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military did no advance testing on a specific type of military GPS receiver that had problems picking up locator signals after a change in ground-control software, the Air Force said Monday. The Air Force tested other equipment, but none of it contained the type of receiver that was unable to lock on to Global Positioning System satellites after the change, said Joe Davidson, a spokesman for the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center. The manufacturer of the receivers, Trimble Advanced and Military Systems, said it ran its own advance tests using specifications from the Air Force GPS Wing and...

The retiring general in charge of NORAD and the U.S. Northern Command said Thursday that he's leaving behind no unfinished business but has concerns about the nation's aging radar system and jet-fighter fleet. Air Force Gen. Gene Renuart ends his 39-year Air Force career July 1. Since March 2007, he has overseen the North American Aerospace Defense Command, a joint U.S.-Canadian command that monitors air and space threats to both nations, and the Northern Command, which oversees the U.S. military's homeland defense and supports civilian authorities. The nation's current radar system needs to be updated with an integrated system of...

12/8/2009 - PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. (AFNS) -- It's that time of the year again and North American Aerospace Defense Command officials are getting ready to track Santa Claus. The NORAD Tracks Santa Web site, www.noradsanta.org, is now live and features fun holiday games and activities that change daily. The Web site is available in seven languages: English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Spanish and Chinese. On Dec. 24, the Web site will stream videos, captured by NORAD "Santa Cams," from numerous cities along Santa's journey. This year, children and the young-at-heart are able to track Santa through Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, and TroopTube.mil....

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- The head of the Colorado Springs NAACP is crying foul after a picture of President Barack Obama was removed from a sign at the Peterson Air Force Base commissary. The picture accompanied a sign near the entrance saying the government-run military grocery store would be closed on Presidents Day. The Defense Commissary Agency, which oversees the store, says employees took it down after customers complained that the holiday is about presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, not Obama. Rosemary Harris, president of the Colorado Springs branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People,...

12/7/2007 - PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. -- "Air Force Space Command performs a national, and in some cases, an international space mission," said Gen. C. Robert Kehler, the new commander of AFSPC. "The space capabilities we provide today are embedded in all of our combat operations," he said. "They're also embedded in our military operations, short of combat, across the board. In fact, we cannot fight the way America fights today without space capabilities." A central piece of this is the nation's intercontinental ballistic missile mission.

PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo., Dec. 22, 2005 – The North American Aerospace Defense Command is observing its 50th anniversary of tracking Santa Claus on his annual rounds, NORAD officials said here. The tradition of tracking Santa began in 1955, when a local Sears, Roebuck and Co. store ran a newspaper ad urging children to make a phone call on Christmas Eve and talk to Santa Claus. As fate would have it, the phone number was misprinted and, instead of reaching Santa, youngsters found themselves talking with Air Force Col. Harry Shoup of the Continental Air Defense Command at Cheyenne...

PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo.—More than five months, 8,000 miles and countless prayers led up to an unlikely reunion Dec. 2. Tech. Sgt. Jamie Dana and Maj. Paul Morton first ‘met’ June 25 on a hot summer day in Kirkuk, Iraq, that Major Morton described simply as chaotic. In contrast, the two met again Dec. 2 on a cold winter day in the relative calm of the Black Forest Animal Sanctuary in Monument, Colo. Five months ago, Sergeant Dana, a former 21st Security Forces Squadron dog handler here, hovered near the edge of death after taking the brunt of an...

PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. (AFPN) -- Air Force Space Command deployed eight helicopters and their crews to Columbus Air Force Base, Miss., to aid in hurricane relief efforts beginning Sept. 2. This is the first time the command has assigned helicopters outside its normal area of operations. “The helicopters assigned to 20th Air Force are primarily dedicated to providing security ‘top cover’ for America’s ICBM force,” said Maj. Gen. Frank G. Klotz, 20th AF commander. “However, because of their inherent capabilities, such as forward-looking infrared system, they are also ideally suited for search-and-rescue missions.” The helicopter crews have been...

PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. (AP) - Norad Cmdr.-Gen. Ed Eberhart said Wednesday that terrorists may turn to a seaborne attack because U.S. fighter jets are now prepared to shoot down a hijacked airliner. "I believe that it is just a matter of time until the terrorists try to use a seaborne attack, a maritime attack against us," Eberhart told reporters touring the new headquarters of Northern Command (Northcom), the military unit created after Sept. 11, 2001, to deal with terrorist attacks. Eberhart is commander of both Northern Command and the North American Aerospace Defence Command, or Norad. The air...

The Associated Press PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. Aug. 2, 2004 — Vice President Dick Cheney told nearly 1,000 military personnel on Monday the Bush administration is "doing everything" it can to protect the nation against terrorists and other threats. "I am grateful to stand before so many who defend our homeland so well," Cheney told the camouflage-clad airmen and a handful of civilians gathered in a hangar. "Your mission here is nothing less than the defense of America's land, sea and air space." Cheney, who has been campaigning throughout the West, was addressing members of the North American Aerospace...

Operation Freedom Lodging Offers 1,000 Nights to Returning Troops Story Number: NNS040329-11Release Date: 3/29/2004 4:29:00 PMFrom North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command Public Affairs PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. (NNS) -- Vail Resorts in Colorado is offering 1,000 free nights to service members who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, as part of “Operation Freedom Lodging." Members from any branch of service who served for 30 or more days in these countries are eligible for up to three consecutive nights of lodging at Vail Resorts-owned and -operated hotels in Breckenridge and Keystone. “Operation Freedom Lodging is a...

PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. -- The Army activated a brigade Thursday charged with command and control of a $22 billion system intended to protect the nation from a ballistic missile attack. Some of the soldiers assigned to the Midcourse Defense Brigade, which will have at least 60 Colorado National Guard and active-duty soldiers, will work inside Cheyenne Mountain, home to the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD. If a missile attack was launched, NORAD would notify the brigade, which in turn would provide information on the missiles' location to operators of "kill vehicles" based in Alaska and California....

The only military command focused solely on defending U.S. soil was declared fully operational Thursday, two years after the terrorist attack that led to its formation. Enlarged news photographs from Sept. 11, 2001, hang on the walls at U.S. Northern Command headquarters - reminders to people like Army Lt. Col. Shelly Stellwagen. "Having lost eight friends at the Pentagon, this is a grudge match, and we're going to win," she said. Over the past year, officials at this Air Force base near Colorado Springs have been tweaking Northcom's structure and operations in tackling its twin missions of defending the country...