The United States 2002 Unified Command Plan: Antarctica and the areas of responsibility of military commanders

ABSTRACT In October 2002, following the 11 September 2001 attacks on the United States, the Unified Command Plan (UCP), that sets out the geographical responsibilities of combatant commanders, was revised with regard to their areas of responsibility. Accompanying these changes was a map, which detai...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Polar Record
Main Authors: Dodds, Klaus, Hemmings, Alan D.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 2008
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0032247407007164
https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0032247407007164
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Summary:ABSTRACT In October 2002, following the 11 September 2001 attacks on the United States, the Unified Command Plan (UCP), that sets out the geographical responsibilities of combatant commanders, was revised with regard to their areas of responsibility. Accompanying these changes was a map, which detailed the geographical boundaries of the US Northern, Pacific, Southern, European and Central Commands. The map indicated that two of these Commands, Southern and European Command stretched as far south as the Antarctic coastline while a third (Pacific) not only did that but also included the entire Antarctic continent. In 2007, a new Africa Command comprising the southern part of European Command, was instituted and this, too, stretched to the Antarctic coastline. This note briefly considers some of the implications that might follow from these changes to the UCP and highlights logistical patterns, search and rescue matters and the question of the demilitarisation of Antarctica.