COLORADO SPRINGS — Calling his missions “sacred trust issues,” the new commander of the North American Aerospace Defense Command and the U.S. Northern Command on Friday cited looming budget issues as one concern among several facing the organization.
“Fundamentally, these are missions the American people have a high expectation of our ability to perform successfully,” said Gen. Charles Jacoby Jr., speaking at a roundtable discussion at Peterson Air Force Base. “That means there’s a limit, a floor, to the risk that we can accept. It’s my job to describe when we think we’re flirting with that floor.”
Jacoby, who took over the NORAD/USNORTHCOM reins last month, said homeland defense, support for civil authorities in the event of natural disasters such as Hurricane Irene and “theater security” operations with Canada and Mexico present diverse challenges — particularly since the terrorist attacks of 9/11 prompted a redefining of the command and its functions.
Noting that everyone in the military is going to “cinch their belt up,” he said it’s premature to speculate on how deep budget cuts might go. “We do know that the strength of our national economy is part of the strength of our security.”
He described the ability to stay ahead of all threats, including terrorism, as a key element in addressing everything from killer hurricanes to the violence besetting Mexico.
Jacoby credited his predecessor, Adm. James A. Winnefeld Jr., for bringing “depth, bredth and just as important, warmth to the relationship between the militaries” of the U.S. and Mexico.
He also echoed the president’s concern that the ongoing violence there poses an “unusual and extraordinary threat to our national security, our economy and our diplomacy.”
“We’re integrated in so many ways,” he said. “Mexico is of interest and importance to all of us as citizens. We are confronting a shared challenge, transnational criminal orginzations that traffic in a lot of things. The first-order concern right now is drug trafficking, but that’s not where they confine themselves. It’s not only a shared challenge but a shared responsibility in confronting that challenge.”
Jacoby noted that his experience over the last 10 years of wartime, in particular, has convinced him that today’s soldiers are as well-suited to handle the challenges as any in the nation’s history.
“We always try to characterize generations,” he said. “I will tell you this generation — our young people in America — are idealists. They’re as courageous and committed as any we’ve had in this country.”
Kevin Simpson: 303-954-1739 or ksimpson@denverpost.com
