NORAD Fact Sheet

Courtesy Photo | The North American Aerospace Defense Command's official fact sheet.  

PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, COLORADO, UNITED STATES

05.15.2018

Courtesy Story

North American Aerospace Defense Command

North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) began operations on 12 September 1957, and was officially recognized as a bi-national command by the United States and Canada on 12 May 1958.

For the first years, NORAD operated out of Ent Air Force Base, near downtown Colorado Springs. After years of excavations and building facilities inside the tunnel in Cheyenne Mountain, command operations moved to the mountain in 1966, while NORAD Headquarters remained in Colorado Springs.

In 1968, the governments of the United States and Canada signed the first renewal of the now historical 1958 NORAD Agreement, demonstrating both the flexibility and adaptability of the two partner nations to changes in threats to North America. As science and technology moved forward in the 1970s and ‘80s, NORAD adapted its capabilities and its forces for attack assessment and air defense.

In the early 1990s, NORAD expanded its aerospace warning mission to include illegal entry of aircraft across U.S. and Canadian borders. In response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, NORAD began Operation NOBLE EAGLE to maintain aerospace control of sovereign air space. The latest NORAD Agreement renewal occurred in 2006, when the two countries acknowledged that threats could reach North America across the high seas, and added Maritime Warning to the NORAD Mission.

Recently, NORAD continues to evolve the command to better address the rapidly changing geopolitical environment and weapon technologies.

In 2018 NORAD continues to stand the watch with its partner command, U.S. Northern Command.

For more information about NORAD and USNORTHCOM, please visit:
http://www.norad.mil and http://www.northcom.mil.

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Updated May 15, 2018

• Date Taken: 05.15.2018
• Date Posted: 05.15.2018 15:51
• Story ID: 277115
• Location: PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, COLORADO, US