North American Aerospace Defense Command, known until March 1981 as the North American Air Defense Command, is a combined organization of the United States and Canada that provides aerospace warning, air sovereignty, and protection for Northern America. Headquarters for NORAD and the NORAD/United States Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) center are located at Peterson Air Force Base in El Paso County, near Colorado Springs, Colorado. The nearby Cheyenne Mountain Complex has the Alternate Command Center. The NORAD commander and deputy commander (CINCNORAD) are, respectively, a United States four-star general or equivalent and a Canadian three-star general or equivalent.
Air Force Space Command (AFSPC) is a major command of the United States Air Force, with its headquarters at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado. AFSPC supports U.S. military operations worldwide through the use of many different types of space operations. Operationally, AFSPC is an Air Force major command subordinate to U.S. Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM), a unified combatant command. As of 2019 it is the primary space force for the U.S. Armed Forces.
Ent Air Force Base was an Air Force base located in the Knob Hill neighborhood of Colorado Springs, Colorado. A tent city, established in 1943 to build the base, was initially commanded by Major General Uzal Girard Ent (1900-1948) for whom the base is named. The base was opened in 1951. From 1957 to 1963, the base was the site of North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), which moved to the Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station. The base became the Ent Annex to the Cheyenne Mountain facility in 1975. The base was closed in 1976. The site later became the location of the United States Olympic Training Center,which was completed July 1978.
The United States Army Space and Missile Defense Command (SMDC) is an Army Service Component Command (ASCC) of the United States Army. The command was established in 1997.
The current SMDC commander is Lieutenant General James H. Dickinson with Senior Enlisted Advisor Command Sergeant Major Jerome Wiggins.
Electronic Systems Center was a product center of Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC) headquartered at Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts. Its mission was to develop and acquire command and control, communications, computer, and intelligence systems. ESC consisted of professional teams specializing in engineering, computer science, and business management. The teams supervised the design, development, testing, production, and deployment of command and control systems. Two of ESC's most well-known developments were the Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS), developed in the 1970s, and the Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (JointSTARS), developed in the 1980s.
United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) is one of ten unified commands in the United States Department of Defense. Headquartered at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, USSTRATCOM is responsible for strategic deterrence, global strike, and operating the Defense Department's Global Information Grid. It also provides a host of capabilities to support the other combatant commands, including strategic warning; integrated missile defense; and global command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C4ISR). This dynamic command gives national leadership a unified resource for greater understanding of specific threats around the world and the means to respond to those threats rapidly.
The 9th Space Division is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Air Force Space Command, being stationed at Patrick Air Force Base, Florida. It was inactivated on 1 October 1991.
The 12th Space Warning Squadron is a United States Air Force ground-based radar used for missile warning, missile defense and space situation awareness, stationed at Thule Air Base, Greenland.
The 213th Space Warning Squadron of the Alaska Air National Guard provides early warning of Intercontinental ballistic missiles and Submarine-launched ballistic missiles to the Missile Correlation Center of North American Aerospace Defense Command. The squadron is a geographically separated unit assigned to the 168th Wing at Eielson Air Force Base.
The Chidlaw Building is a former United States Air Force facility located in the Knob Hill neighborhood of Colorado Springs, Colorado. The building associated, but not within the Ent Air Force Base complex, was leased by the military for several decades and was headquarters of several military commands, starting with the Air Defense Command (ADC) and the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). When Chidlaw was completed, personnel from multiple locations, including the Ent Air Force Base, were consolidated into the new building.
The Cheyenne Mountain Division is the J36 branch within the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and United States Northern Command's (USNORTHCOM) Operations Directorates, located in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station (CMAFS) is located on Cheyenne Mountain on the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains in unincorporated El Paso County, Colorado, next to Colorado Springs, The Cheyenne Mountain Complex, an underground facility on Cheyenne Mountain AFS, was first built for the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) Combat Operations Center, though NORAD moved day-to-day operations to its headquarters on Peterson AFB in 2006. However, day-to-day operations were moved back in 2011 after a major overhaul and renovation. The location now supports U.S. Strategic Command's Missile Warning Center, other strategic warning and survivable capabilities, and provides a ready alternative operating location for NORAD's command center.
North American Aerospace Defense Command is a military organization of Canada and the United States, and the name or military NORAD abbreviation may refer to :
Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) was a Unified Combatant Command of the United States Department of Defense, tasked with air defense for the Continental United States. It comprised Army, Air Force, and Navy components. It included Army Project Nike missiles anti-aircraft defenses and USAF interceptors. The primary purpose of continental air defense during the CONAD period was to provide sufficient attack warning of a Soviet bomber air raid to ensure Strategic Air Command could launch a counterattack without being destroyed. CONAD controlled nuclear air defense weapons such as the 10 kiloton W-40 nuclear warhead on the CIM-10B BOMARC. The command was disestablished in 1975, and Aerospace Defense Command became the major U.S. component of North American Air Defense Command (NORAD).
The USSTRATCOM Missile Warning Center (MWC) is a Cheyenne Mountain nuclear bunker facility which networks data from missile warning sensor systems including the "space-based infrared system" and the terrestrial radars of the Solid State Phased Array Radar System. The United States Strategic Command center is a $2.9 billion facility completed in 2011 and operated under the Joint Functional Component Command for Space. The MWC disseminates data over the Integrated Broadcast Service and the Shared Event Warning (SEW) system, e.g., messages and voice warning to partner countries. MWC security and support is provided by the Air Force Space Command's 721st Mission Support Group.
The 601 Air Operations Center (AOC) plans, directs, and assesses air operations for the North American Aerospace Defense (NORAD) Command, and the United States Northern Command (NORTHCOM). The AOC provides aerospace warning and control for NORAD Defensive Counter Air (DCA) activities. As well as it directs Air Force air capabilities in support of NORTHCOM homeland security and civil support missions. The 601 AOC directs all air sovereignty activities for the continental United States.
Construction of the Cheyenne Mountain Complex began with the excavation of Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado Springs, Colorado on May 18, 1961. It was made fully operational on February 6, 1967. It is a military installation and hardened nuclear bunker from which the North American Aerospace Defense Command was headquartered at the Cheyenne Mountain Complex. The United States Air Force has had a presence at the complex since the beginning, the facility is now the Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station, which hosts other military units, including NORAD.
