[infowar.de] Northern Command begins training exercises

[Wolfgang Stieler <wst -! - ct - heise - de>]

Infowar.de, http://userpage.fu-berlin.de/~bendrath/liste.html
-------------------------------------------------------------

Northern Command begins training exercises
By Loring Wirbel, EE Times
Aug 14, 2002 (1:05 PM)
URL: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20020814S0037 COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.=20
-- The U.S. Northern Command, which is expected to rely on electronic=20
intelligence and is scheduled to be activated Oct. 1, gave an overview of=20
its initial activities Wednesday (Aug. 14) in preparation for large-scale=20
validation exercises next month. Formed in the aftermath of the Sept. 11=20
terrorist attacks, the United States' first domestic combat command is=20
moving into facilities once occupied by the Space Command at Peterson Air=20
Force Base here. Space Command was merged into the Strategic Command at=20
Offut Air Force Base in Nebraska when the Northern Command was established=20
in April. The command's specific responsibilities for electronic=20
intelligence and computer warfare are still to be decided, said Capt. Ned=20
Carroll, deputy chief of staff for the Northern Command. For example, the=20
North American Aerospace Defense Command (Norad) will not be dissolved or=20
merged into Strategic Command, but will operate side by side with the=20
Northern and Strategic Commands at facilities such as the Cheyenne Mountain =

operations center. Norad is a multinational command that also involves=20
Canadian forces. Northern Command could add special land and maritime units =

to existing intelligence and operations bases, Carroll said, but would not=20
seek to displace other agencies. "Norad will not become a subset of=20
Northern Command," Carroll said. "Is there a potential for Norad to expand? =

Certainly. Are the Canadians interested? Certainly. But the Northern=20
Command is only six weeks old, so much of this remains to be worked out."=20
On paper, the Strategic Command took over the bulk of responsibility for=20
computer warfare and for national missile defense when the Space Command=20
was merged into it, Carroll said. But in practice, areas of computer=20
network defense and missile defense that apply to North America will be=20
handled by Northern Command. The Northern Command will have partial=20
oversight over such domestic military groups as Air Combat Command, Navy=20
Atlantic Fleet and Joint Task Force 6, Carroll said. Relations with the=20
Department of Homeland Security and civilian law enforcement are much more=20
loosely defined, he said. In a mid-July interview with The New York Times,=20
Gen. Ed Eberhart, the head of the Northern Command, raised the possibility=20
of reviewing the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 to allow greater military=20
involvement in law enforcement. But Carroll said that the Homeland Security =

Department is still in too early a stage of formation to even consider the=20
operational issues of how Northern Command will deal with the department.=20
What is clear, however, is that Northern Command will have to deal with=20
local, state and federal civilian agencies through the Secretary of Defense =

or the president, and only through their direction. Carroll said that the=20
mayor of a city could not call up the Northern Command for help, but would=20
have to go through Defense Department channels. The White House or Defense=20
Department would then determine from Washington the limits to which=20
Northern Command could assist in civilian missions such as disaster relief=20
or law enforcement.

Copyright 2002 =A9 CMP Media, LLC
EE Times
--
Dr. Wolfgang Stieler
Redaktion c't
Helstorfer Str.7
30625 Hannover
Tel 0511 5352 300
Fax 0511 5252 417


---------------------------------------------------------------
Liste verlassen: 
Mail an infowar -
 de-request -!
- infopeace -
 de mit "unsubscribe" im Text.