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Press Releases
Press Release | May 18, 2018

NORAD and USNORTHCOM to host change of command ceremony

NORAD and USNORTHCOM Public Affairs

PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo.  –  

Air Force Gen. Terrence J. O'Shaughnessy will assume command of the North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command during a ceremony at 9 a.m. MDT May 24 in Hangar 1 on Peterson Air Force Base, Colo.

O’Shaughnessy, who was previously the commander of Pacific Air Forces, takes over from Gen. Lori Robinson, who is retiring after 36 years of service.

The ceremony will be livestreamed at the following websites:

DVIDS: https://www.dvidshub.net/webcast/15337, NORAD.mil, NORTHCOM.mil, Defense.gov, DefenseTV and via Facebook Live.

Guests of honor at the change of command ceremony includes the U.S. Secretary of Defense, Jim Mattis, Canadian Minister of National Defence, Harjit S. Sajjan, U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Joseph F. Dunford, Jr., and Canadian Armed Forces Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Jonathan H. Vance. Mattis and Vance will preside over the ceremony.

The ceremony is open to invited guests and people with base access.

NORAD is a bi-national command between the U.S. and Canada charged with the missions of aerospace warning and aerospace control for North America while USNORTHCOM partners to conduct homeland defense, civil support and security cooperation to defend and secure the U.S. and its interests. The two commands have complementary missions and are co-located together on Peterson AFB in Colorado Springs, Colo. NORAD recently celebrated 60 years of ongoing partnership between the U.S. and Canada.