- COLORADO SPRINGS - The nation's
new bulwark against terrorist attacks will spring to life this morning
at Peterson Air Force Base.
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- The Northern Command will be activated in a 10 a.m. ceremony
slated to draw top military brass and Assistant Secretary of Defense Paul
Wolfowitz to the command's home base in Colorado Springs.
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- Northern Command will have no troops under its direct
control, but in the event of a terrorist threat or attack on the United
States, it will have the authority to call upon any military forces - Army,
Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard.
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- "We will use the components of air, land and sea
as necessary to ensure the security of this nation from external and internal
threats," said Gen. Ralph E. Eberhart, the new commander of NORTHCOM.
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- All of the components - from jet fighters to National
Guard troops - were available and activated after the Sept. 11 terrorist
attacks, but they were directed by a variety of military commands. Northern
Command is intended to provide a unified command to coordinate and direct
the responding military units.
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- The command's area of responsibility will include all
approaches to the United States and North America, extending 500 miles
out from the coastlines.
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- The command will have about 500 personnel at a new $90
million headquarters building scheduled for completion early next spring
at Peterson Air Force Base.
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- About 200 people now work under the command at locations
around the base.
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- Just how will NORTHCOM carry out its duties?
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- Information is the key, and widespread information and
intelligence sharing with civilian agencies in state, local and federal
government will be crucial, said Eberhart.
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- Organizations including the Federal Aviation Administration,
FBI, U.S. Customs Service and the U.S. Postal Service can provide crucial
links by the information they collect and furnish, said Eberhart.
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- "I truly believe that our success will more than
anything else be based on sound relationships and the trust and confidence
in information sharing that sound relationships bring," Eberhart said.
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- Failing to share information has been cited as one reason
the terrorist attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center succeeded
Sept. 11.
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- Accurate information sharing will enable the Northern
Command to call upon other military operations, such as NORAD, to place
combat air patrols over a city, or the Coast Guard, which would put ships
in a harbor to "deter, prevent and defeat" threats as they are
discovered, Eberhart said.
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- Northern Command's early priority will be building trust
with agencies to create a free flow of information and intelligence crucial
to identifying and evaluating threats, he said.
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- Eberhart emphasized that not all terrorist threats will
be met with military troops from Northern Command. In fact, threats that
arise from within the borders will be met primarily by civilian agencies.
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- "In most cases, law enforcement will have the lead.
If they don't have the capacity or capability, we will be there to support
them," said Eberhart.
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- fosterd@RockyMountainNews.com or 719 633-4442
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