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    ‘You can count on me,’ NORTHCOM commander tells National Guard

    'You can count on me,' NORTHCOM commander tells National Guard

    Photo By Lt. Col. Ellen Krenke | Navy Adm. James Winnefeld, commander, North American Aerospace Defense Command and...... read more read more

    AUSTIN, TEXAS, UNITED STATES

    08.22.2010

    Story by Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill 

    National Guard Bureau

    AUSTIN, Texas – U.S. Northern Command and the National Guard are interdependent: The Guard is indispensible to the combatant command and NORTHCOM is dead-set on being a good partner, its new commander said here, Aug. 22.

    “I would not be able to accomplish my many missions were it not for you, the National Guard – this wonderful, agile, efficient, uniquely American institution,” Navy Adm. James Winnefeld, Jr., the commander of North American Aerospace Defense Command and its sister NORTHCOM, told about 5,400 people attending the 132nd general conference of the National Guard Association of the United States here.

    The theme of this year’s conference is “The National Guard: America’s solution.” But Winnefeld said his theme is, “The National Guard: NORAD and NORTHCOM’s indispensible partner.”

    “I am a strong believer in and supporter of our National Guard: Who you are, what you do and how well you do it,” he said, making a series of pledges about how he will do business, including:

    No commander working for him will ever move into a state and operate independently from what the governor and the adjutant general believes needs to be done in response to a natural or manmade disaster.

    He will not move federal forces into a state without consulting the National Guard Bureau and the adjutants general and will not pressure states to ask for a federal response.

    In the case of a natural or manmade disaster, “The Guard is the key connective tissue … the tie between the first responders in the states that you know so well and the federal team that stands by to help you in time of need if you ask for it,” Winnefeld said.

    "I do not covet the leadership role in your state," he said. “You know your home state far, far better than I do – so why would I try to tell you how to get things right in your own home?

    “I just want to support you. … When a disaster strikes in your state, I don’t want to be one second too early, nor do I want to be one second too late. … I want to be limited only by physics, not by bureaucracy.”

    NORTHCOM is responsible for homeland defense, sustaining continuous situational awareness and readiness to protect the homeland against a range of symmetric and asymmetric threats in all domains.

    Its area of responsibility includes the continental United States, Alaska, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Canada, Mexico, the Bahamas, French territory off the Canadian coast and three British overseas territories.

    “You can count on me being a good partner, one who will try to meet you more than halfway … and who will team with you to solve problems; who does not want the credit when things are going well and who will shoulder responsibility when things are not,” Winnefeld told an audience that included state adjutants general and other National Guard leaders.

    “One of my most important priorities since I was nominated for this position has been to reach out to the Guard, to understand the Guard, to work closely with the Guard’s leadership and to seize the opportunities we have before us to join these agencies in a closer relationship in support of the citizens of our great country,” he said, noting that his first phone call upon being nominated was to Air Force Gen. Craig McKinley, the chief of the National Guard Bureau.

    “It’s a sobering responsibility to be in a leadership role in [America’s] last line of defense, but my most important partner in that last line of defense is the National Guard,” Winnefeld said. “I depend on the National Guard each and every day. … You’ve created a big believer in me. You’ve proven to me what a tremendously versatile force you really are. … The more I see, the more I like.”

    Winnefeld listed the close ties between the Guard and his command and the Guard’s support to his missions, including:

    The Air National Guard performs the vast majority of NORAD air sovereignty alert missions.

    The National Guard mans NORAD’s National Capitol Region integrated air defense system and NORTHCOM’s ballistic missile defense.

    The Guard plays a leading role in NORTHCOM’s chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and high-yield explosives (CBRNE) consequence management response plans.

    The National Guard supports NORTHCOM counterdrug, wildland firefighting and classified missions.

    The combatant command headquarters includes five National Guard general officers. The command’s senior enlisted leader is a Guard member – the first to hold the position at any combatant command.

    At any given time, about 100 Guard members from about 20 states work in temporary or permanent positions at NORAD and NORTHCOM. “We need experts who understand Guard policies and programs,” he said.

    The admiral said that he expects a National Guard officer soon to be nominated as his next deputy commander, a position previously filled by retired Army Lt. Gen. H Steven Blum, who was the 25th chief of the National Guard Bureau.

    And NORTHCOM could be the first combatant command led by a National Guard general officer.

    “You’ve heard Secretary Gates say publicly that he wants to position a National Guardsman to be the commander of NORAD and NORTHCOM,” Winnefeld said. “I support this.”

    In short, “The Guard enhances my capability, my capacity and my understanding,” he said. “The Guard is … a vital part of my mission space.”

    NORTHCOM and the Guard are, simply, partners, he said. “To anyone who doesn’t want this to work or doesn’t believe we’re making progress, I’m here to tell you: The train has left the station.”

    NEWS INFO

    Date Taken: 08.22.2010
    Date Posted: 08.24.2010 09:15
    Story ID: 55099
    Location: AUSTIN, TEXAS, US

    Web Views: 45
    Downloads: 2

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