Dear Members and Friends,
Across the river from Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado, MDAA hosted the 4th Annual Missile Warning and Missile Defender of the Year for NORAD and NORTHCOM for 2016 (Click here to visit MDAA’s event page with pictures from the ceremony). 36 years ago, Governor Ronald Reagan, during his visit to Cheyenne Mountain, asked the question: “Why don’t we have a defense against Soviet Nuclear missiles?” Today-and for over 60 years-a joint mission between the United States and its long-time friend and ally, Canada, has protected North American airspace. For most of that 60 years, the primary focus of that mission was air defense against Soviet bombers and detection and tracking of Soviet Nuclear ICBMs coming over the North Pole. After 9/11, NORTHCOM was formed and began working alongside NORAD to surveil and protect North America against all threats, including defending all 50 states against long-range nuclear ballistic missiles.
Today’s NORTHCOM Commander, General Lori Robinson, is the first female ever to hold the command and is a United States Air Force Commander that now returns to NORTHCOM after 9 years of U.S. Navy and U.S. Army commanders on a core competency Air Force mission. Under General Robinson is the Deputy Commander of NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command)–who is a 3-star Canadian military officer–and the Deputy Commander of NORTHCOM–who is a 3-star American National Guard Officer. LTG Pierre St-Amand of the Canadian Royal Air Force and LTG Dan Hokanson of the United States Army National Guard, the current Deputy Commanders for NORAD and NORTHCOM were present at this historic location in Colorado–where the seeds of modern day missile defense were planted by President Reagan–in recognition of their joint force, which have separate missions of missile warning and missile defense of North America and its population of 336 million.
LtGen Pierre St-Amand, Deputy Commander of NORAD:
“You need Trust to be able to participate in [missile defense] and this is something that we Canadians do not take Lightly.”
LTG Hokanson, Deputy Commander of NORTHCOM:
“These individuals here tonight are tasked with one of our nation’s most important missions, a mission that is no fail, and one that they perform every second of every day.”
In a proliferating world of challenges from Iran, North Korea and the near-peers of China and Russia–in their development of complex maneuverable reentry vehicles as well as for the latter hypersonic non-ballistic trajectory missiles–it is imperative that that United States stay ahead by being able to track and discriminate as well as maintain the capability to defeat these systems. It will require both right and left of launch capabilities from kinetic, cyber and electromagnetic force projection, as well as an offense and a defense working together as a team in a new era that is created and lead by General Lori Robinson.
As our nation has to strengthen our deterrent against near-peers and rouge nations, emphasis on Assurance to our allies and deterrence of our enemies cannot be done without a capability to defend our homeland. It is the foundation of keeping peace.
We are honored to announce the 2016 Missile Defenders and Missile Warners of NORTHCOM and NORAD that protect North America:
Lieutenant Colonel Keith B. Weber, U.S. Army, USNORTHCOM Missile Defender of the Year
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Mr. Daniel L. Vannucci, USNORTHCOM Civilian Missile Defender of the Year
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Colonel Paul R. Pfahler, U.S. Army, USNORTHCOM Lifetime Achievement Award
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Commander William M. Gallagher, U.S. Navy, USNORTHCOM Lifetime Achievement Award
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Lieutenant Colonel Steven H. Osborne, U.S. Air Force, NORAD Officer Missile Warning of the Year
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Technical Sergeant Kion F. Shaw, U.S. Air Force, NORAD NCO Missile Warning of the Year
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Speaking and presenting awards at the event were Major General Roger Mathews, Ret., Deputy Commanding General of the U.S. Army Pacific; Lieutenant General Pierr St-Amand, Deputy Commander of NORAD; Lieutenant General Daniel R. Hokanson, Deputy Commander of NORTHCOM; Brigadier General Gregory S. Bowen, Deputy Commanding General for Operations of USASMDC/ARSTRAT; and Captain William Johnson, Deputy Commander JFCC-IMD.
