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northernlatitudesformissionexecutionandchain ofcommandcommunication.Themostreliable communicationssourceiscurrentlytheIridium satellite,whichprovidescoveragethroughoutthe Arcticregion.Othercapabilitiesareeffective,such astheNavalResearchLaboratory'sTacticalSatelliteIVsystem,butdonotprovidecontinuous coverage. Inaddition,terrestrialsystemsareextremelylimitedandareonlyavailableinafewpopulated areas.Furthermore,domainawarenessissimilarlyhamperedbythechallengetoourintelligence,surveillance,andreconnaissanceaccessin the Arctic. Cooperation with Other Agencies OneofUSNORTHCOM'sresponsibilitiesistolook at the Arctic from the DOD perspective and advocatefornecessarycapabilities.Additionally,our Arcticpartnersmustlookatnear-termcontingenciessuchasexpandingaerospaceandmaritime informationrequirements,respondingtocivilsupportrequests,andprotectingcriticalinfrastructure in the Arctic. ThebottomlineisDODcancurrentlyprovideonly limitedsupportintheArcticregion.Theopeningof theArcticisoccurringcontinuallyandrapidly;and, themoreship,aircraft,anddrillingactivityoccurs, themorelikelyanincidentistotakeplace. BuildingcapabilityandcapacitywithintheArctic region will require careful thought to policy and resourcingandcooperationamongU.S.agenciesas wellaswithourArcticpartnernations.ThewayforwardfortheU.S.NorthernCommand,itsfellowDOD components,andtheArcticagenciesitsupportsisto setclearlydefnedandachievablegoalsandpolicy. Fromthere,itisimportanttocontinuetoshapewholeof-communitypartnershipsandcapabilitiestofacilitatethepeacefulandcontinuingopeningoftheArctic in a manner that fosters international cooperation. Finally, capabilities must be resourced to succeed operationallyinsuchaharshenvironment.Thiscan be completed through coordinated efforts includingcreatingjointpolicyandprocedures;continued www.uscg.mil/proceedings Alaskans experience different types of climate and weather conditions depending on where they are located. This graphic illustrates the extreme differences in environment and topography across the state. training,andmultipartyexercisestoidentifygaps, shortfalls,andopportunitiestoleveragejointcapabilitiesandrequirements;andassessingArcticpolicies, processes,procedures,andresourcestodetermine futurerequirements. About the authors: U.S. Coast Guard CDR LaDonn Allen is the branch chief for Maritime and Arctic Exercises in the Training and Exercise Directorate at NORAD and U.S. Northern Command. CDR Allen is also a NIMS Incident Command System instructor. U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Adrian L. Spain is the chief, Joint Exercise Division for Alaskan Command and Joint Task Force Alaska. He is a command pilot and former USAF Weapons School instructor. Preceding this assignment, he was a student at the Industrial College of the Armed Forces. His most recent operational assignment was commander of the 94th Fighter Squadron. Mr. Paul VanderWeide is the SAR program manager for Alaskan Command and Joint Task Force Alaska. He is the former director of the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center. He is a command pilot with 5,000 fight hours in the HH/MH-60G helicopter in a career that spanned special operations, USAF Combat Rescue, and Alaska Air National Guard search and rescue. Author's note: The views expressed in this article are those of the authors anddonotnecessarilyrefecttheoffcialpolicyorpositionof theDepartmentofDefenseortheU.S.government. Summer 2013 Proceedings 67