COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – For the second year running, North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command hosted international government and military leaders at a Homeland Defense and Civil Support Perspectives forum yesterday and today in Colorado Springs, Colo.
About 60 officials from Australia, Canada, Mexico, Norway, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the United States met to discuss methods of and ways to improve Homeland Defense and Civil Support processes.
“Every country faces different disruptive challenges across both hazards and threats – terrorist and non-terrorist related,” said Brigadier Chip Chapman, Director (Military) Counter Terrorism and United Kingdom Operations in the Ministry of Defence. “And so to exchange ideas in an international forum must be good in terms of making sure that our knowledge base and the different approaches of different countries may have applicability in other countries.”
As each nation has different perspectives regarding Homeland Defense and Civil Support, the forum offered representatives the opportunity to share their processes, procedures, and concepts so that they could return home better able to serve their respective countries.
“There’s a lot of discussion, and we are here to find out more of the knowledge and expertise,” said Singapore’s Maj. Steven Teo. “The United States is a big country; Singapore is tiny. We try to bring the lessons learned back home and apply them.”
NORAD is the bi-national Canadian and American command responsible for the air defense of North America and maritime warning for Canada and the United States.
U.S. Northern Command was established on Oct. 1, 2002, to anticipate and conduct homeland defense and civil support operations within the assigned area of responsibility to defend, protect, and secure the United States and its interests.