NORTHCOM commander warns against complacency

By Army Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill
National Guard Bureau

The National Guard is an essential part of a whole-of-government approach to homeland defense and response to natural disasters, Air Force Gen. Victor E. Renuart Jr., commander, Northern Command, told about 2,400 people attending the National Guard's 2009 Joint Senior Leadership Conference at the Gaylord National Hotel and Conference Center in National Harbor, Md., on Nov. 20, 2009. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill) (Released)
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WASHINGTON (11/20/09) -- Complacency is the one word that concerns the commander of U.S. Northern Command .

“Complacency that we somehow believe that since there hasn’t been an attack since Sept. 11th that the world is returning back to normal,” Air Force Gen. Victor E. Renuart Jr., told about 2,400 people attending the National Guard’s 2009 Joint Senior Leadership Conference today.

“On the contrary, the threat is evolving. The terrorists are planners. They’re constantly thinking about how to exploit our vulnerabilities. If we build a 10-foot wall, they build an 11-foot ladder,” he said.

Renuart listed thwarted plots to attack a mall, a mass transportation system, a Marine base and a courthouse in the last four months. “The new normal is what we see today, not what we saw on Sept. 10th of 2001,” he said.

We should be proud of detection and deterrence successes, Renuart said, “But we ought not to forget that the threats continue.”

Prevention “isn’t luck, it is vigilance – it’s a matter of all of us working together employed as a whole-of-government approach,” he said. “It’s vigilant federal, state and local law enforcement. It’s vigilant interagency organization at all levels, much of it under the leadership of the Department of Homeland Security.”

NORTHCOM’s mission includes homeland defense and military support of civil authorities, and the National Guard is a key contributor to that mission.

“We need to continue to advocate for increased manning levels for our Reserve components, both Guard and Reserve,” Renuart said adding that appropriate equipment levels for domestic and overseas missions must also be maintained.

“The Citizen-Soldiers of our nation have been engaged intimately in virtually every activity in our country’s history,” he said. “Citizen-Soldiers from the early militias to today’s Guard have fought in every major war since the new Massachusetts Bay colony militia … The [National Guard’s] been an essential part of the fabric of America since 1636.”

National Guard contributions include protecting America ’s air sovereignty. “The Air Guard is the critical piece of that force,” Renuart said. “They perform brilliantly every day conducting Noble Eagle missions.”

Army National Guard contributions include a mission protecting the nation’s capitol from possible threats from the air, he said, and “my hat’s off to those young men and women."

Army National Guardmembers, who partner with active duty troops for ground-based missile defense missions in Alaska, California and Colorado, also make a key contribution to the nation’s defense, he said.

The National Guard is stepping in to new areas, he said. “”We’re beginning to see Guardsmen across the country become more involved in the cyber security challenges of our nation,” he said.

The National Guard is one partner in a total force that requires collaboration, coordination and communication, Renuart said. Responses to homeland defense or disaster missions must be wholistic.

“Collaboration has never been more important than it is today,” he said, calling the first-ever joint senior leadership conference a “great initiative.”

Notable National Guard strengths include the 62-nation State Partnership Program, Renuart said. “Around the world, combatant commanders get great value with their Guardsmen coming into their partner countries."

At home, the National Guard can be found in every community in the nation. “Nobody knows that connection to our communities better than the National Guard,” he said.

Areas for improvement include sharing Defense Department civil support plans with partners, Renuart said. “DOD plans were restricted from being released,” he said. “We have special authority now from the secretary [of defense] to release them. … We need to be more transparent with state and local planners. … We’re trying to find ways to take away the veils that are sometimes around the Department of Defense and create a more open and transparent exchange of information.”

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