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The genesis of the National Communications System
(NCS) began in 1962 after the Cuban missile crisis when communications
problems among the United States, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics,
the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and foreign heads of state threatened
to complicate On April 3, 1984, President Ronald Reagan signed Executive Order (E.O.) 12472 which broadened the NCS' national security and emergency preparedness (NS/EP) capabilities and superseded President Kennedy's original 1963 memorandum. The NCS expanded from its original six members to an interagency group of 23 Federal departments and agencies, and began coordinating and planning NS/EP telecommunications to support crises and disasters. With the United States Information Agency being absorbed
into the U.S. State Department in October 2000, the NCS membership currently
stands Each NCS member organization is represented on the NCS through the Committee of Principals (COP) -- and its subordinate Council of Representatives (COR). The COP --formed as a result of Executive Order 12472, provides advice and recommendations to the NCS and the National Security Council through the President's Critical Infrastructure Protection Board on NS/EP telecommunications and its ties to other critical infrastructures. The NCS also participates in joint industry-Government planning through its work with the President's National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee (NSTAC), with the NCS's National Coordinating Center for Telecommunications (NCC) and the NCC's subordinate Information Sharing and Analysis Center (ISAC). After nearly 40 years with the Secretary ofDefense serving as its Executive Agent, President George W. Bush transferred the National Communications System to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The NCS was one of 22 Federal agencies transferred to the Departmenton March 1, 2003, in accordance with Executive Order 13286. A revised Executive Order 12472 reflects the changes of E.O. 13286. The NCS is part of the Department's Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection (IAIP) Directorate. The DHS Assistant Secretary for Infrastructure Protection now serves as the NCS Manager. |
Questions or comments concerning this site? Please contact the webmaster. Reviewed 22 March 2004 |