The commander of
North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) is a
four-star general or
admiral
Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...
in the
United States Armed Forces who serves as the head of all
United States and
Canadian joint aerospace military operational forces, stationed within the
North American territories. The commander of NORAD concurrently serves as the commander of
United States Northern Command and is the head of all U.S. military forces within the command's geographical
area of responsibility
Area of responsibility (AOR) is a pre-defined geographic region assigned to Combatant commanders of the Unified Command Plan (UCP), that are used to define an area with specific geographic boundaries where they have the authority to plan and cond ...
. The commander of NORAD is nominated for appointment by the
President of the United States and must be confirmed by the
United States Senate. Prior to 2001, the title for the commander of NORAD was called the Commander-in-Chief of the North American Aerospace Defense Command. The commander of NORAD typically serves for two years.
List of deputy commanders
In recent years deputy commanders have always been Canadian air force
lieutenant generals. Prior to the 1968 unification of the
Canadian Forces, the deputy commanders were
RCAF Air Marshals.
References
{{Reflist
North American Aerospace Defense Command
North American military personnel
Canadian air force generals and air marshals
Lists of military commanders