North American Aerospace Defense Command

It is also destroyed in the movie Independence Day, though not shown. (For details, please see Islamic calendar.) All future dates listed below are only estimates:. In the episode "A Matter of Time", the nearest secure phone above Stargate Command is at "NORAD, main level", which appears to be sub-level 2. Furthermore, the method used to determine when each Islamic month begins varies from country to country. NORAD is mentioned occasionally as being above the Stargate, housed in sub-level 28. While Ashurah is always on the same day of the Islamic calendar, the date on the Western calendar (the Gregorian calendar) varies from year to year due to differences between the two calendars, since the Islamic calendar is a lunar calendar and the Gregorian calendar is a solar calendar. Cheyenne Mountain is featured prominently in the television show Stargate SG-1, as it is the location for the fictional Stargate Command. Some scholars, however, suggest that this day is the tenth most important day that God has blessed Muslims with; hence the name Ashurah.

The movie is often used in support of nuclear disarmament, but is also one of the first movies to shed light on the culture of computer hacking. The general consensus is that the day is the tenth day of the month of Muharram. Barry Corbin played a fictional NORAD commanding officer, General Jack Beringer. In his book Ghuniyatut Talibin, Sheikh Abdul Qadir Jilani writes that the Islamic scholars have a difference of opinion as to why this day is known as Ashurah. Cheyenne Mountain was one of the settings of the 1983 motion picture WarGames, starring Matthew Broderick as a teenager that hacked NORAD's main computer and almost started a nuclear war (more precisely referred to as "global thermonuclear war" in the movie). The word Ashurah is Arabic for tenth. Furthermore, the Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 computer game features an in-game video of a call to NORAD from the President. The 2004 (1425 AH) Shi'a pilgrimage to Karbala, the first since Saddam Hussein was removed from power in Iraq, was marred by bomb attacks, which killed and wounded hundreds despite tight security.

NORAD is also featured in Tom Clancy's novel The Sum of All Fears and its associated film. [3]. [3]. Recently, Pakistan, Iraq and Afghanistan have all seen suicide Sunni bombers killing Shiite mourners. This has become a tradition ever since 1955. In countries that have significant populations of both sects, there is often violence during the holiday. This tradition started when a local Sears store in Colorado misprinted the phone number and kids, who thought they were calling Santa, called NORAD instead. The Sunni and Shi'a schism is highlighted by the difference in celebrations by Sunni and Shia Muslims.

2005 marked the 50th time of NORAD tracking Santa. Hence, Sunni practices commemorating Ashurah generally do not involve Hussein or his death and consist mainly of fasting and prayers. NORAD comes to public attention at Christmas, when it "tracks" Santa Claus on his journey around the world delivering toys for the world's children. While Sunnis generally consider the martyrdom of Hussein to be an unfortunate event and one of great historical importance, they do not ascribe religious significance to it as the Shi'a do. NORAD oversees Operation Noble Eagle using Fighter aircraft Combat Air Patrols (CAP) under command of First Air Force and Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) E-3 Sentry Aircraft under command of the 552nd Air Control Wing. The day carries considerably less significance for Sunnis than it does for Shi'as. After the events of September 11, 2001, the NORAD mission evolved to include monitoring of all aircraft flying in the interior of the United States. Today,Sunnis regard fasting on the 10th of Muharram as a recommended, though not obligatory, act.

However none of the proposed OTH-B radars are currently in operation. They remember the day when Children of Israel were liberated from the slavery of Egyptians. The Cheyenne Mountain site was also upgraded. According to Sunni tradition, when the Prophet led his followers to Medina, he found the Jews of that area fasting on the day of Ashurah in rememberance of Moses. But the DEW line sites were still replaced, in a scaled-back fashion by the North Warning System radars between 1986 and 1995. Sunnis also commemorate Ashurah, but for different reasons. To avoid cutbacks, from 1989 NORAD operations expanded to cover counter-drug operations—such as tracking small-engine aircraft. Many of the events associated with Ashurah are held in special congregation halls known as "Hussainia".

At the end of the Cold War NORAD reassessed its mission. [2]. These recommendations were accepted by the governments in 1985, there was also the formation of a new United States Space Command in September 1985 as an adjunct but not a component of NORAD. [1] The practice is not universal - many Shia enact the ritual by beating their chests symbolically. There followed significant reductions in the air defense system until the 1980s when following the 1979 Joint US-Canada Air Defense Study (JUSCADS) the need for the modernization of air defenses was accepted—the DEW Line was to be replaced with an improved arctic radar line called the North Warning System (NWS); there was to be the deployment of Over-the-Horizon Backscatter (OTH-B) radar; the assignment of more advanced fighters to NORAD, and the greater use of Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft from Tinker AFB, OK or Elmendorf AFB, AK. Some Shia celebrate Ashurah with a traditional flagellation ritual called zanjeer zani or zanjeer matam, involving the use of a zanjeer (a chain with a set of curved knives at the end). By the early 1970s, the acceptance of MAD led to a cut in the air defense budget and the repositioning of NORAD's mission to ensuring the integrity of air space during peacetime. The Iranian Revolution and social and political change and the anti-government uprising of the 1990s.

But there was increased effort to protect against a ICBM attack—two underground operations centers were set up, the main one inside Cheyenne Mountain, and an alternate at North Bay, Ontario. In neighboring Iran, the festival became a major political symbol during the Islamic Revolution, as also occurred in the Lebanese Civil War, and in Bahrain during the History of Bahrain. From 1963 the Air Force was reduced and sections of the now-obsolete radar system were shut down. The regime of Saddam Hussein saw this as a potential threat and banned Ashurah commemorations for many years. The extension of NORAD's mission into space led to a name change to the North American Aerospace Defense Command. Hussein's martyrdom is widely interpreted by Shi'a as a symbol of the struggle against injustice, tyranny, and oppression. In response, a space surveillance and missile warning system was constructed to provide worldwide space detection, tracking and identification. This is intended to connect them with Hussein's suffering and death.

