FORT CARSON, Colo. – The National Guard is a vital contributor to North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command, Gen. Gregory Guillot told National Guard adjutants general and senior enlisted leaders from the 50 states, three U.S. territories and the District of Columbia gathered in Colorado Springs on Oct. 29.
“The success of NORAD/USNORTHCOM starts and stops with the National Guard,” Guillot, commander of NORAD and USNORTHCOM, said. “We are reliant on the National Guard in all facets of our missions to defend our homeland, conduct security cooperation activities with allies and partners, and support civil authorities.
“Like you in your states, we’re not singularly focused,” he said. “But everywhere I go, I see seamless integration with the reserve component. That will always be the secret sauce we have that our adversaries don’t.”
NORAD is a United States and Canadian bi-national organization charged with aerospace warning, aerospace control and maritime warning for North America. USNORTHCOM plans, organizes and executes homeland defense and civil support missions, but has few permanently assigned forces.
The National Guard is the primary combat reserve of the Army and the Air Force. Because its units are manned, trained and equipped for the rigors of combat, Guardsmen are often called upon to work with civil authorities during crises in communities throughout the United States.
Guillot praised the National Guard for its multi-state response that sent thousands of Guardsmen to the Southeast to respond to the devastation left by hurricanes Helene and Milton.
The National Guard’s top officer said the Guard’s capacity and readiness to help communities in the wake of disaster is a strategic advantage—and deterrence.
“That’s one of the benefits the National Guard brings,” Air Force Gen. Steven Nordhaus, chief, National Guard Bureau, said. “The fact that our Guardsmen work with NORAD/NORTHCOM, FEMA and interagency partners to quickly respond to any type of event that happens within our nation deters our enemies from thinking anything they could do to affect us would have long term implications.
“The National Guard is 430,000 strong,” he said. “We are forward deployed in every American ZIP code to provide support wherever we’re needed.”
FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said the Department of Defense is FEMA’s biggest partner and a force multiplier. She commended the Guard’s ability to rapidly activate forces through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact.
The EMAC helps during governor-declared states of emergency or disasters through a responsive, straightforward system that allows states to send personnel, equipment and commodities to assist with response and recovery efforts in other states.
“The National Guard is so agile and a critical piece of what we do at FEMA,” Criswell said.
She encouraged the adjutants general to use the EMAC as much as possible.
“It’s quicker to get resources where they’re needed as soon as possible,” she said. “Through the EMAC, the Guard can help meet the scale of any disaster that overwhelms local response agencies.”
National Guard and NORAD/NORTHCOM leaders discussed key focus areas on the North American continent including strengthening interagency and international partnerships, countering unmanned aircraft systems, the strategic importance of the Arctic, defense support to civil authorities and protecting critical infrastructure.
Nordhaus said the adjutants general are the best conduits in their states to make the necessary connections at the local level to nurture and establish partnerships with civil authorities.
When the Marshall Fire—the most destructive fire in Colorado history—destroyed almost a thousand homes in north central Colorado in December 2021, the Colorado National Guard began working even closer with interagency partners to identify critical infrastructure and examine the interdependencies that exist therein.
Army Maj. Gen. Laura Clellan, the adjutant general of Colorado, encouraged her peers to do the same in their states.
“It’s really a whole of society approach,” Clellan said, “it’s about getting the right people together at the table and developing a plan before it’s too late.”
National Guardsmen also perform steady state homeland defense and security operations—an assortment of capabilities Guillot described as just in case and just in time.
These include the Aerospace Control Alert mission—a national network of fully-loaded aircraft, ready to respond to airborne threats or aggression at a moment’s notice, ground-based intercontinental ballistic missile defense, civil support teams, counterdrug and cyber operations, and Southwest Border support.
“Thank you for your contributions to our nation,” Guillot said. “I am grateful for your commitment to be Always Ready, Always There.”
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