From cyberattacks to increasingly severe weather, the U.S. faces growing homeland security challenges, the commander of U.S. Northern Command said.
Conditions around the world are “the most dynamic and challenging as I’ve seen,” Air Force Gen. Glen VanHerck said.
When it comes to supporting homeland defense, the Army is leading the charge through integrated deterrence, the commander of U.S. Northern Command said Oct. 11.
A long-held belief that the U.S. is safe from attacks has created a “false sense of security,” especially as the Army’s ability to project power is undermined by potential adversaries’ global technological reach, a senior leader said.
Speaking at the 2022 Strategic Landpower Symposium hosted by the U.S. Army War College, Lt. Gen. John Evans, commander of U.S. Army North, said if an attack took place on the homeland, it would take shape in the land domain, no matter which domain is used to deliver the threat.
U.S. Army North, already overseeing DoD COVID-19 operations in Texas, will deploy military medical personnel to California as the global fight against the novel coronavirus continues.
“We’re working with FEMA across the entire country to determine what other military capabilities may be needed to assist in this fight,” Lt. Gen. Laura Richardson, Army North commander, said July 14 during the Association of the U.S. Army’s Thought Leaders webinar series.
From cyber attacks to near-peer threats, the U.S. homeland is “no longer a sanctuary,” according to a panel of experts who spoke during the Association of the U.S. Army’s Annual Meeting and Exposition.
Former Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson encouraged optimism despite the current political climate at a recent celebration of Black History Month hosted by the Association of the U.S. Army.
“If we know history, we can learn from it,” Johnson said at the General Gordon R. Sullivan Conference and Event Center in Arlington, Va. “Right now, we face unprecedented levels of political polarization and uncivil dialogue. Keep the faith and be optimistic about the future of our democracy.”
Johnson said one of the reasons he’s optimistic is “it’s in my DNA.”
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis traveled to Texas to the U.S.-Mexico border to meet with some of the estimated 5,900 active-duty U.S. troops deployed there in support of the Department of Homeland Security.
The border deployment aims to provide additional capability and capacity to U.S. Customs and Border Protection in reinforcing points of entry and shoring up the border with concertina wire and other barriers. The capabilities include engineering battalions, military police, planning teams, integrated command and control, aviation, medical and logistics assets.
The American homeland is more secure than it has been in recent years, thanks to the relationship between DoD and Homeland Security, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen M. Nielsen said today at the AUSA Annual Meeting and Exposition in Washington, D.C.
“The partnership between the departments of Homeland Security and Defense has made America immeasurably safer,” Nielsen said in an afternoon address that garnered a standing ovation from a mostly uniformed audience.
The U.S. military needs to remain engaged in Afghanistan because of the continued threat to the U.S. homeland coming from the region, says Army Gen. John Nicholson, commander of U.S. Forces Afghanistan and the NATO Resolute Support mission.
“It is too soon to take the pressure off,” he said during a teleconference from Kabul. “Remember that 21 designated terrorist organizations exist in this region.”
