Andrea Charron - NORAD: In Perpetuity and Beyond

Series editor: Donald E. Abelson

Titles in this series address critical issues facing Canada at home and abroad and the efforts policymakers at all levels of government have made to address a host of complex and multifaceted policy concerns. Books in this series receive financial support from the Brian Mulroney Institute of Government at St Francis Xavier University; in keeping with the institutes mandate, these studies explore how leaders involved in key policy initiatives arrived at their decisions and what lessons can be learned. Combining rigorous academic analysis with thoughtful recommendations, this series compels readers to think more critically about how and why elected officials make certain policy choices, and how, in concert with other stakeholders, they can better navigate an increasingly complicated and crowded marketplace of ideas.

Braver Canada

Shaping Our Destiny in a Precarious World

Derek H. Burney and Fen Osler Hampson

The Canadian Federal Election of 2019

Edited by Jon H. Pammett and Christopher Dornan

Keeping Canada Running

Infrastructure and the Future of Governance in a Pandemic World

G. Bruce Doern, Christopher Stoney, and Robert Hilton

The Age of Consequence

The Ordeals of Public Policy in Canada

Charles McMillan

Government

Have Presidents and Prime Ministers Misdiagnosed the Patient?

Donald J. Savoie

Cyber-Threats to Canadian Democracy

Edited by Holly Ann Garnett and Michael Pal

The Canadian Federal Election of 2021

Edited by Jon H. Pammett and Christopher Dornan

CETA Implementation and Implications

Unravelling the Puzzle

Edited by Robert G. Finbow

Multilateral Sanctions Revisited

Lessons Learned from Margaret Doxey

Edited by Andrea Charron and Clara Portela

Booze, Cigarettes, and Constitutional Dust-Ups

Canadas Quest for Interprovincial Free Trade

Ryan Manucha

NORAD

In Perpetuity and Beyond

Andrea Charron and James Fergusson

Andrea Charron and James Fergusson

McGill-Queens University Press
Montreal & Kingston London Chicago

McGill-Queens University Press 2022

ISBN 978-0-2280-1399-0 (cloth)

ISBN 978-0-2280-1400-3 (paper)

ISBN 978-0-2280-1493-5 (ePDF)

ISBN 978-0-2280-1494-2 (ePUB)

Legal deposit fourth quarter 2022

Bibliothque nationale du Qubec

Printed in Canada on acid-free paper that is 100% ancient forest free (100% post-consumer recycled), processed chlorine free

This book has been published with the help of a grant from the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, through the Awards to Scholarly Publications Program, using funds provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts.

Nous remercions le Conseil des arts du Canada de son soutien.

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Title: NORAD : in perpetuity and beyond / Andrea Charron and James Fergusson.

Names: Charron, Andrea, author. | Fergusson, James G. (James Gordon), 1954author.

Series: McGill-Queens/Brian Mulroney Institute of Government studies in leadership, public policy, and governance; 11.

Description: Series statement: McGill-Queens/Brian Mulroney Institute of Government studies in leadership, public policy, and governance ; 11 | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: Canadiana (print) 20220259461 | Canadiana (ebook) 20220259666 | ISBN 9780228013990 (cloth) | ISBN 9780228014003 (paper) | ISBN 9780228014935 (ePDf) | ISBN 9780228014942 (ePUB)

Subjects: LCSH: North American Aerospace Defense Command. | LCSH: Command and control systemsTechnological innovationsCanada. | LCSH: Command and control systemsTechnological innovationsUnited States. | LCSH: GeopoliticsHistory21st century.

Classification: LCCUG735.C3 C43 2022 | DDC 358.4/1450971dc23

This book was typeset by True to Type in 10.5/13 Sabon

For Eric and Laura

Foreword
Gen (ret) Lori Robinson and LGen (ret) Pierre St-Amand

NORAD: In Perpetuity and Beyond offers the reader an accurate assessment of current and historical North American continental defense thinking and challenges. The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) has been a cornerstone of US and Canadian security and a model of military cooperation since its inception. It is a USCanada binational command, located in Colorado Springs, that provides both nations with aerospace warning, aerospace control, and maritime warning. NORAD has been a remarkable organization for over sixty years. But times are changing, and NORAD in its current form may no longer be a good fit. The authors challenge the reader to understand and consider the policy and military implications of changing North American defence requirements. By linking NORADs historical rationale and functions to current evolution efforts, the authors help define the problems to be resolved; while many questions remain without answers, the dialogue they are bound to stimulate will contribute to our combined security. This book should be required reading for scholars interested in North American security, policy advisors, and military planners of both the United States and Canadian services.

General (retired) Lori J. Robinson, USAF

Lieutenant-General (retired) Pierre J.J. St-Amand, RCAF

This book was several years in the making. It began with three dedicated reports on NORAD, entitled NORAD in Perpetuity? Challenges and Opportunities for Canada (2014), Left of Bang: NORADs Maritime Warning Mission and North American Domain Awareness (2015), and NORAD: Beyond Modernization (2019), funded by the Canadian Department of Defences Targeted Engagement Program. A former Chief of the Defence Staff, commanders, deputy commanders, policy advisors, current NORAD personnel, and historians spoke at this incredible event that featured a flyby by 2 CF-18s, not to mention static displays of historical NORAD interceptors (including the VooDoo), the 2018 CF-18 demonstration interceptor, and an amazing cake with a rotating globe that served hundreds. We are very grateful to the support and assistance of Global Affairs Canada, 1 CAD/CANR, 2 CAD and 17 Wing, and the NORAD headquarters.

While immersion into all things NORAD meant that we knew a little more about NORAD, we still had more questions. Building on the incredible scholarship of Joseph Jockel, Joel Sokolsky, and Richard Goette, to whom we are most indebted, we sought to consider the future of NORAD. Along the way, many were instrumental in shaping this book, including many serving and retired NORAD, Canadian and US military and civilian personnel, as well as academics including Troy Bouffard (with special thanks for his polar command plan map), Rob Huebert, Whitney Lackenbauer, Philippe Lagass, David Perry, Chris Sands, Stephen Saideman, Alan Stephenson, Matthew Trudgen, and many others. All omissions and errors remain solely the fault of the authors.