Operation Noble Eagle (ONE) is the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

military operation related to homeland security and support to federal, state, and local agencies. The operation began 11 September 2001, in response to the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...

History

Operation Noble Eagle began with the mobilization of thousands of

National Guard National Guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. Nat ...

and reserve personnel to perform security missions on military installations, airports and other potential targets such as bridges, power plants, and port facilities. These reservists were called to active duty under a mobilization authority known as a partial mobilization (10 USC 12302). In a time of national emergency declared by the

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

, partial mobilization authorizes the President to order members of the

ready reserve The Ready Reserve is a U.S. Department of Defense program which maintains a pool of trained service members that may be recalled to active duty should the need arise. It is composed of service members that are contracted to serve in the Ready Rese ...

to active duty for a period not to exceed 24 consecutive months. Additionally, in 2001 and 2002, thousands of members of the National Guard were activated at the order of their respective governors to provide additional security at airports. They were called up under Title 32 of the U.S. Code, which means they were under state control, but with federal pay and benefits. The

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environm ...

assisted in providing defense of the northern border of the United States. The

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

's 759th Military Police Battalion, 144th Military Police Company and the 177th Military Police Brigade were assigned the task of protecting the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...

the Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense. It was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As a symbol of the U.S. military, the phrase ''The Pentagon'' is often used as a meton ...

and the

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, along with other Army National Guard units that were tasked with augmenting the

U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Sign ...

(USAF) air defense perimeter around the National Capital Region.

Requirement

United States civilian and military leaders are beginning to regard the costly air defense operation above North American cities as a permanent defense requirement demanding significant attention from

North American Aerospace Defense Command North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD ), known until March 1981 as the North American Air Defense Command, is a combined organization of the United States and Canada that provides aerospace warning, air sovereignty, and protection ...

(NORAD). The current focus is on improving command and control of the homeland air defense missions in 1997.

Equipment

The

United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national sec ...

provided F-15 Eagles and F-16 Fighting Falcons to this operation, and the

Canadian Forces } The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; french: Forces armées canadiennes, ''FAC'') are the unified military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air elements referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army, and Royal Canadian Air Forc ...

provided CF-18 Hornets. The US Army National Guard provided AN/TWQ-1 Avenger short range air defense MANPADS to provide close range air defense protection under the control of the USAF Joint Air Defense Operations Center (JADOC) and CONR. The JADOC Suite is an integrated USAF connectivity center used in point defense of the National Capital Region. The Suite provides capability for tactical C2 execution for the Joint Task Force/

Joint Forces Air Component Commander Joint force air component commander (JFACC) is a United States Department of Defense doctrinal term. It is pronounced "Jay-Fack". It refers to a senior officer who is responsible for the air forces within a joint force; i.e., a military force com ...

(JTF/JFACC) under the Operation Noble Eagle (ONE) mission as part of the National Capital Region-Integrated Air Defense System (NCR-IADS - National Capital Region Integrated Air Defense Systems). It is currently fielded and operational. It was developed in response to an urgent need request for enhanced air defense of the NCR per SECDEF direction through a joint rapid acquisition cell. The architecture consists of an air surveillance fusion system and the C2 connectivity center, which includes a

Link 16 Link 16 is a military tactical data link network used by NATO and nations allowed by the MIDS International Program Office (IPO). Its specification is part of the family of Tactical Data Links. With Link 16, military aircraft as well as ship ...

capable terminal and Situational Awareness Data Link (SADL) capability.

Canadian NORAD Region

As the Canadian geographical component of NORAD, CANR provides airspace surveillance and control, and directs all air sovereignty activities for the Canadian NORAD Region. CANR and its assigned Royal Canadian Air Force assets throughout the country ensure air safety and security against potential air threats and have supported special events such as the G-8 Summit and the visits of foreign dignitaries. The Canadian NORAD Region flew Operation Noble Eagle air defense protection missions in the Windsor, Ontario/Detroit, Michigan area on 5 February 2006, in support of

Super Bowl XL Super Bowl XL was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Seattle Seahawks and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Pittsburgh Steelers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion f ...

at Ford Field. These types of missions had become more common at organized entertainment such as the Super Bowl.

References

External links