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NCS Transfers to Homeland Security Department

ARLINGTON, Va., March 05, 2003 - After a nearly 40-year relationship with the Department of Defense, the National Communications System (NCS) today became part of the Department of Homeland Security during ceremonies held at the Defense Information System Agency’s Skyline 7 Auditorium.

The NCS, a consortium of 23 Federal member departments and agencies responsible for ensuring the availability of national security and emergency preparedness (NS/EP) communications, is one many Federal agencies which officially became part of the new department on March 1.

Lieutenant General Harry D. Raduege, Jr., the NCS Manager since June of 2000, passed the NCS colors and responsibilities to Army Major General Bruce M. Lawlor, Chief of Staff for the Department of Homeland Security, who represented Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge.Lt. Gen. Raduege remains the Defense Information Systems Agency Director.Pending nomination by the President and confirmation by the Senate, the Homeland Security Department’s Undersecretary for Information Assurance and Infrastructure Protection will become the NCS Manager.

In his remarks, Lt. Gen. Raduege said it is his hope that the NCS continues to maintain and build upon the synergy the agency has established over a distinguished 40-year history.“The NCS has accomplished each new mission it received with unmatched excellence and great ability,” said Lt. Gen. Raduege.“It will be no different as they take on their new mission with the Department of Homeland Security.The NCS will continue to demonstrate its great ability as its professional team members identify and assess threats to our homeland, map those threats against vulnerabilities, issue warnings, and provide the basis from which to organize protective measures.”

Maj. Gen. Lawlor, in accepting the NCS colors, said the department was extremely proud that the NCS is part of the effort to defend the homeland.“You are an important and valued member of a new team,” he said.“We appreciate your experience, understand your traditions and acknowledge your incredible achievements over the past 40 years.”

When the Office of Homeland Security began writing a plan that lead to the creation of the department, Maj. Gen. Lawlor said they started to think about how they could link intelligence and critical infrastructure into a new organization.He said the department wanted an organization that could look at intelligence threats, assess vulnerabilities in critical infrastructure, identify those infrastructures that were most important, identify the gaps, propose and implement solutions.The department also wanted an organization that could inspire confidence in the private sector to collect and protect the information needed to accomplish this kind of mission.

He said the NCS quickly surfaced.

“As we struggled to think about this new directorate, we found that what we were thinking about wasn’t so new at all – that the NCS had been doing it for some time and doing it magnificently, he said.“We sought out the NCS as a model for how we might take what you’ve done and implement across all 14 sectors of critical infrastructure that exists across the country.We also remembered what happened after 9-11 and we remembered your magnificent efforts of putting back into operation the communications systems that serve as the engine that drives this county.”

The general also cited the NCS accomplishments with the President’s National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee (NSTAC) – a model for industry/Government partnership in establishing national security and emergency preparedness communications.“With the NSTAC, you’ve created an unmatched standard of integrity that generates trust between the public and private sectors to look at critical infrastructures for the good of the country,” he said.

Maj. Gen. Lawlor said the department is committed to sustaining those NCS achievements, to moving forward and to making the next 40 years as great as the first 40.“We look forward to your experiences and your commitment, your sense of mission and your professionalism, and we look forward to helping you help us,” he said.

In his last action prior to transferring the NCS, Lt. Gen. Raduege presented a Joint Meritorious Unit Award to the NCS, and then attached the award streamer to the NCS colors.The award cited the NCS and DISA for “exceptionally meritorious achievement” from September 11, 2001 to December 31, 2001, where the NCS “…consistently displayed super leadership skills, managerial talent, technical expertise, directly contributing to the overwhelming success of operational forces during the conduct of operations to assure homeland security, overthrow the Taliban regime and liberate Afghanistan as part of the war on terrorism.”

Although the transfer from Defense to Homeland Security is complete, the NCS will remain at its current site– co-located with the DISA headquarters in Arlington – until further notice.The NCS continues its mission of developing, deploying, and coordinating emergency communications with the Nation’s telecommunications and information technology companies.

Established in 1963 by President John F. Kennedy to assure national telecommunications survivability following the Cuban Missile Crisis, NCS programs and activities currently include the Government Emergency Telecommunications Service (GETS) and Telecommunications Service Priority (TSP) Program – two programs successfully used by NS/EP officials during the September 11 attacks in New York and Washington.A recent NCS initiative – and a result of the September 11 attacks -- is the initial deployment of a nationwide Wireless Priority Service (WPS), now available in 15 geographic areas.The NCS plans to expand this service across the country by the end of the year.

The NCS also runs the National Coordinating Center for Telecommunications (NCC) and its Telecommunications-Information Sharing and Analysis Center, where Government and telecommunications industry representatives from the Nation’s major telecommunications companies work together to coordinate emergency telecommunications response efforts following national crises include natural disasters and terrorist events.

In addition to its programs, the NCS manages the activities of two major telecommunications committees.The NCS Committee for Principals (COP) – chaired by the NCS Manager -- consists of representatives from each of the 23-member NCS Government agencies.The COP and its subordinate Council of Representatives currently addresses emergency communications issues and provides guidance and advice to the Executive Office of the President.

The other is the President’s NSTAC, a Federal advisory committee panel of up to 30 executives from the telecommunications, information technology, banking and aerospace industries.Created in 1982, the NSTAC provides advice and expertise to the President on a variety of emergency telecommunications issues – such as the creation of the NCC and its Telecom ISAC and concerns pertaining to protection of the Nation’s critical telecommunications infrastructure.

More information on the NCS can be obtained from its Web Site at http://www.ncs.gov.

As Air Force Command Chief Master Sergeant Earl F. Stewart, Jr. observes, Air Force Lieutenant General Harry D. Raduege, Jr., Manager of the National Communications System, attaches a Joint Meritorious Unit Award banner to the NCS colors prior to the agency’s transfer to the Department of Homeland Security.(Photo by Donald W. Jordan, Defense Information Systems Agency)

Lieutenant General Harry D. Raduege, Jr., who became the Manager of the National Communications System (NCS) in June 2001, passes the NCS colors and responsibilities to Army Major General Bruce M. Lawlor, Chief of Staff for the Department of Homeland Security, during ceremonies held March 5.The ceremony marked the transfer of Executive Agent responsibilities from the Defense Department to the Department of Homeland Security. (Photo by Donald W. Jordan, Defense Information Systems Agency.)

Major General Bruce M. Lawlor, Chief of Staff for the Department of Homeland Security, called the National Communications System (NCS) a model organization that could “…look at intelligence threats, assess vulnerabilities in critical infrastructure, identify those infrastructures that were most important, identify the gaps, and propose and implement critical infrastructure solutions.”Maj. Gen. Lawlor’s remarks came as he accepted responsibilities of the NCS on behalf of Secretary of Homeland Security Thomas Ridge during ceremonies held March 5.(Photo by Donald W. Jordan, Defense Information Systems Agency.)

“The NCS has accomplished each new mission it received with unmatched excellence and great ability,” said Lt. Gen. Harry D. Raduege, Jr. who relinquished control as Manager of the National Communications System to the Department of Homeland Security on March 5.“It is his hope that the NCS continues to maintain and build upon the synergy the agency has established over a distinguished 40-year history.”(Photo by Donald W. Jordan, Defense Information Systems Agency.

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