Remarks by Secretary James N. Mattis at the NORAD Change-of-Command Ceremony

SECRETARY OF DEFENSE JAMES N. MATTIS:  Well, thank you General Robinson.  There are times when words do fail all of us.  We recognize that, especially on a beautiful day at the foot of the Rockies.  When you see the degree of - the degree of comradeship and the degree of harmony among the militaries that are represented here today.

And I have to second your point about the singing of the two anthems.  I would just tell you that Minister of Defence Harjit, my shipmate from Canada and I, neither one of us could sing or dance.  They put us in the infantry. (Laughter.)

But that was the best singing I ever heard of those two anthems, separately or together.  And I just thought that was tremendous.  It's a real reminder of the gravity of the responsibilities I think that we all carry here today.

So I thank you General Robinson for the introduction.  Obviously you conspired with my mother, because nobody else could've written one half so nice as that to me.  But Minister Sajjan, General Cienfuegos, Admiral Soberon, General Vance, General Dunford and all of you who are here today as we observe General O'Shaughnessy's assumption of command.

This is a very special day for our nations, since we are simply the vanguard, the military vanguard of what our nations stand for.  If anyone doubts North America's awesome determination to defend herself, then let them come to Colorado Springs and see this team in action.

If you consider the trust and the connectivity between the militaries here, when you see the capability of these NORTHCOM and NORAD teams, all doubts fade.  And what remains General Robinson is a profound respect for how you have led these teams.

And recognition of the very high expectations, General O'Shaughnessy, that we hold for you as you take on the responsibility.  To the family, to Major General Robinson, devotion to the U.S. Air Force, to our nation has been in your family's hallmark for how many decades now, sir?
Thank you David for your distinguished service as an Air Force fighter pilot, but also for your continued service as the finest aide-de-camp on earth to your lady General Robinson.  I would just tell you -- (Applause.)

You -- I admire you getting that rock.  I've been likened to a rock on several occasions.  It was probably more to do with my intellect than anything else. (Laughter.)

But I think through good times and especially through the tough times David, you have our total respect for the support your family provided.  I think to the O'Shaughnessy family, Donna and young Sam I would just tell you that we recognize the many demands that have been placed on you over the decades of service.

And I would just recognize too that this new post is nothing light to carry either.  So thank you for again extending the loan of your husband, Donna, of your father young Sam to lead the defense of our country. And please be under no allusions that the protection of millions of people, hundreds of millions of people now falls on his shoulders. 

Across Mexico, Canada and the United States, a half a billion people together form North America's, what I would call a powerhouse island, of democracies and economic vitality in a time of both global promise and global peril.

We also see the stability in the Mexican military's growing regional leadership, through your humanitarian assistance and -- and disaster relief deployments in this hemisphere, as well as your peacekeeping efforts more broadly in Lebanon and Western Sahara.

We at America welcome Mexico's increasing leadership in our region's stability and beyond.  Our collaboration due in no small part to the stalwart professional leadership General Cienfuegos, Admiral Soberon that you provide your nations militaries.

You are our comrades in arms.  We North Americans also gain stability in the indispensable alliance between Canada and the United States.  From Normandy's landing beaches to Afghanistan, where Canada's military swung swiftly into action after the 9/11 attacks on America, the maple leaf and the stars and stripes have flown repeatedly side-by-side against threats to our shared values.

Representing the trusted Canadian-United States military relationship today, we have no finer example than NORAD, North American Air Defense Command.  Sixty years ago, amidst the Cold War's chill, we gathered our combined operational control of air defenses for an entire continent.

And we did it in nine months.  The speed of that effort was the result of the trust between us, and that trust paved the way.  The only hard part was picking a name.

We considered Air Defense Command Canada-United States, but the acronym came out ADCANUS.  Now for any Latin scholars here, they will know that ad means towards and canus means gray hair.  We ultimately and wisely chose NORAD, a more pronounceable military acronym.

Though admittedly some of us, Minister Harjit have gone -- grown ad canus, or gray haired anyway in the defense of our land.  Today, NORTHCOM and NORAD are two distinct commands, yet they share a common purpose, fulfilling complementary roles and interfacing with allies and partners as well as civil authorities to protect the peoples of this continent.

NORTHCOM and NORAD's success requires a commander who never takes relationships for granted.  A commander who builds trust and harmony across teams.  A commander who knows not all the best ideas come from the nation with the most aircraft carriers.

A commander who treats every week as if it were the last week of peace or the last week without natural storms wrecking havoc.  For these two commands know only too well that complacency is not a virtue, because they have the watch in the midst of unpredictable, natural and manmade threats.

General Robinson, you have been this commander.  You created and rewarded a climate of trusted teamwork with our neighboring countries as well as across two commands, integrating numerous components, subordinates and regions.

