Arctic Agreement

Senior U.S. and Canadian officials recently signed an agreement on cooperation in the Arctic.

According to a Dec. 11 statement, Army Gen. Charles Jacoby, head of U.S. Northern Command and NORAD, and Lt. Gen. Stuart Beare, head of the Canadian Joint Operations Command, signed the "Tri Command Framework for Arctic Cooperation" during a Canada-U.S. Permanent Joint Board on Defense meeting in Colorado Springs, CO. Further:

The Tri-Command Framework for Arctic Cooperation acknowledges the Arctic is not a region of conflict and the Canadian and U.S. militaries will support other departments and agencies in response to threats and hazards in the region when requested and directed. In that context, the goal of the Framework is to promote enhanced military cooperation in the Arctic and identify specific areas of potential Tri-Command cooperation in the preparation for and conduct of safety, security and defense operations. It strengthens an already unique and mature partnership where coordination and cooperation occurs on a regular basis. The Tri-Command Framework for Arctic Cooperation document is not a plan but rather outlines a process that supports the identification of opportunities for potential cooperation in the Arctic. Areas that continue to be improved, particularly in the Arctic, include planning, domain awareness, information-sharing, training and exercises, operations, capability development, and science and technology.

The NORAD and USNORTHCOM Commander and the CJOC Commander both have portions of the Arctic within their respective areas of operation and areas of responsibility. The Commands have complementary missions and work closely together to meet their individual and collective responsibilities as part of a whole-of-government effort in the Arctic. Given the safety and security challenges in the region, the commands often act in support of civilian authorities.

Inside the Navy reported in October that the service was looking to predict weather changes in the Arctic just like the service does in other regions through a next-generation fully coupled ocean atmosphere and arctic prediction system:

The system is important as the Navy plans an increase in operations in the Arctic, Rear Adm. Jonathan White, Navy oceanographer and navigator, said Oct. 23 at the Office of Naval Research's Naval Science and Technology Partnership Conference in Arlington, VA.

Between 2014 and 2040, the Arctic will allow for one month of ice-free operations, he said. Over the next eight years, the Navy wants a new prediction system to replace legacy systems, Frank Herr, ONR ocean battlespace sensing department director, said during the conference.

For polar regions, snow and ice have an immense impact on weather conditions, yet no current models incorporate atmosphere, ocean and cryosphere data into the models, Navy spokesman Robert Freeman wrote in an Oct. 25 email.