Speakers
Home / Conference / KCIS 2022 / Derek O’Malley
Brigadier-General Derek ‘Maestro’ O’Malley
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Brig. Gen. Derek “Maestro” O’Malley is the Senior U.S. military officer in Canada and serves as Deputy
Commander, Canadian North American Aerospace Defense Region, and Deputy Joint Force Air Component Commander for 1 Canadian Air Division, Winnipeg, Manitoba. He assumes command of coalition forces assigned to Canadian North American Aerospace Defense Command Region in the Canadian commander's absence. Brig. Gen. O’Malley leads force employment of airpower, while ensuring the region's battle staff, air operations center, flying units, radar sensors, intelligence and joint, all-domain command-and-control assets provide joint air, space and maritime warning and control.
Brig. Gen. O’Malley received his commission as a distinguished graduate of the Air Force ROTC program from Brigham Young University, Utah, in 1996. He has accumulated more than 3,000 flight hours in operational flying assignments in the F-16, F-35A and A-10C. He is a distinguished graduate and former instructor at the U.S. Air Force Weapons School, and was also in the initial cadre for the F-35A Lightning II. Brig. Gen. O’Malley has held leadership positions at the squadron, group and wing levels, and has commanded two fighter wings. Prior to his current
position, he commanded the U.S. Air Force’s sole combat wing in Afghanistan, where he led the full retrograde of U.S. military forces, culminating the 455th Air Expeditionary Wing’s 19 years of combat operations. He has deployed in support of operations Northern Watch, Southern Watch, Iraqi Freedom, Enduring Freedom, Resolute Support and Freedom’s Sentinel.
Conference Abstract
Getting left of launch: NORAD’s globally integrated strategy for homeland defense
When General VanHerck assumed command of NORAD and NORTHCOM he focused the command on four principles: Improving All Domain Awareness, gaining Information Dominance, and achieving Decision Superiority over our competitors, all under the umbrella of Global Integration. Today’s strategic environment is the most dynamic and complex we’ve seen in recent history. That environment demands global / all domain solutions. At the inception of NORAD, the primary threats to the homeland were bombers from over the pole delivering gravity weapons, and ICBMs. Today our homeland faces threats from all domains, including fractional bombardment from space, hypersonics and cruise missiles that evade our radar detection capabilities, and submarines capable of firing nuclear or conventional missiles in both the Atlantic and Pacific. To address these challenges, Gen VanHerck’s homeland defense design does not start in the homeland. It starts with allies and partners forward. We must generate effects forward before our competitors ever present a threat to our homeland. Ultimately, our ability to get left of launch, or deter attacks before they ever occur, hinges upon our effectiveness in gaining all Domain Awareness, Information Dominance, and Decision Superiority.
