U.S. Northern Command

In the wake of the terror attacks of September 11, 2001, the national government of the United States advanced the idea of reorganizing the Department of Defense’s Unified Command Plan to include a new joint command with the responsibility for providing defense of the homeland against terrorism and transnational criminal activities. This new command—Northern Command (NORTHCOM)— was established in April 2002 and became operational on October 1, 2002, with headquarters at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado. The commander of the new organization would also have command responsibilities for the North American Aerospace Defense Command, a long established binational command operated in conjunction with Canadian Defense Forces, with air defense responsibilities for North America.

The command takes guidance from the National Response Framework and Joint Publications 3-26 (Counterterrorism) and 3-28 (Civilian Support). The joint publications establish doctrine by which the command operates.

The mission of NORTHCOM is to conduct homeland defense, civil support, and security cooperation to defend and secure the United States and its interests. Its area of operation includes the continental United States, Alaska, Canada, Mexico, and the surrounding waters out to 500 miles off shore. This area of operation also includes the Gulf of Mexico, the Straits of Florida portions of the Caribbean region to include the Bahamas, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Though the mission of NORTHCOM is wide ranging, the command has relatively few organic forces. Its component commands provide forces as they are needed. This arrangement proved problematic in the first decade of Northern Command’s existence due to the high operational tempo of forces [Page 1535]engaged in wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Similarly, as the National Guard is the major federal force provider, conflicts often arise concerning authority over these forces when civil support is needed. Governors command National Guard forces under Title 32 when forces are deployed to support state operations. Under federal activation (Title 10), the Commander of NORTHCOM would retain command authority. This tension has not been fully mediated and has often led to difficulties, particularly when forces are being deployed to support disaster relief.

The command is currently organized around the joint task force model. At present, there are four joint task forces, along with component commands, found on the NORTHCOM’s organizational chart. Joint Task Force-National Capital Region (JTF-NCR) is headquartered at Fort McNair in the Washington, D.C., area. Because of the critical nature of the National Capital Region, this command element is in place to provide homeland defense and support to civilian authorities in the area. An important function of this task force is its role in events of national significance. With proximity to the national command authority, the NORTHCOM elements can coordinate activities for all military elements supporting civilian response and recovery actions.

The second JTF is assigned responsibilities for Alaska—JTF-AK. This headquarters has the responsibility of coordinating all military support to civilian authority to protect national interests in Alaska.

The JTF with perhaps the most difficult mission in NORTHCOM is the one with civil support (JTF-CS) responsibilities. The JTF-CS, headquartered at Fort Monroe in Virginia, has the primary role of providing capabilities for detecting and combating chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and high-yield explosive consequence management operations. There are 55 civilian support teams organized across the country to provide immediate response when chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and high-yield explosive weaponry is thought to be in play. As nearly all mitigation capability is found in the military, this task force performs a critical mission in the defense of the nation against weapons of mass destruction.

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