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| [[Category:Earth Organizations]][[Image:NORAD.jpg|thumb|170px|left|NORAD logo]]
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| ==Summary==
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| The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) is a bi-national military organization
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| formally established in 1958 by Canada and the United States to monitor and defend North
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| American airspace.
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| Using data from satellites and ground base radar, NORAD monitors, validates and warns of attack
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| against North America by aircraft, missiles or space vehicles. NORAD also provides surveillance
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| and control of the airspace of Canada and the United States.
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| ==Cheyenne Mountain Operations Center==
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| {|
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| |valign="top"|[[Image:CMOC.jpg|thumb|170px|left|CMOC logo]]
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| |valign="top"|
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| The operational unit at Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station (CMAFS) is commonly referred to as
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| the Cheyenne Mountain Operations Center (CMOC). The installation contains elements from the
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| American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), U.S. Northern Command (USNORTHCOM), U.S. Strategic
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| Command and Air Force Space Command.
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| CMOC is one of the most unique installations in the world. Apart from the fact that it is housed
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| more than 2,400 feet underground, CMOC is also a joint and bi-national military organization
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| comprised of over 200 professional men and women from the Army, Navy, Marine, Air Force, and
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| Canadian Forces. Operations are conducted in eight centers manned 24 hours a day, 365 days a
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| year. The centers are the Air Warning Center, Missile Correlation Center, Domestic Warning
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| Center, Space Control Center, Operational Intelligence Watch, Systems Center, Weather Center,
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| and the Command Center. Additionally, CMOC is linked with 22 Federal Aviation Administration
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| centers nationwide which provide an internal air picture of the United States.
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| |-
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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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| |valign="top"|
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| The Cheyenne Mountain Complex became completely operational April 20, 1966. The Army Corps of
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| Engineers supervised the excavation and construction, using 1.5 million pounds of dynamite to
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| excavate approximately 700,000 tons of granite. The actual operations complex is a series of 15
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| buildings, 12 of which are three stories tall. The entire operations complex is mounted on 1,319
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| springs, each weighing 1,000 pounds, that allow the complex to sway up to 12 inches horizontally
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| in any direction. The tunnel structure is reinforced by 110,000 rock bolts six to 32 feet in
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| length that function like molly bolts, pushing outward on the walls to prevent implosion or
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| cave-in. The two main blast doors are 25 tons, 3½-feet-thick baffled steel. The often-seen shot
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| of the entrance to the Cheyenne Mountain Complex is, in fact, the entrance to the Cheyenne
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| Mountain Complex.
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| |}
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| ==Related Articles==
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| * [[Cheyenne Mountain Complex]]
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| ==Related Links==
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| * [http://www.norad.mil/Home.htm Official NORAD site]
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| ----
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| --[[User:Helen|Helen]] 14:08, 2 July 2006 (PDT)
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