TOP STORY >>USNORTHCOM commander discusses roles, missions

By Capt. David Faggard
314th Airlift Wing Public Affairs

The military commander who commands and controls Department of Defense homeland defense efforts and defense support of civil authorities understands the need for tactical airlift.

Gen. Gene Renuart, commander of North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command, took time to learn a little bit more about tactical airlift by visiting C-130 training at the DoD’s C-130 Center of Excellence recently.

“As USNORTHCOM commander, I get a lot of opportunities to fly and work with Airmen that provide tactical airlift,” the four-star general said. “Virtually every state has some role with C-130s, and flying with those crews allows me to see their readiness and how their unit fits into state and federal response plans.”

Tactical airlift is vastly important, Renuart said. Some missions, such as taking feed to stranded horses and cows following heavy snows in Colorado and the Midwest this past winter, support the homeland.

But, the general added, C-130s are mostly known for the support they provide to warfighters.

“The C-130s are workhorses of war,” Renuart said. “At any time, we have 60 (to) 70 aircraft deployed to the Central Command area of responsibility supporting operations there.”

One unit supporting those operations is the 463rd Airlift Group, which is stationed here but forward deployed to Balad Air Base, Iraq, and was recently credited with taking more than 6,200 convoys off the dangerous roads there.

In the United States, Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard C-130s are busy supporting fire suppression operations by dropping suppressants onto wildfires, the general said.

“Tactical airlift is absolutely critical to the Northern Command mission,” Renuart said. “Lift is always the long pole in the tent for contingencies and for supporting operations at home, like moving FEMA or Homeland Security supplies and teams.”

The C-130 is a capable aircraft, but the fleet must be modernized and recapitalized, according to the general. Some of those changes will come with the addition of the Joint Cargo Aircraft and newer C-130Js, he said.

“Tactical airlift plays a crucial role in allowing U.S. Northern Command to provide support throughout the country,” he said.
USNORTHCOM was established in 2002 to provide command and control of DoD homeland defense efforts and to coordinate defense support of civil authorities in an area of responsibility that includes air, land and sea approaches and encompasses the continental United States, Alaska, Canada, Mexico and the surrounding water out to approximately 500 nautical miles. It includes the Gulf of Mexico and the Straits of Florida.

The commander of USNORTHCOM also commands the North American Aerospace Defense Command, a bi-national command responsible for aerospace warning and aerospace control for Canada, Alaska and the continental United States.
Renuart is a command pilot with more than 3,800 flight hours in aircraft such as the T-37, AT-38, A-10, F-16, F-15, C-130 and HH-60.

He has flown 60 combat missions. Prior to assuming his current position, he was the senior military assistant to the secretary of defense, serving as the principal immediate office adviser to the secretary in all matters pertaining to the DoD.
The C-130 Center of Excellence provides aircrew and maintenance training for 31 nations and the DoD.