Review: Canada in Norad 1957–2007

CANADA IN NORAD 1957-2007 A History Joseph T. Jockei Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queerfs University Press, 2007. 225PP, $34.95 paper (ISBN 978-1-55339-134-0)Joseph Jockei, professor of Canadian studies at St Lawrence University, is an authority on post- World War II United States-Canadian defence relations. He has taken a particular interest in North American continental air defence, and this is his second book on the subject His first was No Boundaries Upstairs: Canada, Ae United States and the Origins of North American Defense 1945- 1958, published in 1987.Canada in NORAD continues the story from 1957 to 2007 and is focused on the origins and history of the North American air (and now aerospace) defence agreement and the organization created by that agreement known as the North American aerospace or NORAD. The book looks at three aspects of NORAD: the trajectory and growth of United States-Canadian cooperation in North American air defence as the threat changed; NORAD as a United States-Canadian binational command; and the evolution of the agreement itself.The United States and Canada established NORAD to respond to the threat presented to North America by Soviet bombers. They realized that the speed at which those bombers could arrive, plus the lethality of their nuclear cargo, necessitated an immediate, coordinated response. It was clear that there would not be enough time to plan as each incident developed. Jockei convincingly argues that what made NORAD politically possible was the concept of Jockeis description of how the agreement works is excellent he notes that the commander of NORAD (by custom an American officer with a Canadian deputy commander) would the power to direct coordinate and control the operational activities of assigned while would remain in national hands (35). Command here means administration, discipline, training, pay, promotion, and the ability to or remove forces. A key point is that the assign or remove forces responsibility rests with each government and not NORAD.The agreement created NORAD as an integrated (binational) organization of United States and Canadian personnel where operational decision-making and financial responsibilities are shared. For example, the director of operations is usually a Canadian officer, and this was true on n September 200I. The Canadian deputy commander is frequently the acting commander of NORAD, since the United States commander is also the commander of at least one other United States and thus is frequently away. It is interesting to read about the trouble (perhaps exceeding his authority) the US commander took in 1958 to ensure that his Canadian deputy was familiar with the capabilities of NORAD's nuclear weapons in the event that he needed to declare that their use was warranted (27-9, 197).Both governments have strongly supported NORAD. Until very recently, it has usually been the American position that NORAD should be the primary vehicle for North American air defence, supported by other commands. Jockei cites a statement by NORAD's commander in 1967: Air and missile defense must be directed by a single individual and this individual must be CINCNORAD.... NORAD should be the primary command (75).It had been the United States' expectation that NORAD would have operational control of the national missile defence system (149). In 1999 there was discussion of giving it an expanded homeland defence function (161), thinking that continued to hold after 9/n (178). …

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