PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. -- The Navy's top senior enlisted leader met with Sailors, Marines and Coast Guard personnel assigned to the North American Aerospace Defense Command and United States Northern Command during his two-day visit to the military commands responsible for the Department of Defense's homeland defense mission.
"Your family, friends and neighbors are counting on you, because you're the ones who stand between them and the bad guys," Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy Terry D. Scott told homeland defenders here during a Nov. 17 Sea Services Call.
"There is something special about a citizen of this country who stands up, raises their right hand and swears to support and defend the Constitution of the United States," Scott continued. "Anyone who is willing to do that deserves our gratitude."
Scott praised the commands for their service defending the homeland and their response to aid victims following Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma.
USNORTHCOM, created in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States, serves as the Department of Defense's lead for homeland defense and defense support to civil authorities. NORAD is charged with providing comprehensive, integrated aerospace defense of North America.
Since becoming the 10th Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy in April 2002, Scott has been an advocate of fostering a "greater awareness, understanding and appreciation for joint warfighting."
The 280 Sailors assigned to NORAD and USNORTHCOM get a "first-hand" look at how the Navy is "involved and engaged" at the commands, he said.
"It's important they understand that we are becoming more joint and that we are interdependent in the way we operate and will continue to operate," Scott said.
Sailors serving here at 6,000 feet above sea level get a "broader perspective of what their service means and what our armed services do for our nation," he said.
But it's the evolution of the joint environment, bringing members of each branch of the armed services together, that ensures "we come up with a better solution," one that's not centrally focused on any one service's strengths, Scott said.
Each branch of the military service has "tremendous capability, talent and skill" focused in a certain domain -- land, amphibious, maritime or air, Scott said, but it's the "diversity of those backgrounds and perspectives that creates a capability much greater than the sum of the component parts."
As for the Navy's contribution to USNORTHCOM?s maritime domain role, Scott said that the service fits in well.
"Maintaining maritime domain awareness is absolutely essential if we are to continue to not only protect our citizens from threats in the maritime domain, but maintain those economic lifelines that are absolutely essential for this nation's prosperity."