Northcom Looks to Expand Partnership with Guard

By Army Sgt. Darron Salzer

National Guard Bureau

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md., Feb. 10, 2011 – U.S. Northern Command depends heavily on the National Guard and is looking for more opportunities to expand that partnership, Northcom’s deputy commander said here recently.

In remarks Jan. 20 during the National Guard Bureau Domestic Operations Workshop, Army Lt. Gen. Frank J. Grass said the National Guard is Northcom’s most important partner in its three critical mission areas: homeland defense, security cooperation and civil support.

“And if you look across the board at the things that we do,” he added, “there is not a mission that we do that the Air Guard or Army Guard doesn’t touch every day or accomplish for us.”

Grass said partnering between Northcom and the National Guard is a critical component of today’s national security strategy.

Grass noted eight areas of focus for Northcom that affect the homeland the most and said some of those areas hold potential for growth in the Northcom-National Guard Partnership.

The focus areas are:

-- Counterterrorism and force protection;

-- Combating transnational criminal organizations;

-- Defense support of civil authorities;

-- Chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear consequence management;

-- Maritime warning;

-- Aerospace warning and control;

-- Missile defense; and

-- The Arctic region.

“We are interested in hearing from the states through the National Guard Bureau on where [our two agencies] can partner more,” the general said. “The National Guard makes me proud every day, and it will be written in history that [the Guard] did an amazing job for the nation, and that you are a true national treasure.”