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Cheyenne Mountain Complex



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheyenne_Mountain_Complex



>>> Peterson and Vandenberg Air Force Bases[edit]

On July 28, 2006, the Cheyenne Mountain Directorate[e] was re-designated as the Cheyenne Mountain Division, with the mission to assist in establishing an integrated NORAD and USNORTHCOM Command Center within the headquarters building at Peterson Air Force Base.[5] The Unified Space Vault and the Space Control Center were moved from Cheyenne Mountain to the Joint Space Operations Center at Vandenberg Air Force Base about October 2007.[57]:8

In 2006, NORAD relocated to a basement[58] in the Peterson No. 2 building at the nearby Peterson AFB. Northern Command and Space Command have also relocated to Peterson Air Force Base.[58] Canadian military defence partners are now also located at Peterson.[59] The complex is maintained by a skeleton crew and no longer operates on a 24/7 basis. The complex is on "warm standby", meaning it is only staffed when required.[60]

On the fiftieth anniversary of the NORAD agreement—May 12, 2008—the Command Center located within Cheyenne Mountain Complex was officially re-designated as the NORAD and USNORTHCOM Alternate Command Center. The Cheyenne Mountain Division of NORAD and USNORTHCOM was re-designated as the J36 branch within the NORAD and USNORTHCOM's Operations Directorates.[5]

NORAD Alternate Command[edit]

Since 2002, the complex has been classed as Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station and has been used in crew qualification training, while the former command function has been redesignated as the "NORAD and USNORTHCOM Alternate Command Center" since 2008 after all the original functions of the complex were removed to Peterson Air Force Base.[61] The complex is maintained by the 721st Mission Support Group which provides support and maintenance for the 'NORAD/USNORTHCOM's training, exercise and alternate command center functions, U.S. Strategic Command's Missile Warning Center, Detachment 2 of the 17th Test Squadron, Air Force Technical Applications Center's research laboratory, the Defense Intelligence Agency's Western Continental United States Regional Service Center'.[62] At its peak the Cheyenne complex had 1800–2000 personnel, now only 210 remain and the site's satellite dishes and antenna masts are now owned and used by commercial communication businesses.[63] In Early 2015, a contract was signed with Raytheon to move systems into the complex to shield it from electromagnetic pulse attack, with additional work to be done at Vandenberg and Offutt.[64]

Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station is owned and operated by Air Force Space Command. NORAD and USNORTHCOM now use just under 30% of the floor space within the complex and comprise approximately 5% of the daily population at Cheyenne Mountain.[5] The Cheyenne Mountain Complex serves as NORAD and USNORTHCOM's Alternate Command Center and as a training site for crew qualification. Day-to-day crew operations for NORAD and USNORTHCOM typically take place at Peterson Air Force Base.[5]

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