Northern Command reiterates that we stood up this past October, what we call initial operational capability. We are proceeding to full operational capability 1 October of this year, but I can assure you if we can get there earlier, that is what we will do.

Secondly, I would put a little hedge on this and say that we probably are never going to be at full operational capability because we should never be satisfied with where we are. This mission will continue to evolve. We have got to stay steps, if not miles, ahead of the enemy. So we need to evolve and push for more capability over time.

It is one of those basic rules that we follow everywhere else except here in this area of responsibility, one command, one commander. Centralized command and control, decentralized execution and on 1 October we set that right. As you said, Mr. Chairman, one stop shopping for active duty military support, whether it is in the homeland defense or homeland security arena.

And then finally, I would offer to you, that regrettably this is going to become increasingly important as these threats increase to our great Nation.

(CHART 2)

U.S. NORTHCOM MISSION

We move to slide 2. The first bullet is a statement that pertains to any unified command-protect the United States's interests and the interest of our friends and allies in the area of responsibility, the classic homeland defense national security mission. But what is different with this area of responsibility is that our homeland is in our area of responsibility. So all things aren't equal in our area of responsibility, the crown jewels are in our area of responsibility. Therefore, you have the second bullet, and that is, provide military support to civil authorities when one, they ask; and two, the President decides that that is appropriate. And that is what makes this command different as shown in the second bullet there.

(CHART 3)

U.S. NORTHCOM'S AREA OF RESPONSIBILITY

As we move to slide three, what this slide is designed to do is show you our area of responsibility. It is also designed to reemphasize what I just said, that all things aren't equal in our AOR. Those green areas you see on this chart, are areas that are homeland, those are the things that we are really interested in. And they come first in terms of our priority.

And then finally we have the forward region out there. I have that annotated because what we really want to do is deter, prevent, and defeat as far forward as we possibly can. I would much rather capture or kill a terrorist in Afghanistan, in Iraq, out at sea in the Pacific or the Atlantic before they get inside our area of responsibility and certainly before they get inside the green areas, if you will.

So we are interested in things that happen anywhere in the world that might pose a threat to our area of responsibility and to this great Nation.

(CHART 4)

OUR ROLE IN PROTECTING THE HOMELAND

The next slide is an attempt to depict the spectrum of activity. At the far left and bottom are special security events where we will provide security as we did for the Olympics, as we did for the recent State of the Union address, which you all attended. The spectrum goes all the way to the far upper right, which is the classical homeland defense national security mission. Our involvement will vary across the spectrum based on what the capabilities are of the States, the other lead Federal agencies, the size of the threat, how long the threat persists, and what the President decides regarding use of military force.

What is different is that in almost every case in the homeland security mission, we are not going to be in charge. We will be in support of another lead Federal agency. But then in the homeland defense mission we will, in fact, be in charge.

(CHART 5)

PROVIDING FORCES TO U.S. NORTHCOM

We move to the next slide, it is a little bit busy, and I guess my alibi is that I cleaned it up a little bit. It was much busier before. But let's go up to number 1 in the upper left hand side of the slide. How this unfolds, in terms of whether it is a crisis management or a consequence management homeland security issue, that usually a governor, sometimes a lead Federal agency, but almost always a governor, would ask the President for help, for support. He or she does not have, inside the confines of that State, the wherewithal to deal with the threat as they perceive it or the consequence management situation confronting them.

They ask the President for support. The President decides, yes, we should provide Federal support. And at that time, in accordance with Federal Response Plan, or as the President dictates, a lead Federal agency is established. The lead Federal agency decides that they do, in fact, need active duty military support as they work this problem, whether it is crisis management or whether it is consequence management.

At that time the President approves military support. The President goes to the Pentagon and the Pentagon, at number 2, tells U.S. NORTHCOM you are the belly button, you are the one-stop shopping for military support, and tells us, in fact, to support this. Now, I think it is important here to stop for a second and say we are not sitting there waiting for this to happen. We are trying to, in my words, lead turn this. Obviously we are not getting ahead of the President, we are not getting ahead of the governor, but if we know there is a threat or if we know there is a natural disaster, we are pulling the plans off the shelf, we are looking at the forces that are available to us, we are starting to get our head in the game so that we can respond quickly. In some cases, we can even put forces on military installations close by and wait for the President to tell us to go ahead and engage.

So what is different is that we are focusing on this all day, every day. We are dressing out, if you will, waiting for them to call our plan. And then once orders are issued to us, then we have forces

assigned. If we need additional forces, there is a request for forces. Just like when Tommy Franks needs B-2s or B-1s, he goes to the Pentagon and he gets them.

And then we get those forces. Sometimes we get them from the National Guard, sometimes from Joint Forces Command, and sometimes we will get them from Pacific Command from the West Coast. And those forces will come to us for operational or tactical command and control. And we will employ those forces.

What we do day in and day out, whether we think we are about to have a hurricane hit, a flood, a forest fire, whatever it might be, we ask ourselves some very basic questions: What do we know? And does everyone else who needs to know? So it is more of a "need to share" information approach to life as opposed to the old "need to know," if you will.

