The Rise Of Norad

The North American Air Defense Command, or as NORAD was known in those days, was a brainchild of the Joint Canadian-U.S. Military Group in 1956. The recommendation was then approved by the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff in February the following year and formally announced in August. A month after the announcement, NORAD moved in their new command station, the Ent Air Force Base’s 1954 blockhouse.

Image source: norad.mil

In 1958, the U.S. and Canada agreed on a few things. First, the NORAD commander was to be a U.S. officer, with a Canadian vice-commander. The primary purpose of NORAD was established as an early warning and defense for SAC’s retaliatory forces. Later that year, Canada and the U.S. began the Continental Air Defense Integration North (CADIN). This would be for the Semi-Automatic Ground Environment air defense network. The entire command would need over $5 billion to remain operation yearly. This was justified by the Nike Zeus program and the development of Ballistic Missile Early Warning System sites.

The construction of the NORAD bunker at Canada’s CFB North Bay started in 1959 and completed in 1963. Along with this, the USAF had eight smaller combat control central systems that gave NORAD the capability to command the entire U.S. air defense.

Image source: Wikipedia.com

The Cheyenne Mountain nuclear bunker became the headquarters for the U.S. NORAD in 1960.

Aerospace defense expert Scott Beale was Senior Vice President of Sales and Corporate Development of Tempus Applied Solutions. For more articles on the aerospace defense industry, follow this blog.

The birth of Aerospace Defense in the United States

The precursor to the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, was simply known as the Aerospace Defense Command. Though normally confused with one another, the Aerospace Defense Command was created to control the air defense forces during World War II.

               Image source: Wikipedia.org

During the war, the Continental United States air defense forces were under the Northeast, Northwest, Southeast, and Southwest Air Districts. These four air districts were created just before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Not only did these commands control USAAF air defense, but they also trained Army Ground Forces, in efforts to organize assignments and missions with air defenses.

A few months after the designation to the four air districts, the districts themselves were renamed to the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Air Forces. The 1st and 4th Air Forces were subsequently assigned to manage civilian the Aircraft Warning Service on West and East Coasts of the country.

During this time, the government saw it prudent to have air defense warning, which the USAAF’s Aircraft Warning Corps (AWC) was tasked to provide. These warnings came through information centers via a network of Army Radar Stations all over the coasts.

                                                                    Image source: floridamemory.com

An integral part of Aerospace Defense, the AWC worked closely with Ground Observer Corps. AWC information centers are responsible for distributing information of imminent attack to the four Air Forces. The Air Forces would then scramble interceptor aircraft to defend the sovereign airspace of the U.S.

Scott Beale is an aerospace defense expert with over 20 years of leadership experience. He is the former CEO and president of Aerodynamics Incorporated and Flightworks Inc. and most recently, the Senior Vice President of Corporate Sales and Development for Tempus Applied Solutions. For more on the aerospace defense industry, click here.