Fact File U.S. Strategic Command Public Affairs, 901 SAC Blvd, Suite 1A1, Offutt AFB NE 68113-6020

U.S. Strategic Command Overview

Located at Offutt Air Force Base near Omaha, Neb., U.S. Strategic Command is one of nine unified commands in the Department of Defense.

General James E. Cartwright is the commander, USSTRATCOM, and serves as the senior commander of unified military forces from all four branches of the military assigned to the command. The USSTRATCOM commander is the leader, steward and advocate of the nation's strategic capabilities. USSTRATCOM integrates and coordinates the necessary command and control capability to provide support with the most accurate and timely information for the President, the Secretary of Defense, and to regional commanders.

USSTRATCOM combines the synergy of the U.S. legacy nuclear command and control mission and the recently integrated space missions with four previously unassigned missions: global strike; Defense Department information operations; global missile defense; and global command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR). This dynamic package gives the President and the Secretary of Defense a unified resource for greater understanding of specific threats around the world and the means to respond to those threats rapidly.

A command headquarters of more than 2,500 people, representing all four services, including Department of Defense civilians and contractors, oversees the command's operationally focused global strategic mission. The command consists of four directorates and a Joint Forces Headquarters for Information Operations:

• Combat Support - provides acquisition, contracting, combat logistics and readiness, C4, and global C2.
• Global Operations - coordinates the planning, employment and operations of DoD strategic assets and combines all current operations, global command and control operations, and intelligence operations. The directorate includes all command center operations, the Joint Intelligence Center, Current Operations, and the National Airborne Operations Center.
• Policy Resources & Requirements - develops overarching policy to support execution of all the command's missions. It is responsible for the articulation and development of all command requirement processes to ensure that USSTRATCOM has the tools to accomplish its mission, and it ensures appropriate decision support tools and assessment processes are in place to enhance operational capabilities. The directorate includes comptroller support; strategy, policy and policy formulation; concepts and experimentation, and force assessments.
• Strike Warfare - includes the Targeting Intelligence Center and three divisions to deliver rapid, extended range, precision effects in support of theater and national objectives: Global Strike, Combat Plans, and Planning/Targeting tools.
• Joint Forces Headquarters Information Operations - incorporates, integrates, and synchronizes various information operation disciplines.

USSTRATCOM exercises command authority over various task forces and service components in support of the command's mission. During day-to-day operations, service component commanders retain primary responsibility for maintaining the readiness of USSTRATCOM forces and performing their assigned functions. Their primary function is to provide organized, trained, and equipped forces for employment when called upon to support USSTRATCOM's global mission.

Organizations include task force and service elements supporting the following:

• Aerial Refueling/Tankers
• Airborne Communications
• Ballistic Missile Submarines
• Strategic Bomber and Reconnaissance Aircraft
• Joint Task Force-Computer Network Operations
• Joint Information Operations Center
• Land-based Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles
• Air Force Space Command
• Army Space and Missile Defense Command
• Marine Forces Strategic Command
• Naval Network Warfare Command

As the Department of Defense's key advocate for global capabilities, the command has extensive ties with defense agencies, the Department of Energy's national laboratories, and other sources of support. Through its many contacts and interagency relationships, the command facilitates planning, enhances information sharing between the military and other government agencies and streamlines decision making.

Click here for more information on USSTRATCOM Task Forces.