It was a daunting feat, but one that you were uniquely able to carry out.  You empowered subordinate commanders, enabling them to work down and in as you worked up and out.  You advanced our military-to-military partnership and mutual respect with Mexico to levels not seen since World War II, when in the skies of the south Pacific, the Mexican Air Force fighter pilots and their fighter squadron flew alongside Americans in the fight that liberated the Philippines.  

Today, we have better understanding for how we work together for mutual benefit.  The Mexican Armed Forces, as state institutions are becoming known at home and across the hemisphere for their professionalism and their seriousness with which they have assumed the responsibilities.  We have seen not words, but actions in respecting the law and human rights.

And it is not discourse, it is reality seen in the increased numbers of Mexicans who see their Armed Forces as institutions of reliability and credibility.  General Robinson you strengthen too our bond with our NATO ally to the north.

Our friend whose special forces and infantry joined us in Afghanistan immediately following the 9/11 attacks on New York City and Washington, as well as on a host of far-flung operations.  And on a personal note, I have to say that my family has roots in the Canadian Army. my grandfather having been wounded in action in World War I when he served in that same Canadian infantry that reinforced us at Kandahar, Afghanistan.  

Minister Harjit, General Vance, thank you for leading the fighting Canadians, you are true allies.  Across North America today, our militaries work in respectful concert, using dialogue in our joint search for solutions to the transnational problems we must face together.  Recognizing that the security of our region and stopping threats from affecting the development of our nations, of our democracies can only be accomplished by harmony and teamwork.

General Robinson, as our Northern Command commander, you also battled the elements, calmly manning the helm as three Category Four hurricanes bore down upon our shores in rapid successions.  These storms spanned a range of 2,200 miles, impacting 30 million people from Texas to the U.S. Virgin Islands.  

Under your leadership, NORTHCOM deployed more personnel, flew more sorties, engaged more ships and delivered more relief supplies than any previous federal domestic response, including Hurricane Katrina.  This makes NORTHCOM's support to civil authorities the largest, most complex domestic deployment of the U.S. military in modern history.

And we saw that when Mother Nature hurled her worst, the men and women of NORTHCOM were at their best.  For nearly simultaneous with these hurricanes, they also responded with urgency and practiced skill to the most destructive wildfire season on record.

When it came to natural disasters and this resourceful command, it was NORTHCOM versus nature, as your team rose swiftly and efficiently to our country's aid.  Yet catastrophic winds and rain were by no means the least of the threats you faced.

For you maintained 24/7 readiness in response to the ballistic missile threat from North Korea.  How many times did I hear your steady clipped voice on the net giving clear updates of missiles in flight and ensuring our team was ready, ready for anything with only minutes for decision?  And you stood the watch.

The NORAD team has the watch.  And it is vital the sentinels stay always alert.  The one and a half -- the one half billion people who depend upon these commands, whether they are aware of them or not are counting on this Canadian-American team.

So General O'Shaughnessy, we have called you back from across an ocean to command once again, making you responsible in this job for defending our homelands against all the threats I just listed.  And we want you to make common (inaudible) with our Canadian and Mexican comrades in arms and with the two commands that General Robinson today transfers to your capable hands.

I charge you with increasing our war fighting lethality and enhancing military readiness across both commands.  Build further this team of teams that you have inherited with our civil authorities, the states and their agencies, nurture the unique relationships that General Robinson passes to you with Mexico, Canada and the Bahamas.

Strengthening trust with them every day while always respecting their sovereignty.  In a world awash in change, the threats to our homelands continue to evolve and so shall we.  With Canada, we will jointly continue to modernize NORAD.

Ensure the greatest example, General, of our U.S.-Canadian alliance, the North American Air Defense Command can always accomplish its assigned mission at the speed of relevance.  

And let me close with a reflection on that speed of relevance and what it means today.

Sixty years ago, NORAD was chiefly concerned with the long-range Soviet bomber threat from the north over the polar region.  The sword on your emblem points north for that reason, and the McGill Fence, the pine tree line and the famous DEW line testified to this orientation.

Yet when the crisis came those 13 days in October 1962, it came from our southeast, from Cuba.  NORAD dispersed 300 fighter aircraft around the country in less than six hours.  Yet today -- today that would be too late, that would be too slow.

The threats we face today are more sophisticated and less predictable.  Their angle of approach is the full spectrum of combat, and across every domain: land, sea, air, space and cyber.  As your team deters adversaries and defends us from these threats in the days to come, General O'Shaughnessy, complexity will be your constant companion.  You must embrace it and master it.  Our nation has full confidence and is counting on you, and you have my full confidence, General, in your abilities.  Now, you have the watch.