Appendix A: Organizational Nomenclature

Overview

Tracing the reports, documents, and files back to the original release may present some confusion to users that are not familiar with the various organizational structures that have been in place over time. The authors have tried to use the appropriate organizational names when referencing information, but the following summary may help associating those references. The commonly encountered abbreviations are DoD, AFSPC, NORAD, CMOC, etc.

The following quotes were assembled from the Cheyenne Mountain website: https://www.cheyennemountain.af.mil

Historical Evolution

“The original North American Air Defense Command (NORAD) Combat Operations Center … has evolved into the Cheyenne Mountain Operations Center (CMOC). The original requirement for an operations center in Cheyenne Mountain was to provide command and control in support of the air defense mission against the Soviet manned bomber threat … In the early 1960s, the advent of an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) attack against North America became a top priority. Missile warning and air sovereignty were the primary missions in the Mountain throughout the 1960s and 70s. During a brief period in the mid 1970s, the Ballistic Missile Defense Center was installed within the Mountain. … In 1979, the Air Force established a Space Defense Operations Center [SPADOC] to counter the emerging Soviet’s anti-satellite threat … The evolution continued into the 1980s when Air Force Space Command [AFSPC] was created and tasked with the Air Force Space mission … In April 1981, Space Defense Operations Center crews and their worldwide sensors, under the direction of Air Defense Command [ADC], supported the first flight of the space shuttle … Oct. 1, 2002 marked the welcoming of two new commands, U.S. Northern Command and U.S. Strategic Command, to Cheyenne Mountain. CMOC is responsible for providing support to USNORTHCOM’s mission of homeland defense and USSTRATCOM’s mission of space and missile warning, formerly associated with U.S. Space Command.”

Cheyenne Mountain Complex (as of publication)

“Today, the Cheyenne Mountain Complex is known as Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station (CMAFS). CMAFS is host to four commands: North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), United States Northern Command (USNORTHCOM), United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM), and Air Force Space Command (AFSPC). CMOC serves as the command center for both NORAD and USNORTHCOM. It is the central collection and coordination center for a worldwide system of satellites, radars, and sensors that provide early warning of any missile, air, or space threat to North America.”

CMOC Mission Areas

“Supporting the NORAD mission, CMOC provides warning of ballistic missile or air attacks against North America, assists the air sovereignty mission for the U.S. and Canada, and if necessary, serves as the focal point for air defense operations to counter enemy bombers or cruise missiles. In addition, CMOC also provides theater ballistic missile warning for U.S. and allied forces. In support of USSTRATCOM, CMOC provides a day-to-day picture of precisely what is in space and where it is located. Space control operations include protection, prevention, and negation functions supported by the surveillance of space. … Operations are conducted in seven centers manned 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.”

Operations Centers

“The centers are the Air Warning Center, Missile Correlation Center, Space Control Center [JSPOC], Operational Intelligence Watch, Systems Center, Weather Center, and the Command Center … The Joint Space Operations Center (JSPOC) supports United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) missions of surveillance and protection of U.S. assets in space. The JSPOC’s primary objective in performing the surveillance mission is to detect, track, identify, and catalog all man-made objects orbiting earth. … The JSPOC maintains a current computerized catalog of all orbiting man-made objects, charts preset positions, plots future orbital paths, and forecasts times and general location for significant man-made objects reentering the Earth’s atmosphere.”

Naming Conventions Used in the Paper

The organizational names identify whether they are joint (international), or not.

Abbreviation	Usage Context
DoD	Generic applications — broadest identification for all organizations
NORAD	Referring to TLE data — formation of TLE data was begun under NORAD
JSPOC	a.k.a. Space Control Center, within CMOC — produces TLE data today
AFSPC	Regulations and documentation — generally come from AFSPC
CMOC	Cheyenne Mountain Operations Center — operational context

The authors generally use NORAD when referring to the TLE data because their formation was begun under NORAD. Today, the JSPOC (a.k.a. Space Control Center) within the CMOC produces the TLE data, but the historical name is retained due to its familiarity in the community. Regulations and documentation have generally come from AFSPC and are identified as such.

Acronym Reference

Acronym	Full Name	Type
ADC	Air Defense Command	USAF Major Command
AFSPC	Air Force Space Command	USAF Major Command
CMAFS	Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station	Installation
CMOC	Cheyenne Mountain Operations Center	Operations Center
DoD	Department of Defense	Federal Department
ICBM	Intercontinental Ballistic Missile	Weapon System
JSPOC	Joint Space Operations Center	Operations Center
NORAD	North American Aerospace Defense Command	Bi-national Command (US/Canada)
NSSDC	National Space Science Data Center	NASA Data Center
SPADOC	Space Defense Operations Center	Operations Center (historical)
USNORTHCOM	United States Northern Command	Combatant Command
USSTRATCOM	United States Strategic Command	Combatant Command
WDC-A-R&S	World Data Center-A for Rockets and Satellites	International Registry