An interview with RADM Dan Stone - Interview

Navy Supply Corps Newsletter, May-June, 2003 by George Wingfield

July 2, 2002--"... there is an overriding and urgent mission here in America today, and that's to protect our homeland. We have been called into action, and we've got to act."

President George Bush

CDR George Wingfield, SC, USNR, recently interviewed RADM Dan Stone on behalf of the Navy Supply Corps Newsletter. RADM Stone is the Director of Logistics and Engineering for North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and United States Northern Command, both headquartered at Peterson Air Force Base, Colo.

On Oct. 1, 2002 a new combatant command was created and was assigned the mission to defend the United States and support the full range of military assistance to civil authorities. U.S. Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) will be responsible for security cooperation and military coordination with all countries within its region: Continental United States, Canada, Mexico, and portions of the Caribbean area.

Newsletter: Good morning Admiral Stone and thank you for granting this interview.

RADM Stone: Thank you for the opportunity to share thoughts with you about my assignment to the new U.S. Northern Command. I am very proud to be part of the stand up of the Department of Defenses' new combatant commander for Homeland Defense. It is also a privilege to be the first Supply Corps flag to be a J4 and I am thankful to the Chief for the opportunity.

Newsletter: Let us start out with a general definition of NORTHCOM; it's mission and where things are going at this point.

RADM Stone: The U.S. Northern Command is a regional combatant commander, formerly known as a CINC --that is, commander in chief. DoD has divided the world into regions and assigned a joint combatant commander in charge of military operations in each region. As an example, I was assigned last year to a position in the Pacific Fleet. The U.S. Pacific Command is charged with that area of responsibility. You are aware of the situation in the Middle East; the U.S. Central Command is responsible for all U.S. military operations in that area.

Prior to September 11th, no one could foresee the need for military operations in the continental U.S. That has now changed and the U.S. Northern Command has the responsibility ... to defend the homeland, just as the Pacific Command is charged with defending U.S. interests in the Pacific Theater.

Our mission statement states that we will deter, prevent, and defeat threats and aggression aimed at the United States ... that reads the same for every regional combatant commander. Our mission statement goes on to say that we will also, when directed by the president or secretary of Defense, provide military assistance to civil authorities.

This is a new mission area for a combatant commander and unique to NORTHCOM. There are over fifty different government agencies that have capabilities relevant to our homeland defense mission and we can be called on to provide military support when needed. NORTHCOM was stood up on 1 October 2002. On that date we achieved what is known as our Initial Operating Capability or IOC, which is the minimum capability to perform in our mission areas. Over the following twelve months we are building and refining our mission capabilities with the goal of achieving Full Operating Capability (FOC) by 1 October 2003.

The command is located at Peterson AFB in Colorado Springs. That location provided a collocated opportunity with NORAD that has and will continue to provide essential air defense for the U.S. and Canada, a key piece of homeland defense.

Newsletter: That brings up another question, how do you see the missions of NORTHCOM and NORAD working, are they separate, are they overlapping, or will they eventually be combined?

RADM Stone: That is a good question and one that we have been asked by others. We see the NORTHCOM mission areas in four domains ... air, land, maritime, and the military assistance to civil authorities. The air mission is the most mature of the four. The defense of the air domain has been the principal role of NORAD for over forty years and continues today.

NORAD has been very successful in executing this mission although the previous focus was on an external threat from outside our borders. September 11th expanded that threat to include risks originating within our borders. NORAD has made great strides in addressing this new threat and is a key element of our homeland defense strategy. I see NORAD continuing to be a supporting organization to NORTHCOM. Many lessons can and are being learned from NORAD and applied to our other mission areas.

Newsletter: I have not asked very specific questions because my feeling is that during the first year between I0C and FOC, things are not yet set and NORTHCOM is just learning. Is that an accurate assessment?

RADM Stone: Yes, it is an accurate assessment. During this first year, we are devoting much of our effort on learning the mission and growing effective capability to perform our mission. The reality is that one year is not a long period of time to accomplish these many tasks. I am impressed at the progress we are making.