The emergence of the ICBM and SLBM threat in the early 1960s was something of a blow. Shi'as also express mourning by thumping their chests. By the early 1960s, a quarter of a million personnel were involved in the operation of NORAD. Many Shi'a make pilgrimages on Ashurah to the Mashhad al-Hussein, the shrine in Karbala, Iraq that is traditionally held to be Husayn's tomb. A formal NORAD agreement between the two governments was signed on May 12, 1958. This day is of particular significance to Shi'a Muslims, who consider Hussein the third Imam and a rightful successor of Muhammad. On September 12, NORAD operations commenced at Ent, Colorado. .

Discussions and studies of joint systems had been ongoing since the early 1950s and culminated on August 1, 1957 with the announcement by the US and Canada to establish an integrated command, the North American Air Defense Command. The word ashurah means simply tenth in Arabic; hence the festival's name, literally translated, means "the tenth day". The command and control of the massive system then became a significant challenge. It was adopted by Muslims as a recommended fast in respect to the tribulations of Musa (Moses). Attacks across the Pacific or Atlantic would have been detected by AEW aircraft, Navy ships, or offshore radar platforms. Ashurah corresponds to the Jewish Yom Kippur, which was held by the Jews of Medina. The systems gave around three hours warning of bomber attack before they could reach any major population centre. Ashurah is also commemorated by Muslims as the traditional date on which Noah's ark came to rest, the Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) was born and the Ka'ba was built in Mecca.

This was a network of 57 stations along the 70th parallel. It is a day for mourning. The third joint system was the DEW Line, also completed in 1957. It commemorates the martyrdom of Husayn ibn Ali, the grandson of Muhammad at the Battle of Karbala in the year 61 AH (AD 680). This system was roughly 300 miles north of the Pinetree Line along the 55th parallel. The Day of Āshūrāh, sometimes spelled Aashurah, ‘Ashurah, Ashoura or Aashoorah (Arabic: عاشوراء, ʿĀšūrāʾ), is on the 10th day of Muharram in the Islamic calendar and marks the climax of the Festival of Muharram but not the Islamic month. In 1957, the McGill Fence was completed; it consisted of Doppler radar for the detection of low-flying craft. 2010: December 16.

However, technical defects in the system led to more radar networks being built. 2009: January 7, then December 27. The first series of radars was the Pinetree Line, completed in 1954, of 33 stations across southern Canada. 2008: January 19. In the early 1950s they agreed to construct a series of radar stations across North America to detect a Soviet attack over the pole. 2007: January 29. The growing perception of the threat of Soviet long-range strategic bombers armed with nuclear weapons brought Canada and the US into closer cooperation for air defense. 2006: February 9.

Department of Homeland Security, but both organizations coordinate training and planning USNORTHCOM missions. 2005: February 19. NORAD and USNORTHCOM have no direct command and control links with the U.S. 2004: March 2. forces have a commander for their contingents at Cheyenne Mountain. 2003: March 13. Both Canadian and U.S.

Traditionally the commanding officer of NORAD is American and the deputy commander Canadian. General Rick "Eric" Findley, Canadian Forces Air Command. The deputy commander of NORAD is Lt. Keating, USN, who is also the commander of the United States Northern Command (USNORTHCOM).

The present commanding officer of NORAD is Admiral Timothy J. Three subordinate headquarters at Elmendorf AFB, Alaska (Headquarters for the Alaskan NORAD Region (ANR)), CFB Winnipeg, Manitoba (dual Headquarters (HQ) for 1 Canadian Air Division (1CAD) and the Canadian NORAD Region (CANR)), and Tyndall AFB, Florida (Headquarters for First Air Force, the Continental NORAD Region (CONR) and the Southeast Air Defense Sector (SEADS)), receive direction from the Commander and control operations within their areas. The commander is based at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado with Cheyenne Mountain Operations Center, the central collection and coordination facility for the sensor systems around the world, nearby. The organization is headed by a commander appointed by both the President of the United States and the Prime Minister of Canada.

Aerospace control  includes providing surveillance and control of Canadian and United States airspace. Aerospace warning or integrated tactical warning and attack assessment (ITW/AA) covers the monitoring of man-made objects in space, and the detection, validation, and warning of attack against North America by aircraft, missiles, or space vehicles. NORAD consists of two main parts, corresponding to its mission. .

Air Force, under the command of the 721st Mission Support Group [1], part of the 21st Space Wing [2], headquartered out of Peterson Air Force Base. The facility is hosted by the U.S. While the terms "NORAD" and "Cheyenne Mountain" are often used interchangeably to describe the facility, NORAD is the name of the Command, while Cheyenne Mountain is the name of the facility. From 1963, NORAD's main technical facility has been located at Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado.

It was founded on May 12, 1958 under the name North American Air Defense Command. North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) is a joint United States and Canadian organization which provides aerospace warning and aerospace control for North America. Ashy, USAF (1994 – August 1996). Joseph W.

Estes III, USAF (August 1996 – 14 August 1998). Howell M. Myers, USAF (14 August 1998 – 22 February 2000). Richard B.

"Ed" Eberhart, USAF (22 February 2000 – 5 November 2004). Ralph E. Keating, USN (5 November 2004 – Present). Timothy J.