The next thing we do is say who will be in charge. Will it be FEMA, will it be the FBI, will it be the Coast Guard? The next thing we ask ourselves is what might they need? What can we provide? We have to think differently here. A perfect example is the sniper attack here in the D.C. area. In most cases in the past, we wouldn't have thought about this, but we said what do we have that we can use in accordance with the laws of the land to protect the citizens of this great Nation? We had some surveillance capability that, in my view, proved valuable.

And then next, we ask ourselves what will be the command and control of those forces? How will we organize ourselves to support that lead Federal agency? We go through a very, very important checklist prior to the event.

So, again, we are ready, our head is in the game so we can respond quickly if the governor or the lead Federal agency, and the President, wants us to engage.

(CHART 6)

BALLISTIC MISSILE DEFENSE

Next slide, please. Obviously we shift from that to a classical national defense mission, and that is ballistic missile defense. Right now we are part of a partnership with the Missile Defense Agency, with the Strategic Command, and with other combatant commands. Essentially, what the Unified Command Plan states is that Strategic Command will be in charge of the overall architecture, the holistic global approach to missile defense, the layered approach that you have heard the President speak of. Strategic Command will also be in charge of detecting, characterizing the attack, and telling Pacific Command, European Command, Northern Command that a missile is headed your way. We think it is going to this place in your AOR and this is the kind of missile it is.

Now, our Area of Responsibility Northern Command, will be a little bit unique in that we will have interceptors in Alaska and, to a limited degree, in California that we will be able to use in the Initial Defensive Operations to counter those ICBMs. Strategic Command will have the overall global holistic view. They will do the detection, provide indications and warning, characterize the attack for us, and then we in Northern Command, would be the trigger pullers of those missiles that exist.

As you know, the clock is ticking. We will have this capability in September of 2004, the last day of September 2004, as we roll into 1 October. So we are busily working with the Missile Defense Agency, Strategic Command and other combatant commanders to develop concepts of operations to ensure we can command and control this capability.

(CHART 7)

U.S. NORTHCOM BUDGET HIGHLIGHTS

The next slide is something I know is very important to you as you proceed here with your markups. This is what our budget is in terms of the headquarters and our components. At the bottom is an Advance Concept Technology Demonstration, an ACTD, that we think will be very important in terms of sharing of information and command and control. We believe the ACTD will have application, not just with U.S. NORTHCOM, not just with the Department of Defense, but will, in fact, be very valuable as we work with the Homeland Security Department and other agencies involved in the security of this Nation.

(CHART 8)

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

One of the questions we often get is, "do you work for the Department of Homeland Security?" Again, we need to go back to the basic premise that we are like all other U.S. unified combatant commands. Therefore, our chain of command is to the Secretary of Defense, so we work for the Secretary of Defense. However, that interface, that interaction with the Department of Homeland Security is critical to the success of this mission.

So I like to look at it in terms of strategic, operational, and tactical relationships. At the strategic level, where we set policy, where we make resource commitments department to department, that will be the Secretary of Defense to the Secretary of Homeland Security. Where we do the operational planning so that we can ensure that we can execute that policy, that will be, to some extent, OSD and the Joint Staff. In large measure, that will also be Northern Command working with our counterpart organizations in the Department of Homeland Security. In some cases, it won't be in the Department of Homeland Security, they would be the FBI or any other organization that we need to work with.

Then you have the tactical level. We know how important that tactical level is because that is the "boots on the ground" the young men and women out there who are going to have to train together, exercise together and prepare for the unthinkable. That will be the tactical level department to department, Coast Guard with soldiers, sailors, it will be us with FEMA, and FBI, and the list goes on and

on.

(CHART 9)

CHALLENGES FOR U.S. NORTHCOM

Many challenges. And I believe all these challenges are workable. To the last slide. Obviously, resources and budgets are difficult. Although this is not a lot of money, it is a significant

amount. We need the right resources at the right time. The most important thing is to get the right people in this command. I can tell you that the Services are leaning forward and providing excellent support so that we can get the right faces in the right spaces to work this critical issue.

Relationships. I can tell you, Mr. Chairman, that I am very optimistic about what I have seen so far. I also regret to say that I was somewhat pessimistic earlier that people would be interested in their cultures, their turf. But as we bring people together in these table-top exercises, these war gaming events that we have conducted in Colorado Springs, I have seen, without exception, people from all of these other departments wanting to be part of the solution and not part of the problem.

And then finally, the key is the rapid deployment and employment of forces. Getting some place quickly so we, in fact, can hopefully be on the front end to deter, prevent, defeat. And if not so, that we can mitigate the damage of an attack, whether it is a natural disaster or whether it is man-made. That will be the key.

We ask for your support as we proceed down this road. Obviously we have just started this journey. What I can tell you is that compared to a year ago, or 6 months ago, or 3 months ago, we are much more prepared to deal with the unthinkable than we were before.

But we have got a long way to go. We need your support so we can do what the Secretary of Defense has said that this command is all about. It is to protect the men and women of this great Nation where they work and live. Thank you very much.

[The statement and charts of General Eberhart follow:]