View source for NORAD

[[Category:Earth Organizations]][[Image:NORAD.jpg|thumb|170px|left|NORAD logo]]

==Summary==

The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) is a bi-national military organization
formally established in 1958 by Canada and the United States to monitor and defend North
American airspace.

Using data from satellites and ground base radar, NORAD monitors, validates and warns of attack
against North America by aircraft, missiles or space vehicles. NORAD also provides surveillance
and control of the airspace of Canada and the United States.

==Cheyenne Mountain Operations Center==

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|valign="top"|[[Image:CMOC.jpg|thumb|170px|left|CMOC logo]]
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The operational unit at Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station (CMAFS) is commonly referred to as
the Cheyenne Mountain Operations Center (CMOC). The installation contains elements from the
American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), U.S. Northern Command (USNORTHCOM), U.S. Strategic
Command and Air Force Space Command.

CMOC is one of the most unique installations in the world. Apart from the fact that it is housed
more than 2,400 feet underground, CMOC is also a joint and bi-national military organization
comprised of over 200 professional men and women from the Army, Navy, Marine, Air Force, and
Canadian Forces. Operations are conducted in eight centers manned 24 hours a day, 365 days a
year. The centers are the Air Warning Center, Missile Correlation Center, Domestic Warning
Center, Space Control Center, Operational Intelligence Watch, Systems Center, Weather Center,
and the Command Center. Additionally, CMOC is linked with 22 Federal Aviation Administration
centers nationwide which provide an internal air picture of the United States.
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|valign="top"|[[Image:cmoc_entrance.jpg|thumb|170px|left|[[Cheyenne Mountain Complex|Entrance to Cheyenne Mountain Complex]]]]
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The Cheyenne Mountain Complex became completely operational April 20, 1966. The Army Corps of
Engineers supervised the excavation and construction, using 1.5 million pounds of dynamite to
excavate approximately 700,000 tons of granite. The actual operations complex is a series of 15
buildings, 12 of which are three stories tall. The entire operations complex is mounted on 1,319
springs, each weighing 1,000 pounds, that allow the complex to sway up to 12 inches horizontally
in any direction. The tunnel structure is reinforced by 110,000 rock bolts six to 32 feet in
length that function like molly bolts, pushing outward on the walls to prevent implosion or
cave-in. The two main blast doors are 25 tons, 3½-feet-thick baffled steel. The often-seen shot
of the entrance to the Cheyenne Mountain Complex is, in fact, the entrance to the Cheyenne
Mountain Complex.
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==Related Articles==

* [[Cheyenne Mountain Complex]]

==Related Links==

* [http://www.norad.mil/Home.htm Official NORAD site]

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--[[User:Helen|Helen]] 14:08, 2 July 2006 (PDT)