-N-

National Imagery and Mapping Agency –
NIMA provides Geospatial Intelligence relevant to the United States national security. They supply intelligence product directly to policy makers, military decision makers, warfighters, and the National Command Authority. NIMA is organizaed into 3 directorates: Analysis & Production (dissemination of intelligence product); Acquisition (technical development, procurement and deployment); Inno Vision (future technological enhancements).

National Reconnaissance Office -
The NRO designs, builds and operates the nation's reconnaissance satellites. NRO products, provided to an expanding list of customers like the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Department of Defense (DoD), can warn of potential trouble spots around the world, help plan military operations, and monitor the environment.

National Security Agency –
NSA coordinates, directs, and performs highly specialized activities to protect U.S. information systems and produce foreign intelligence information. A high technology organization, NSA is on the frontiers of communications and data processing. It is also one of the most important centers of foreign language analysis and research within the Government.

National Security Council -
The National Security Council (NSC) is the President's principal forum for considering national security and foreign policy matters with his senior national security advisors and cabinet officials. The President chairs the National Security Council. Its regular attendees (both statutory and non-statutory) are the Vice President, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Defense, and the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is the statutory military advisor to the Council, and the Director of Central Intelligence is the intelligence advisor. The Chief of Staff to the President, Counsel to the President, and the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy are invited to attend any NSC meeting. The Attorney General and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget are invited to attend meetings pertaining to their responsibilities.

NBC –
Nuclear, chemical and biological warfare suits.

NCIC –
See National Crime Information Center.

NEST –
Nuclear Emergency Search Teams (NEST) operate as part of the Department of Energy. They are an elite mobile squad designated to respond to nuclear threats inside CONUS. For obvious reasons, their missions are highly classified, but we do know that they responded to over 70 potential threats in the year following the September 11 attacks.

NKVD –
This is the dreaded secret police of the Stalinist era. The NKVD was organized in 1917 and continued until Stalin’s death in 1954. They participated in brutal repression including massacres and midnight raids. In the movie Enemy at the Gates, they were the people who shot Russian soldiers as they retreated from German fixed positions.

Nimitz class –
The Nimitz Class aircraft carriers are the largest warships ever built. With over 6,000 personnel (crew and aircrew), the carrier has a displacement of 102,000 tons, and a flight deck length of 332.9m. Newport News Shipbuilding built all ten nuclear-powered Nimitz class carriers. Or you could just say they are 4.5 acres of American diplomacy.

NINEVEH –
Covert operation led by Major Jim Harper to assault missile launch facilities in Panama. To find out the rest you have to read Reap the Whirlwind.

NMD –
National Missile Defense (NMD) is now called The Midcourse Defense Segment. MDS develops increasingly robust capabilities for countering ballistic missiles in the midcourse stage of flight. The MDS program of work is divided into multiple elements including Ground-based Midcourse Systems, and Sea-Based Midcourse Systems, the successors to the National Missile Defense and Navy Theater Wide programs. MDS mission is to provide for ballistic missile defense against incoming ballistic missiles fired from anywhere on earth.

NORAD -
The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) is a binational United States and Canadian organization charged with the missions of aerospace warning and aerospace control for North America. Aerospace warning includes the monitoring of man-made objects in space, and the detection, validation, and warning of attack against North America whether by aircraft, missiles, or space vehicles, utilizing mutual support arrangements with other commands. Aerospace control includes providing surveillance and control of Canadian and United States airspace.

North Sea Fleet -
PLAN fleet tasked with Yellow Sea.

HQ: Qingdao, Shandong.

Major bases: Lushan, Huludao, Qingdao.

NRO –
See National Reconnaissance Office.

NRO-8X –
Military imaging satellite believed to be next generation after IMPROVED CRYSTAL (KH-12). Launched May 22, 1999. Also known as Enhanced Imaging System and E-300 8X. This satellite is designed for MEO or HEO (middle and high earth orbits), providing longer dwell time over targets and wider area scans. It is a direct response to battlefield complaints that CRYSTAL and IMPROVED CRYSTAL did not provide sufficient imaging for real time decisions. This is the primary satellite depicted in Reap the Whirlwind.

NSA –
See National Security Agency.

NSC –
See National Security Council.

NUDET –
Nuclear detonation.

NVG –
Night Vision Goggles.

Douglas De Bono / DouglasDeBono.Com Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota E-Mail readermail@DouglasDeBono.Com