Partnership Capacity Roadmap of the 2006 Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR).

America's strategies for providing homeland defense and civil support are founded on constitutional principles. State and Federal governments serve their constituents through constitutions that define the responsibilities of their respective leaders. Governors often cite Article 10 of the Constitution: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." While blurred by time and precedent, this article still bars the Federal Government from many direct actions within the domestic arena. There is shared state and Federal accountability for the defense and security of our homeland. Thus, USNORTHCOM must work in concert with states and their Governors to ensure integrated planning and response across the homeland defense, homeland security, and civil support mission spectrum.