Active 1983-Present Role Air Defense | Country United States | |
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Branch United States Air Force | ||
The Continental U.S. NORAD Region (CONR) is a component of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) that provides airspace surveillance and control and directs air sovereignty activities for the continental United States (CONUS).
Since September 11, 2001, CONR has been the lead agency for Operation Noble Eagle, an ongoing mission to protect the continental United States from further terrorist aggression from inside and outside U.S. borders.
Operations
CONR is located at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida,and has responsibility over two air defense sectors: the Western Air Defense Sector at McChord Air Force Base, Washington state and the Eastern Air Defense Sector at Rome, New York.
A combined First Air Force command post and CONR Air Operations Center perform the NORAD air sovereignty mission for the continental United States. One of four numbered air forces assigned to Air Combat Command, First Air Force plans, conducts, controls, coordinates and ensures air sovereignty and provides for the air defense of the nation. The best of America's fighter inventory, the F-15 Eagle and the F-16 Fighting Falcon, are CONR’s primary weapons systems.
First Air Force consists of 10 Air National Guard fighter wings. With the transfer of responsibility for continental air defense from the active duty component of the Air Force to the Air National Guard, First Air Force became the first numbered air force to be made up primarily of citizen airmen.
CONR is one of three NORAD regions. NORAD is the bi-national Canadian and American command that employs a network of space-based, aerial and ground-based sensors, air-to-air refuelling tankers and fighter aircraft, controlled by a sophisticated command and control network to deter, detect and defend against aerial threats that originate outside or within North American airspace. The two other Regions consist of the Canadian NORAD Region (CANR) and the Alaskan NORAD Region (ANR).