Task Forces
USSTRATCOM relies on various task forces for the execution of its global missions. These include:
- Aerial Refueling/Tankers—Task Force 294—Air Force refueling aircraft greatly enhance the command's capability to conduct global combat and reconnaissance operations. Tankers are assigned to Eighteenth Air Force, Scott AFB, Illinois, with headquarters at Air Mobility Command, Scott AFB, Illinois.
- Airborne Communications—The Navy's E-6B Mercury aircraft provide a survivable communications link between national decision-makers and the nation's strategic forces. An airborne command post, the E-6B enables the President and the Secretary of Defense to directly contact crews on the nation's ballistic missile submarines, land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles and long-range bombers. E-6B aircraft are assigned to Strategic Communications Wing One (TACAMO), Tinker AFB, Oklahoma.
- Ballistic Missile Submarines—Considered the most survivable leg of the nation's strategic forces, Navy ballistic missile submarines, or SSBNs, provide launch capability from around the globe using the Trident missile weapon system. Atlantic SSBNs are based at Kings Bay Submarine Base, Georgia, with headquarters at Commander, Submarine Forces U.S. Atlantic Fleet, Naval Base Norfolk, Virginia; Pacific SSBNs are based at Bangor, Washington, with headquarters at Commander Submarine Forces U.S. Pacific Fleet, Pearl Harbor Naval Base, Hawaii. Task Forces 134 and 144 are operationally assigned, with 134 being for Pacific, 144 for Atlantic.
- Joint Task Force-Global Network Operations (JTF-GNO)—Located in Arlington, Va., the Joint Task Force-Global Network Operations (JTF-GNO) is U.S. Strategic Command's operational component engaged in operation and limited defense of the DoD's Global Information Grid— supporting JFCC-NW in fighting Cyber-terrorism directed against the US military. This is done by integrating GNO capabilities into the operations of all DoD computers, networks, and systems used by DoD combatant commands, services and agencies. The Director, Defense Information Systems Agency also heads the Joint Task Force for Global Network Operations. This organization is responsible for operating and defending U.S. worldwide information networks, a function closely aligned with the efforts of the Joint Functional Component Command for Network Warfare, commanded by Director, National Security Agency.
- Strategic Bomber and Reconnaissance Aircraft—Aircraft assigned to Eighth Air Force, Barksdale AFB, Louisiana, are capable of deploying air power to any area of the world. B-1B Lancer heavy bombers are available at Dyess AFB, Texas and Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota, though the United States does not carry nuclear weapons in the B-1B in compliance with international treaty. B-52 Stratofortress heavy bombers are based at Barksdale AFB, Louisiana, and Minot AFB, North Dakota. B-2 Spirit stealth bombers are stationed at Whiteman AFB, Missouri. Worldwide reconnaissance aircraft assigned to Eighth Air Force that support the USSTRATCOM mission include the RC-135 Rivet Joint, Offutt AFB, Nebraska, and the U-2S Dragon Lady, Beale AFB, California.
- Land-based Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles—Air Force ICBMs dispersed in hardened silos across the nation's central tier, provide a quick-reacting and highly reliable component to the nation's strategic forces. Minuteman III missile launch control centers are based from F.E. Warren AFB, Wyoming; Malmstrom AFB, Montana; and Minot AFB, North Dakota, Peacekeeper missiles were based at F.E. Warren AFB. ICBM crews report to Twentieth Air Force, F.E. Warren AFB which is also dual hatted as Task Force 214, which reports to U.S. Strategic Command. The Peacekeeper missiles were officially deactivated on 19 September 2005. Targeting and strategic communications are provided by the 625th Strategic Operations Squadron (625 STOS).
Read more about this topic: United States Strategic Command, Subordinate Commands
Famous quotes containing the words task and/or forces:
“Here is what sometimes happened to me: after spending the first part of the night at my desk—that part when night trudges heavily uphill—I would emerge from the trance of my task at the exact moment when night had reached the summit and was teetering on that crest, ready to roll down into the haze of dawn....”
—Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977)
“There is the falsely mystical view of art that assumes a kind of supernatural inspiration, a possession by universal forces unrelated to questions of power and privilege or the artist’s relation to bread and blood. In this view, the channel of art can only become clogged and misdirected by the artist’s concern with merely temporary and local disturbances. The song is higher than the struggle.”
—Adrienne Rich (b. 1929)